Attending Members: Jon Ardagh, Ghislaine Ardagh, Nathaniel Christopher, Greg Davey, De Ding, Yan (Rocky) Dong, Horia Dumbraveanu, Tristan Elliott, Rob Haines, Herman Harms, Lorraine Harvey, Jay Herath, Debbie Jeske, Glenn Kerr, Peter McDonald, Diana Miron, Amrita Narciso, Jim Pigott, Iain Provan, Bonnie Richter, Heinz Richter, Juhani Siira, Peter Teevan, Patrick Wilson   

Regrets: Several members expressed their regret at not being able to attend the meeting because of travel or family commitments  

Guests:     The Honourable Senator Yonah Martin

   Robert Boyd, National Council Member for British Columbia

              Mani Fallon,  National Council Member for British Columbia

Konrad Kobielewski, President of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky Country EDA 

Summary Report of 2023 Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m. by Jim Pigott, President, who thanked our returning and new members for turning out and welcomed our guests.  Jim then introduced Senator Martin: his remarks are reproduced below, as follows: 

The Honourable Senator Yonah Martin is our one Conservative Senator from

British Columbia. She was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in

January 2009 to the Senate. She is the first Korean-Canadian Parliamentarian in Canadian history and is the first Canadian of Korean descent to serve in the Senate of Canada.

A graduate of UBC, she received her Bachelors in Education and then earned a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction in 1996. She had a 21-year teaching career.

Senator Martin co-founded C3 Korean Canadian Society, a non-profit to "bridge communities". Currently, she serves as Honorary Patron of C3, in addition to serving on several regional, national and international Boards and Advisory Councils.

Senator Martin is currently the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; she served as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate when we were in power prior to 2015, and as the Deputy Whip of the Government in the Senate (2011-2013). She has been Co-Chair of the Canada Korea Inter-Parliamentary Group since 2009 and chairs or serves on the Executive of various interparliamentary groups. In 2015, she co-founded the International Parliamentary Coalition for Victims of Sexual Slavery (IPCVSS), and currently is Co-Chair of Canada.

Her notable achievements as a Senator to date include the enactment of her Senate Public Bill - Korean War Veterans Day Act; the successful campaign to add Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncturists to the schedule of health professionals for GST/HST exemption; and the conclusion of a multi-year negotiation process and implementation of the historic Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement.

She has many community service awards including:

i.          the Tri-Cities Spirit of Community Award for Cultural Harmony

ii.       Order of Civil Merit Moran Medal by the president of the Republic of Korea for outstanding leadership in advancing the rights of overseas Koreans

iii.        the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

iv.         she was recognized as one of UBC's top Education 100 Alumni

v.         and she was honoured with the King Clancy Award from the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons

There’s a long list of her accomplishments in the Senate and I encourage you to visit sencanada.ca to view her history. There are 11 pages just going back 2 years. 

Jim then turned the microphone over to Senator Martin. 

Senator Martin addressed the gathering, first expressing her pleasure at attending our AGM with National Councillors Robert Boyd and Mani Fallon and also her thanks to the members present and the EDA for inviting her.  Senator Martin declared that the highlight of her varied career has been her successful campaign to bring about recognition of Canadian participation in the Korean War (1950-1953), Canada’s Forgotten War, and to honour the Canadian servicemen who fought in it to turn back the tide of Communist tyranny, an ongoing threat which persists yet today.  One provision of the legislation our former Conservative government was instrumental in effecting was to entitle veterans of the Korean war to military pensions for their service, thereby correcting  a longstanding oversight and injustice. 

Senator Martin mentioned she had herself run for Parliament, not winning but achieving surprisingly positive results considering she was campaigning in the former riding of New Westminster-Coquitlam, not a traditionally Conservative-friendly area.  She feels that our riding, Burnaby North-Seymour, is a riding with good potential for a Conservative candidate to win in the next election. 

Commenting on the situation in Ottawa, Senator Martin says the NDP are likely to continue propping up the Liberal Government until Trudeau decides to call the next election.  Senator Martin praised Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, as being articulate, energetic, hardworking and leading a very strong caucus.  He has built up considerable momentum for the Party and generated a large online following.  Pierre will be out West again during the summer, thereby providing another chance to meet him.  Senator Martin, who engages extensively with different cultural communities, mentioned she recently attended a meeting with elders from the Bangladesh community and noted how their values and Conservative values closely align.

Senator Martin announced that she would be able to take a question or two from the audience and one from Jim led to an explanation about the current workings of the Senate: there are only fifteen Conservative senators and although Trudeau had announced that Liberalappointed senators would be “independent”, in reality they vote for Liberal-initiated legislation most of the time, thereby passing the Liberal-NDP bills sent to the Senate for ratification.   

Senator Martin explained that although the Conservative senators can introduce amendment proposals and manage to delay passage for some time, in the end they have to let the bills be called to question (which would lead to a final vote on the said bill) on the principle that the Senate can not - or, at least, should not - prevent passage of legislation from the democratically elected House of Commons which is supposed to represent the will of the Canadian electorate.   

