Bylaws & Policy Report

As the Retired Teachers’ Association of Manitoba neared its 20 years of operation, the Bylaws and Policy Committee of the day was tasked with overseeing the complete review, revision and re-affirmation of the bylaws and policies of the organization. This long and intensive multi-year task was finalized at the May, 2011, Annual General Meeting of RTAM. These revised manuals have been in operation for some time now and continue to be scrutinized and evaluated by those who operate by them.

Bylaws and Policy documents should be viewed as living documents that reflect the ever changing needs of an organization. RTAM is now into its 25 years of operation. The present Bylaws and Policy Committee will continue to monitor and review these RTAM documents according to the committee mandate, the direction of the Board of Directors and resolution of the AGM. The committee will endeavour to keep the Board of Directors mindful of the timelines that must be adhered to regarding communication of any proposed bylaw change to all RTAM members prior to their May, 2014, Annual General Meeting. Current members of the 2013-14 Bylaws and Policy Committee are: Joan Dawson (Chair), Rosalie Bornn, Vel McAdam and Ray Sitter.

All resolutions going to the AGM need to include the names of the mover and seconder and shall be sent to the President not less than 45 days prior to the AGM meeting which is May 28. 1. All committees should have an operating manual and a process of succession should committee chairs change. 2. Principles to Guide Healthcare

Transformation in Canada: The committee was asked to look at this document with a view to endorsing it at the RTAM level. The committee is undecided. The principles of the Canadian Health Act are already in the Policy Manual in the Principles Section 2.05a. We struggled with the interpretation and application of the document.

The document was emailed to all

of the board members to take a careful look at. It will be discussed at the next board meeting. 3. ACER-CART: We looked at some options for the position of ACER-CART rep. The option we thought Joan Dawson, Chair the most feasible was to change the President to be the observer and the Vice-President to be the director (voting position). This should happen with backdating who goes to the ACER-CART meeting in June in that the 2013/14 President and Vice-President should go to the 2014 ACER-CART meeting. The 2014/15 VP and President should go to the 2015 ACER-CART meeting and so on. This would mean that they could take with them the year’s history of the organization. In addition travel arrangements could be made in advance to take advantage of lower travel costs. Some of the other options we discussed were: 1) leaving the President as director and the VP as observer. 2) the President assigning a board member to be the director and the President the observer. 3) made it an elected position that would be voted on at the AGM. n

Congratulations To board Member Peggy Prendergast

Healthy Living and Seniors Minister Sharon Blady acknowledged those who make exceptional contributions to the lives of older Manitobans as she joined Dave Schellenberg, Manitoba Council on Aging (MCA) acting chair, to present the MCA Recognition Awards on October 29 at the Manitoba Legislature.

Murray Smith Award

Peggy Prendergast never retired from teaching. Through her own learnings and discoveries of new talents throughout her retirement years, she has continued to pass on her knowledge to a vast number of people in her community and schools in Winnipeg. A talented watercolour artist and instructor, and a trombone player in the Adult Learning Band are only a few activities Prendergast pursues. She is also a charter member of the Age Friendly Mayors’ Seniors Advisory Committee for the City of Winnipeg and the Manitoba network for the prevention of elder abuse. Prendergast’s love of learning and teaching shines through in her daily life and how she contributes to her community. It is evident that all of her peers, whether it is young people or fellow seniors, they look up to her as a role model and an inspiration to accomplish as much as she has throughout her life. ■

Peggy Prendergast RTAM Board Member