On May 18th 2011, ACFO hosted its third annual Departmental Representative Conference at the Delta Hotel in Ottawa. Attended by 30 Departmental Reps, the Conference gave participants an opportunity to network with other Reps from across the country, ACFO’s Board of Directors, and staff. A full day of speakers provided Reps with updates and background on ACFO’s initiatives, in-depth knowledge of the activities being carried out on behalf of the FI Community, and the direction our Association is taking in the coming months. 

Click on the pictures to view the video clips.  

Tony Bourque, ACFO Director

Departmental Representatives Program Leader Tony Bourque welcomed the Departmental Reps. He outlined the benefits that the Departmental Representative Program creates for our Association, and thanked the Reps for their valuable contribution to the success of the Program.

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Serge Buy, Flagship Solutions 

Serge Buy, a principal at Flagship Solutions, explained the role that his organization plays as lobbyists on ACFO’s behalf.

Flagship Solutions advises the Board of Directors on political matters, and stays abreast of conversations on and around Parliament Hill. They ensure that ACFO is aware of issues and opportunities to influence matters before they are finalized.

Serge highlighted several successful lobbying efforts on behalf of the Association. ACFO was instrumental in delaying the cancellation of LSIF tax-credits, which generated over $3 million in additional revenue. Flagship Solutions also lobbied to have several government operations committees officially recognize the important role FIs play in Canada’s accountability framework.

Serge provided his views on the political climate coming out of the Conservative party majority government, and what it could mean for ACFO and FIs.

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 Milt Isaacs, ACFO President and Board Chair

ACFO President Milt Isaacs delivered a presentation on a number of ACFO initiatives, outlining approaches and measures taken to grow our membership and influence. Milt gave a detailed update on the Association’s management, including how ACFO has increased capacity and accountability while holding the line on expenses.

 Milt provided his perspective on ACFO’s recent accomplishments, as well as his vision for the upcoming years. Milt took questions from attendees, addressing questions regarding a variety of current issues.  

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Vivian Gates, ACFO Labour Relations Advisor

Former teacher, author, and current ACFO Labour Relations Advisor Vivian Gates talked about the historical relevance of unions and how they were instrumental in negotiating the unique benefits enjoyed by public service employees. Vivian further outlined how the role of the labour movement is evolving in our post-industrial age.

Vivian discussed threats to the labour movement in Canada. She explained how a perfect storm of anti-union sentiment has grown out the collapse of the financial sector and subsequent recession. Vivian went on to show statistics debunking several commonly-held negative stereotypes of unions.

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Kevin Marchand, Treasury Board Negotiator 

Kevin Marchand, Treasury Board’s lead negotiator with ACFO for the last two rounds of collective bargaining, conducted a candid Q&A session. Taking pre-arranged questions from ACFO Labour Relations Advisor Vicky Ringuette, Kevin provided an enlightening glimpse into how Treasury Board conducts collective bargaining. He spoke about how TBS assembles its bargaining team, sets its agenda, defines negotiating parameters, and if they take different strategies with different unions. 

Kevin took questions from the floor, providing his perspective on a number of issues, including thoughts on the government’s intention with severance packages in the upcoming round of collective bargaining. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Vicky Ringuette, ACFO Labour Relations Advisor 

ACFO Labour Relations Advisor Vicky Ringuette discussed ACFO’s ongoing Classification and Allocation initiatives. Vicky explained the role of the qualification standard, and ACFO’s approach to resolving the issue of FI work being misclassified as non-FI positions within Departments.

Vicky went to explain the role Departmental Reps play in helping ACFO identify misallocated positions and job notices.