By Craig Hadley, Local 5109, inSolidarity
Windsor, On, March 17, 2025, – OPSEU/SEFPO Region 1 hosts 2nd bi-annual leadership meeting to organize and educate in preparation for Convention 2025.
After the OPSEU/SEFPO Land Acknowledgement and Statement of Respect, the day got off to an inspirational start with Region 1 VP Jennifer Van Zetten, who spoke about the importance of membership participation, developing and arming union leaders with the knowhow to evoke change through resolutions and constitutional amendments.
“Convention and Robert’s Rules can be intimidating and overwhelming for our members, which can restrict them from having their voices heard. Our goal over the next few days is to teach Robert’s Rules of Order, build confidence speaking to issues on the floor and to do so in a positive and consensus-building way to further our union,” said Van Zetten.
President JP Hornick and First Vice-President/Treasurer Laurie Nancekivell welcomed the 90+ members in attendance with a special shoutout to the 30 plus members who will be attending Convention for the very first time. Nancekivell stressed the importance of member union education especially in the face of another 4 years of Conservative majority rule in Ontario.
To wrap up their welcome, Hornick led the singing of Happy Birthday to Provincial Young Workers Region 1 Rep Taylor McPhillips, Happy Birthday Taylor!
Next up, the Region 1 Equity Committee members from the Provincial Young Workers Committee, Provincial Woman’s Committee, Provincial Human Rights Committee, the Provincial Francophone Committee, The Indigenous Circle, Rainbow Alliance arc-en-ciel, Disability Caucus and The Coalition of Racialized Workers, gave updates on the good work being done by each of these committees.
The committees produced this joint video:
The first workshop dove into the Robert’s Rules of Order created by Henry Martyn Robert (1837-1932). Robert created parliamentary procedures to govern debate in an orderly fashion. While many groups such as unions, professional societies and school boards have adopted these rules as parliamentary authority, Robert’s rules can be tricky to follow. There is a belief among many OPSEU/SEFPO members that the rules can easily be weaponized to limit fruitful debate.
Tina Stevens (Indigenous Circle) echoed that sentiment when addressing the audience before the practice exercises began.
“Indigenous groups use experience-based teachings in the consensus decision-making process. Consensus is not the same as unanimity. Consensus decision-making happens when participants work together to reach an agreement, even if the group doesn’t agree with every aspect of it,” said Stevens, who also encouraged members attending Convention to arrive at consensus by listening to the opinions and concerns of others in a non-confrontational way. Ideally, this will allow groups to reach a suitable conclusion that is best for the members of OPSEU/SEFPO when using Robert’s Rules.
After a scrumptious lunch prepared by the culinary program of St. Clair College, Darryl Bedford (L110) from the Resolution Committee and Chad Croteau (L110) from the Constitution Committee gave a brief presentation followed by a fun quiz on resolutions and constitutional amendments. Shortly after, members were split into small groups to apply what they’d learned to develop their own resolutions and constitutional amendments for the Convention simulation scheduled the following day.
Convention simulation
Following the theoretical and practical learning exercises from the Convention themed trivia night on Sunday evening, to the resolutions and amendments quizzes and training, the participants were ready to put their news skills to the test in a full-blown Convention simulation.
Regional Vice Chair Jennifer Van Zetten played the role of Convention Chair while Region 1 Executive Board Member Carla Goodacre and Darryl Bedford (L110) from the Resolution Committee sat at the front table as process advisors, very similar to what delegates see when they see all the bodies at the front table at Convention.
The simulation included everything a delegate would experience on the Convention floor from the “Pro” and “Con” mics and debates, to challenging the Chair, and even emergency resolutions from the floor. The mock Convention had it all. Region 1 is ready, set and good to go for OPSEU/SEFPO Convention 2025!
A special thank you to the members and staff who organized such an incredible event and to all the Region 1 Leadership Conference participants who helped make the event a huge success!