2024 vote results

For questions related to constitutional amendments, please note that pursuant to art. 29.6, the Constitution shall only be amended by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast. It should be noted that abstentions do not equate to a vote cast in terms of the contribution to the final tally of the votes.

From November 18 to November 29, pursuant to CAPE’s Constitution and Bylaws, all members in good standing were invited to vote on the proposed resolutions, to approve the budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 and the association’s financial statements for 2023.

Additionally, all EC members in good standing were invited to vote for their preferred candidate for the position of director on the National Executive Committee.

Here's a complete breakdown of the results.
 

Question 1

Be it resolved to accept the budget for the Canadian Association of Professional Employees’ fiscal years 2025 and 2026, as prepared by management, recommended by the Finance Committee, and approved by the National Executive Committee.

Budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 (PDF)

Question 2

Having reviewed the audited financial statements of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees for the 12 month period of January 1 – December 31, 2023; 

Be it resolved to accept the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, as prepared by Association management, reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC).

The audited financial statements (PDF)

Question 3

BE IT RESOLVED THAT CAPE will actively support and initiate a comprehensive campaign on women’s health, with a specific focus on increasing research and knowledge about perimenopause and menopause, advocating for the implementation of supportive policies, and promoting supportive and equitable action initiatives to mitigate the career and economic impact of these health issues on our members; 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT CAPE, working with healthcare professionals, researchers, workplace wellness experts, and other stakeholders, including other unions, will engage the Government of Canada, including Treasury Board, as key partners in this campaign, urging them to recognize the importance of addressing peri-menopause and menopause in the workplace and to collaborate on the development of national policies, research funding, and workplace practices that support women’s health and career advancement.

More information on this resolution

Question 4

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Association shall reallocate the $5,000 contribution to CAPE for Palestine as an expenditure originating from the President’s Discretionary Fund and not the Executive contingency budget line; 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the NEC and the National President cease indefinitely any future contributions to CAPE for Palestine or any affiliated/successor group. 

More information on this resolution

Question 5

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the NEC shall further revise CAPE’s donation policy to provide for, at minimum, the following conditions on donations: 

1. that a recipient organization be a registered Canadian charity in good standing with the Canada Revenue Agency, and provide their charitable registration number in their donation request, a not-for-profit entity duly registered as such under relevant federal and/or provincial/territorial legislation, or a federal public service bargaining agent member of the National Joint Council; 
2. that a recipient be at an arm’s length distance (with the same meaning as in Section 251 of the Income Tax Act) from the NEC and the National President; 
3. that written donation requests be published on CAPE’s website within 5 days of receipt, and that at least 10 days elapse between the request’s publication and the NEC’s decision; 
4. that donations are non-renewable and cannot be used to support a recurring initiative; 
5. that unused donated funds be returned to CAPE upon the conclusion of the donation’s purpose.

More information on this resolution

Question 6

BE IT RESOLVED THAT CAPE withdraws investments from Israeli-owned companies and from all international companies that provide financial support to sustain the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. This will include the following actions and commitments: 

1. Commit CAPE resources to identify and withdraw from all implicated investments including those in CAPE’s Service Plus discount program (e.g. SodaStream) and through its pension program for CAPE staff. 
2. Review and assess all future investments for risk of financial implication in the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
3. Document the process of divestment and report on progress to membership in order to build transparency and collective knowledge.
4. Demonstrate leadership by encouraging our sister unions in the federal public service context (e.g., PIPSC, PSAC, and ACFO) to immediately divest their respective and applicable investments.

More information on this resolution

Question 7

BE IT RESOLVED THAT CAPE create and mandate a Local Review Committee to consider options for restructuring CAPE criteria for local membership. The committee shall develop and propose one or more options, which shall include the development of a proposed process for ratification of the above options. Priorities and options shall be determined by the Local Review Committee with consultation from members, locals, and elected CAPE executives. The committee shall report back to the membership within six months from first being appointed.

More information on this resolution

Question 8

Do you approve the allocation of $100,000 from CAPE’s operational budget to fund a Rank & File Activity Honorarium?  This would be funds set aside to reimburse the employer for the time that rank-and-file members spend during their workday to actively contribute to CAPE’s official campaigns. Eligible activities can include organizing and mobilizing work that is required to deliver on campaigns such as the campaign to reverse the Return to Office policy. 

