Shimen Fayad was elected National President by acclamation as was National Vice President Marc Blanchard. Shimen Fayad begins her second term as the UHEW National President. Marc Blanchard begins his first term as National Vice President, who served previously as the RVP for Scotia Fundy since 2017. Together, Fayad and Blanchard will lead the Component for the next three years.
Here’s a recap of the rest of the day’s highlights.
REGIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT AND ALTERNATE REGIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT ELECTIONS
Elections for Regional Vice-Presidents and Alternate Regional Vice Presidents were held in their respective caucuses. Here are the election results:
- Robert Chafe, RVP for Newfoundland and Labrador
- Richard Dollimount, Alternate RVP for Newfoundland and Labrador
- Todd Davies, RVP for New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island
- Tyler Augustine, Alternate RVP for New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island
- Rae McCleave, RVP for Scotia Fundy
- Scott Mossman, Alternate RVP for Scotia Fundy
- Karla Levangie-Connor, RVP for Atlantic
- Sarah Oakley, Alternate RVP for Atlantic
- Benoît Thibault, RVP for Quebec 1
- Aline Vignola, Alternate RVP for Quebec 1
- Diane De Berardinis, RVP for Quebec 2
- Bruno Laganière, Alternate RVP for Quebec 2
- Rubin Kooner, RVP for National Capital Region 1
- Jeannine Laing, Alternate RVP for National Capital Region 1
- Diane Girouard, RVP for National Capital Region 2
- Philip Griffin, Alternate RVP for National Capital Region 2
- Janine Etherington, RVP for Ontario 1
- Francesco Lai, Alternate RVP for Ontario 1
- Kevin Lundstrom, RVP for Ontario 2
- Tim Eddis, Alternate RVP for Ontario 2
- Jamie Bonner, RVP for Manitoba
- Dana-Lee Armstrong, Alternate RVP for Manitoba
- Donald Racette, RVP for Saskatchewan
- Tanya Gyorfi, Alternate RVP for Saskatchewan
- Robert Weaver, RVP for Prairies and Northern
- Jeremy Stewart, Alternate RVP for Prairies and Northern
- Darlene Lewis, RVP for Alberta/British Columbia
- Jasmine Shields, Alternate RVP for Alberta/British Columbia
- Richard May, RVP for British Columbia/Yukon
- Eamon Miyagi, Alternate RVP for British Columbia/Yukon
HUMAN RIGHTS REPRESENTATIVE
Delegates elected Sonya Driscoll as the new Human Rights Representative for the Component. Sonya takes over for Rhonda Doyle LeBlanc who did not reoffer for the position.
ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO PSAC NATIONAL TRIENNIAL CONVENTION
UHEW has been allotted 22 delegates for the 2024 PSAC National Triennial Convention. Of these 22 seats, several will be allocated to UHEW National Council members. The remaining five seats were elected at Convention today as well as alternates delegates for the 2024 PSAC Convention. The following members were elected to serve as UHEW Delegates at the PSAC Convention next year:
- Nancy Spearing
- Tyler Augustine
- Jeannine Laing
- Philip Griffin
- Jacob Schofield
BY-LAWS COMMITTEE REPORTS TO CONVENTION
Following elections, the By-Laws Committee was stepped up again to deal with the referral from the previous day. The Committee advised that they had rejected the referral as they believed it would change the intent of the resolution. On the original motion, Delegates voted to adopt the last remaining priority resolution.
CLOSING REMARKS
National President Shimen Fayad addressed the delegates before the close of Convention. Shimen thanked the delegates for the hard work at Convention and extended her appreciation to the outgoing Human Rights Representative and National Council members.
Shimen then commented that there is a lot of work still ahead of the membership and much learning that will continue. However, united together, UHEW is up to the task.
INDIGENOUS CLOSING
Knowledge Keeper Debra Sparrow of Musqueam provided the Indigenous closing for Convention. Debra spoke to attendees about the lessons that can be learned from the environment around us. “The world’s events are speaking to us all, and if we don’t take action together to save our planet, who will?” Debra added that UHEW members are the ones who can lead the way.
