Minutes - September 15, 2021 Governance Committee Meeting

Members Present:

Mr. Bob Parker (Chair)
Ms. Aina DeViet
Ms. Maureen Cassidy
Mr. Mike Steele

Regrets:

Ms. Arielle Kayabaga

Others Present:

Dr. Christopher Mackie, Secretary-Treasurer
Ms. Carolynne Gabriel, Executive Assistant to the Board of Health and Communications Coordinator (Recorder)
Ms. Stephanie Egelton, Senior Executive Assistant to the Medical Officer of Health / Associate Medical Officer of Health
Ms. Emily Williams, Director, Healthy Organization/Interim CEO
Ms. Kendra Ramer, Manager, Strategic Projects
Ms. Cynthia Bos, Manager, Human Resources
Ms. Mary Lou Albanese, Acting Director, Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases

Chair Bob Parker called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest

Chair Parker inquired if there were disclosures of conflicts of interest to be declared. None were declared.

Approval of Agenda

It was moved by Ms. Aina DeViet, seconded by Ms. Maureen Cassidy that the AGENDA for the September 15, 2021 Governance Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

Approval of Minutes

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Mike Steele, that the MINUTES of the June 17, 2021 Governance Committee meeting be approved.
Carried

Receipt of Sub-Committee Minutes

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Ms. DeViet, that the MINUTES of the following Governance Responsibilities Committee meetings be received:
1) July 13, 2021
2) July 20, 2021
3) August 5, 2021
Carried

New Business

2021-22 Provisional Strategic Plan Status Update (Report No. 16-21GC)
This report was introduced by Ms. Emily Williams, Director, Healthy Organization / CEO (Interim) who introduced Ms. Kendra Ramer, Manager, Strategic Projects.

Discussion about this report included:

• Progress is being made on all the goals outlined in the Provisional Strategic Plan except for one: the goal to systematically collect and analyze sociodemographic and race-based data. While planning work, including the development of a project charter and implementation plan was done, the implementation was paused in order to allocate resources to the COVID-19 vaccine campaign during Q2 and Q3 of 2021. Implementation is anticipated to resume in Q4.
• Planning resources had been redeployed to the Vaccine Informatics and Planning team to support the COVID-19 vaccine campaign. Discussions will soon be held to repatriate these planning resources to support other planning functions within the Health Unit.
• Overall, collection of sociodemographic and race-based data within the COVID-19 program is going well; however, during the peak of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the capacity was not there to track this data consistently. As much as possible, COVID-19 vaccination clinics have captured the data and have significant data which is helpful, just not complete.
• Some secondary data sources exist which may be able to supplement the sociodemographic and race-based data collected. Surveys have been done at the provincial level; however, those surveys were used earlier to help plan the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and more recent data hasn’t been seen. Additionally, a request could be made to ICES, a provincial research agency with high security data labs, for additional data; however, there is no guarantee ICES would undertake that research, and if they did, it would take a while and public research report would be issued rather than direct information to the Health Unit.

It was moved by Mr. Steele, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to receive Report No. 16-21GC re: “2021-22 Provisional Plan Status Update” for information.
Carried

Governance By-Law and Policy Review (Report No. 17-21GC)

This report was introduced by Ms. Williams and further discussed by Ms. Ramer.

Discussion on this report included:

• There are 12 by-laws/policies, out of a total of 43, which are overdue for review as of August 31, 2021. While the Governance Committee was actively involved in reviewing the policies, this was paused during Q2 due to shifting priorities to focus on the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. A plan is in place to have all remaining 12 by-laws/policies reviewed by the end of 2021.
• Policy G-080 Occupational Health and Safety is included in Appendix B. It is brought forward for review annually and there are no changes to it since last year.
• Policy G-360 Resignation and Removal of Board Members is included in Appendix B and includes the changes recommended by the Governance Committee at its meeting on June 17, 2021.
• All by-laws and policies within the Governance Manual need to be reviewed, despite their reviewed status, for mention of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH)/CEO position as these roles are now separated.

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Ms. DeViet that the Governance Committee refer to staff to review all policies and procedures within the Governance Manual for references to the MOH/CEO position and make recommendations on changes.
Carried

It was moved by Mr. Steele, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Health to:
1) Receive Report No. 17-21GC re: “Governance By-law and Policy Review” for information; and
2) Approve the governance policies as appended to this report.
Carried

Board Development Proposal (Report No. 18-21GC)

This report was introduced by Ms. Williams.

Discussion on this report included:

• Ms. Williams attended the 2021 Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alpha) conference and made note of a presentation by Mr. James LeNoury, legal counsel to alPHa, which provided an overview called “Legal Matters: Update for the Boards of Health Section Meeting” which provides an overview of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) and reviews the responsibilities of boards of health and their members, elements of a governance policy framework, and measuring the effectiveness of a governance strategy.
• The presentation by Mr. LeNoury seemed relevant for a board development opportunity, given the neutral or less affirmative results from the Board of Health’s self-assessment, especially Part B: How well has the board conducted itself, specifically around recruitment and orientation.
• Mr. LeNoury has done many presentations for boards of health for orientation and development.
• Following discussions with Mr. LeNoury, two topics were selected for potential presentations for board development: a revised version of the presentation given at alPHa and a presentation on the accountabilities and liabilities specifically to board members in relation to HPPA.
• It is proposed that the revised presentation given at alPHA be offered in October, 2021 and the second presentation be offered in Q1 of 2022 as it is presumed that there will be new members of the Board of Health.

It was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Ms. DeViet, that the Governance Committee recommend to the Board of Heath:
1) Receive Report No. 18-21GC re: “Board Development Proposal” for information; and
2) Approve the professional development sessions offered by Mr. James LeNoury, LLB, as a Board development opportunity.
Carried

Other Business

The next meeting of the Governance Committee is Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 6 p.m.

Confidential

At 9:29 a.m., it was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Steele, that the Governance Committee will move in-camera to consider matters regarding labour relations or employee negotiations and personal matters about identifiable individuals, including municipal or local board employees.
Carried

At 10:07 a.m., it was moved by Ms. DeViet, seconded by Ms. Cassidy, that the Governance Committee rise and return to public session from closed session.
Carried

Adjournment

At 10:07 a.m., it was moved by Ms. Cassidy, seconded by Mr. Steele, that the meeting be adjourned.
Carried

Robert Parker
Chair

Christopher Mackie
Secretary-Treasurer