Debbie thanked Senator for making the time to visit us at our Annual General Meeting and providing us with not only an interesting but also inspirational speech in reminding us of the contributions which have been made to Canada by many people in many different ways.  Our meeting being only the second of five Party-related events she was to attend that day, Senator Martin then took her leave. 

Robert Boyd next confirmed the validity of the attending members’ Party registration and Jim proceeded with the business portion of the meeting. 

1.             Agenda - a motion was made that the Agenda distributed for today’s Annual General Meeting be approved.  Passed.

2.             Minutes of previous meeting - a motion to adopt the minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative Association held on 23 April 2022 as circulated with the Agenda was made and passed.  

3.             President’s Report - Jim reviewed the significant activities of the past year:

-                 Leadership Race - the campaign brought the leadership contenders to BritishColumbia on a number of occasions, allowing members and potential members to meet and interact with them, and culminated in Pierre Poilievre’s highly popular win which led to a massive increase in Party membership.

-                 CPC Organization - Jim reported that Pierre has recognized BC as an importantbattleground area in the next federal election and has committed extra resources to our province, one example of which is the appointment of a Desk Officer for BC, Fritz Radandt, (a long-time conservative and former EDA President and campaign manager) and two additional staff for Christine Remedios, our Regional Organizer for the Conservative Party of Canada, and four new Community Outreach positions.

-                 Operation of the Board - Jim commented that the EDA Board of Directors hadfunctioned very well throughout last year, especially with the addition of our Financial Agent, Luke Reed, who has done an excellent job handling the finances and dealing with Canada Revenue Agency and Elections Canada filings, as well as reconstructing our EDA website resulting in substantial annual savings. 

-                 Zoom - the need for Board Meetings by Zoom had passed, which was generally forthe better, although directors who had been outside Canada during Covid had been enabled for much of the period to attend meetings. 

-                 Representation on National Committees - BC was well represented on the NationalPolicy Committee and the National Constitution Committee by reason of Jim having been elected to each. 

-                 Policy and Constitution Committee of the EDA - the EDA’s Committee, chaired by IainProvan, had worked extensively with Ideas Lab to develop proposals, two of which are already assured of making it to the floor of the Quebec Policy Convention in September of this year, having been voted as BC Regional Priorities at the series of BC regional meetings held this month; one relates to changing the Constitution to permit proposal of wholesale rather than piecemeal amendments and the other to the environmental policies which Peter Krahn has been developing over the past several years.  Jim and five other delegates will be traveling to the Convention on behalf of the EDA.  It was proposed by Peter Teevan that the Minutes formally record the congratulations of the Meeting for the work done by the Committee.

-                 Events Committee - a number of successful events were staged under the guidanceof Rob Haines, chairman of the Committee, including a most enjoyable Christmas banquet and Pub Nights designed to meet new members, more of which are planned over the coming summer, along with one or more barbeques; the EDA also participated in Burnaby’s Hats Off Day, both last year and will again at the start of June this year.

-                 Communications Committee - the Committee upgraded its communicationcapabilities, with Luke Reed creating a new web site and effecting considerable annual cost savings in the process, and Lorraine Harvey and Greg Davey collaborating to produce newsletters for dissemination to the riding’s membership; in the meantime, the Party was working to correct email-related problems.  Our BN-S website is accessed at  bnsconservative.ca .

-                 Membership - the committee has been concentrating on contacting those whosememberships are expiring, a particularly busy job at the moment because of the huge sign-ups a year ago during the leadership race.  

Jim again stressed the successes recorded by the Policy and Constitution Committee in already having two policy submissions accepted for presentation in Quebec and in working together with other EDAs across the country to arrange co-sponsorships or numerous policies being developed. 

Looking forward -

Convention - the most imminent event on the horizon is the Convention which will take place in Quebec City from September 7 to 9; the riding will be well represented, both with sponsored policy proposals and with delegates attending. 

Candidate - with an eye to the future, the riding must keep in mind the need for a candidate in the next election, whenever it may occur.  At present, Kelsey Shein is our Candidate-of-Record but we are unlikely to know anyone’s intentions and availability until a federal election is actually called; in the meantime, a Candidate Nomination Committee will be established to determine the issue in a timely manner and begin the recruiting process.  

Election 20?? - Jim expressed the strongly held view that Burnaby North-Seymour is a winnable riding for the Conservative Party.  This feeling is bolstered by the popularity shown for Pierre Poilievre in becoming the leader of the Party, by the increasing irrelevance of the NDP which no longer appears to represent its traditional constituency and by the growing recognition of the corrupt, incompetent, divisive, opaque and hypocritical performance of the Trudeau Liberals.  

In furtherance of the election of a Conservative Member of Parliament at the next opportunity, Jim urged members to assist the Party and the EDA both by volunteering and by financial contribution. 