More information 

Question 9

Do you approve the allocation of $20,000 from CAPE’s operational budget to fund a Member Caucus Fund?  This would be funds set aside to allow member caucuses to access financial resources, in the spirit of empowering members to organize, lead and take action. Any rank-and-file member caucus with a minimum of 10 CAPE members in good standing, may apply for up to $1000 (per application) from the Member Caucus Fund to facilitate its planned activities.

More information 

Question 10

Be it resolved to accept the proposed introduction of a new By-law 2.6 (Meetings of the National Executive Committee) to require that motions or resolutions, which are not merely procedural, be available in both official languages prior to being considered by the NEC.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 11

Be it resolved to accept the proposed introduction of new By-laws 2.7 and 2.8 (Meetings of the National Executive Committee) to outline what information will be included in the minutes of NEC meetings and to require that video recordings of NEC meetings, from an observer perspective, be produced and published. 

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 12

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to By-law 3 (Elections and Resolutions) that improve the elections and resolutions process.

*If this resolution is approved by the membership, the proposed amendments to By-law 3 shall come into effect on March 31, 2025, pursuant to Article 18.3 of the CAPE Constitution, when the Elections process is deemed to begin.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 13

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to By-law 4 (Locals) to better support locals.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 14

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to By-law 5 (Discipline) to completely revamp the member complaints and discipline process.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 15

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendment to By-law 9.2 (Rules of Procedure) to reduce the threshold for overturning the Chair's decision to a simple majority.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 16

Be it resolved to accept the proposal to create a new By-law 17 (Accessibility) which confirms CAPE’s commitment to ensuring that members with disabilities can equitably participate in CAPE proceedings and activities.

Access the amendments to the By-Laws

Question 17

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to the Definitions section, to Article 6 (Powers of the National Executive Committee (NEC)) and Article 22 (Locals) of the Constitution to define ‘Local’, outline the process for establishing and restructuring locals and to empower locals to adopt by-laws.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 18

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to Article 8 (Composition of the NEC) which remove non-voting members from the NEC.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 19

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendment to Article 11.7 (Duties and Responsibilities of Members of the National Executive Committee) that seeks to align with the current practice that NEC members are elected to represent a specific bargaining unit (i.e.: EC, TR, LoP, OPBO) and will allow for future amendments to restructure the NEC.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 20

Be it resolved to accept the proposal to create two new Articles; Article 38 (Position Statement) which introduces a Position Statement for CAPE and Article 22.9 (Locals) which outlines the process for amending the Position Statement.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 21

Be it resolved to accept the proposal to create a new Article 14.3 (Collective Bargaining Committees) which allows for members to be involved in determining bargaining paths and priorities and, provides a more democratic process than a bargaining survey.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 22

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendment to Article 9.3 (President’s Duties and Authorities) which allows the President’s interpretation of the Constitution to be challenged.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 23

Be it resolved to accept the proposed creation of new Article 19.9 (Elections and Terms of Office) as well as the proposed amendments to Article 36 (President’s Salary and Benefits) which require the President to reside in the National Capital Region and provide for changes to the President’s salary and benefits. 

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 24

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to Article 20 (Removal from Office), Article 32 (Special General Meeting (SGM)), and Article 37 (Constitutional Amendments) to now define participation thresholds as percentages of the membership rather than raw numbers.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question 25

Be it resolved to accept the proposed amendments to the Definitions section, to Article 4 (Official Languages) and to Article 33 (Rules of Order) of the Constitution to define “bilingual” and “bilingualism”, to require the National Office to support locals in holding bilingual AGMs, to ensure that interpretation is available at NEC meetings, and to protect the health and safety of interpreters.

Access the amendments to the Constitution

Question #26

BE IT RESOLVED that the $5 million cap on CAPE’s defence fund be removed;

BE IT RESOLVED that the National Executive Committee implement a plan to increase the defence fund annually;

BE IT RESOLVED that the National Executive Committee review and amend, the Terms of Reference of the Defence Fund to ensure its intended use is to support members during labour disputes;

BE IT RESOLVED that a special levy of $5.00 per paycheck per member, or smaller amounts spread over an amount of time, in addition to our regular dues, be applied to the 2025 calendar year to increase our current defence fund by approximately $3M. 

More information on this resolution

Question #27

For EC members only, select the candidate of your choice for the position of Director to represent your group.

• Ilya Volnyansky [bio]
• Kerry Gervais [bio] (Please note that the candidate withdrew from the by-election on November 17, 2024)
• Nick Giannakoulis [bio]
• Samir Bakhtawar [bio]