October 2nd – 3rd, 2019 Board of Directors Meeting – Ottawa – Part 1

November 4, 2019

RCMP VETERANS’ ASSOCIATION

The October 2nd – 3rd. 2019 Board of Directors Meeting – Ottawa

Dear Association Members,

The following is a summary of the BOD strategy meeting held at the Police College in Ottawa at the beginning of October. It will be broken up into a series of three messages to provide clarity regarding the discussions.

Membership growth discussions revolved around means of growing our Association – essentially encouraging individuals discharging from the Force to be part of the Association. The average age of our Active Members is ~ 75.3 years and our membership has not had any net growth over the past 4-5 years.

The Board will be developing the concept of “deeming membership”. This quite simply means that the Association will assume all individuals leaving the Force, honourably will be considered to be members immediately upon departure and only need apply to the Association to be an active member. This would apply certainly to those Civilian Members of the Force who will be undergoing a Change of Status in May 2020 and who may choose to retire rather than stay on as Public Servants.

The Association’s new Executive Officer, Mike Cote has provided an excellent description of how deeming will affect Civilian Members of the Force and the RCMP explanation of the process.

Mr. Cote: “In reference to “deeming membership”, the discussion was around the enacting of the “deeming clause” established in the new “Enhanced RCMP Accountability Act”. Once the deeming clause is invoked (May 21st, 2020), all Civilian Members in the Force will, for all intents and purposes, become “veterans” of the RCMP as their category of employee (COE) will have changed to that of a Public Service Employee (PSE). Technically speaking, all C/M’s will become automatic “vets” following deeming and the suggestion is to facilitate their becoming members of the Association on or about “deeming” day (“D” Day). As discussed, some may retire from the Force on that day, but I would suggest that most will probably continue their employment with the RCMP under a new COE.”

Although a change of by-laws may be required, the Board will propose the “deemed membership” program be implemented during 2020 and Divisions will process all membership applications through the credentials check that is now required under the current bylaws, i.e. no divisions should be voting to accept a new member that meets the respective membership category.

As was presented at the Association Executive Council (Division Presidents or division delegate and the Board of Directors), at the Yukon 2019 AGM, any references to rank within the Association would be eliminated in the application and databases in favour of regimental numbers and other membership identifiers.

In the matter of dues, a first-year free option will be developed for the “deemed members” (Active Member category). Naturally they can choose a Division and if they want to become an active (voting) member they would pay their first year’s fees to a Division or automatic on-line membership renewals.

Also under development is a standard dues structure for the entire Association which could be split into 2/3 Dues and 1/3 division contributions. This would reflect a more homogeneous organization with one fee for all rather than the current situation with different fees for different Divisions. Consultations will take place during 2020, for a 2021 implementation date.

Steve Walker
President
RCMP Veterans’ Association