4.         Financial Agent’s Report - Luke Reed being away, Jim delivered the EDA’s financial report on his behalf.  The Financial Statement submitted by Luke to Elections Canada showed the 2022 fiscal year started with a deficit and ended with a positive balance; funds received during the year came from the Elections Canada refund (from 2021 federal election), a portion of memberships sold during the year (extra high because of the leadership race) and donations similarly inspired, while outlays included repayment of 2021 election campaign costs as well as normal operating expenses; we have no outstanding loans or significant debts at this time.  Donations are down this year to date from last year’s leadership campaign-inspired high.  Our savings were moved to a different financial institution in the course of the year and are now earning greater monthly interest.

As regards donations, Jim reminded the audience that the first $400 donated in a year to the Party or the EDA attracts a $300 tax credit and he urged members to take advantage of this opportunity; since the rebate is individual rather than family based, a contribution from each spouse will provide a significant benefit to the EDA or Party at a relatively small cost.  As between donating to the Party or to the EDA, the former would be shared at the federal level while those contributed through the latter stay here in Burnaby North-Seymour so the best way to participate is by going to the riding web site and utilizing the “Donate” button. 

We currently have a healthy surplus and want to get this up to well over $100,000 before the next election is called.  Peter Teevan reminded the meeting that although there are election campaign spending limits imposed on each riding by Elections Canada, funds in our war chest exceeding our own limit can be loaned to other ridings less well off, as was the case with our own riding in the last election.    

Any member wishing a copy of the audited financial statement, please email Jim at jim@bnsconservative.ca .

Moved and seconded that the Financial Report be approved.  Passed.

5.             Appointment of Auditor - Moved and seconded that our traditional auditor be reappointed as the EDA’s auditor for the forth coming year.  Passed. 

6.             Election of Directors -

Retiring Directors - Jim thanked retiring directors, Trevor Ford, Brandon Fonseca, Barbara Spitz and Sally Zhou, for their contributions of time and effort as Board members through the year.  Jim particularly congratulated Trevor who following the recent civic elections was appointed by Ken Sim, the new mayor of the City of Vancouver, as his Director of Operations.

Returning Directors - Jim announced that Jon Ardagh, Steven Brooks, Al Foroodian,

Rob Haines, Lorraine Harvey, Jay Herath, Deborah Jeske, Maria King, Peter Krahn, Larry Lin, Jim Pigott, Iain Provan, Luke Reed and Peter Teevan, who are presently sitting Board directors, had agreed to serve another term.  Jim Pigott is an “automatic” member as Past-president and Kelsey Shein is an “automatic” member as Candidate of Record. 

Members seeking election as Directors - Jim similarly announced that De Ding, Tristan Elliott and Peter McDonald had volunteered to stand for election. 

Nominations from the Floor - Jim then called for nominations from the floor whereupon Tristan put forward the name of Amrita Narciso, who agreed to stand for election as well.  Amrita is a lawyer, at home raising young children and not in active practice at the present time.

Election/Affirmation - With twenty individuals agreeing to act as Board directors and the maximum number of directors authorized for the Board standing at 30, no vote was necessary and the aforementioned individuals were elected by acclamation.  The number of Board Directors for 2023/2024 stands at 21. 

7.             New Business - No matters were raised. 

8.             Election Readiness Plan - Committee chair advised that the EDA has a standing election readiness plan in place, developed during the previous federal election, and that the outline remained relevant since the circumstances had not changed (no

pending election, no formal boundary distribution change as yet).  Changing factors will prompt appropriate amendment as they occur. 

9.             Code of Conduct Review - Jim went over the Party’s Code of Conduct for Volunteers, EDA members and Campaign Staff.    

10.          General Discussion - During the course of the Meeting, some general discussion took place.  One question related to establishing the riding’s candidate for the next election. It was pointed out that this is often very difficult to arrange until an election is actually called since most individuals have lives to live and careers to pursue and cannot put these on hold on the speculative basis that they will be winning a seat in the House of Commons - or not - at some undetermined time in the future.  Usually this very disruptive decision can only be taken by a prospective candidate in the light of immediate circumstances once an election writ is imminent or has been dropped.  In the interim between elections, the EDAs have to keep the Party’s interests and policies in the public eye until a candidate is chosen and takes over that job.  A Candidate Nomination Committee must attempt to seek a quality candidate and then encourage and assist him or her to participate.  

11.          Adjournment - Jim announced that his term as President had come to an end and that he had enjoyed the opportunity to serve his community, particularly by working to oppose many of the policies of the present government.  Jon Ardagh endorsed the thanks to Jim for his leadership and service expressed earlier by Peter Teevan and other members and added that it was Jim’s example that inspired his own decision to become more politically involved.  The Meeting then adjourned at 3:00 p.m., new and returning directors being asked to remain for a short EDA Board meeting.