REPORT ON THE CANADIAN HOME AND SCHOOL FEDERATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Submitted by: Jane Haggie 1^st Vice President NLFSC

I was fortunate to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Home and School Federation in London, Ontario from 24^th - 28^th May 2000.

In total eighteen delegates attended the conference from all across Canada and all but one province was represented, Nova Scotia who are experiencing financial difficulties at the present time.

BUSINESS MEETING - Friday

A large proportion of the business meeting was taken up by the approval of the draft of standing rules of the organisation together with the approval of the financial report and budge approval for the next fiscal year 2000-2001. All changes have been made in the CHSF binder.

Trust Fund

This fund was discussed and it was decided that this was not to be used just for emergencies by the CHSF. Money would not be taken at this time from it. It was decided that money from the interest earned would be available from it until the beginning of the next fiscal year and the money would be re-invested then if it had not been used

There is a G.I.C. that matures in January 2001. No one appeared to know where is had come from but it was been giving 6.1% interest! The trust fund want it and a decision has to be made on this, as the income to the Federation will go down next year. This is to be discussed at the mid-term meeting.

Membership fees

Due to a cut in funding to British Columbia membership fees to the CHSF have been reduced from $5000 to $2500.

AGM- Saturday

Timelines for the AGM

It was decided that sixty days before the actual conference a tentative agenda and programme going out to provinces was not working and the system would need to be changed for the future.

Financing for AGMs

CHSF would finance their own guests and the host province would finance theirs.

Mission Statement

This has been changed to read: The Canadian Home and School Federation recognises that the home, school and community share the responsibilities for the education and welfare of children and youth in Canada.

Provincial Sharing

Provincial sharing I found proved to be very interesting. Each province made a presentation to the rest of the delegates. From Newfoundland I did a presentation on School/Net Stellar Support Parents (SSSP). This is a programme that provides free computer training to parents and other interested community representatives. This training is used to voluntarily contribute to their schools and once trained it is hoped that the initial group will become qualified to instruct workshops.

Sharing from Newfoundland also included the Ministerial Panel's report on the delivery of education in the classroom. It was highlighted that the Federation had input in the information gathering part of the report and the President of the NLFSC had been invited to join the Implementation Committee for this report.

Sharing from other provinces included: effective policy making, violence within our schools and a community kitchen project.

Resolutions.

The Ontario Federation of Home and School Associations Inc. submitted a resolution on workplace safety and the legal rights training for secondary students who are offered co-op work programmes. It was discovered that workplace safety courses are only offered in Newfoundland, in fact this course was introduced at my local school in central Newfoundland last year . Originally pioneered by Albert Dalton in St John's in the Avalon District, this gentleman's name and email address has subsequently passed onto all the executive members of the CHSF to enable them to contact him directly.

Commissioner for Canada's Children

There are children's advocates in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia

The question arose if there was in fact a need for one specifically for Canada and did the CHSF support one proposition? It was thought that this subject needed further discussion and was therefore tabled to the next AGM when a presentation will be given on it.

Mid Term Meeting

The exact date for the mid-term meeting is yet to be set. It was an idea that this meeting could be combined with the Safe School's conference in Edmonton in the fall of 2000. The feasibility of this has to be considered due to the distance and financial implications.

New President

Joyce Enyon retired from her position of President of the CHSF after being in office for three years. Her successor is Pat Waters from Quebec . Joyce received the Canadian Lifetime Award at the AGM dinner.

Next AGM

The next AGM in 2001 will take place in Saskatchewan, from 30^th May until 2^nd June. This AGM conference will come to St John's, Newfoundland in 2006.