James OGrady replied on Permalink
The logic is pretty weak. Imagine if every Board used this approach? No one would know anything. I don't find their reasoning acceptable.
Thank you for sharing your letter.
Ottawa Children's Aid Society asked for Committee Agendas and Minutes
Ottawa Children's Aid Society asked for Committee Agendas and Minutes
Posted on August 15, 2013 | John
Dunn | Written on August 15, 2013
Comments
Letter type:
Business / Organization Publisher
Publisher:
Children's Aid Society of Ottawa
From: John Dunn (afterfostercare@hotmail.com)
Sent: October-12-12 10:16:30 AM
To: Barbara Mackinnon (barbara.mackinnon@casott.on.ca)
Cc: Tracy EngleKingCASOtt (tengelking@casott.on.ca); MaryParisienOttawaCASExecOfficeCASOTT MaryParisienOttawaCASExecOfficeCASOTT (mary.parisien@casott.on.ca); CriticChildWelfareNDP (mtaylor-qp@ndp.on.ca); CriticChildWelfarePC (jane.mckenna@pc.ola.org); CASGPOOppCriticJenniferMooradian (jennifermooradian@gpo.ca)
Subject: Board Committee Meeting Minutes
Barbara MacKinnon
Executive Director
Children's Aid Society of Ottawa
and please distribute to:
Board of Directors Members,
Children's Aid Society of Ottawa
Deborah Shortt, President,
Hazel Lambert, Vice President,
Phil Jensen, Secretary Treasurer,
Tess Porter, Director at large
Ruth Koch-Shulte, Past President
Ann W. Croll,
Pauline Daling,
Steven Bellemare,
Shauna Graham,
Abdirizak Karod,
Al Mackey,
Michael Pelletier,
Tracy Wrong
Richard Tomlinson,
S.R. FPA Rep. (Name replaced with initials in accordance with section 45 (8) CFSA)
Barbara Mackinnon et al;
I would like to ask you for copies of the agendas and minutes of the various committees and/or subcommittees of the board of directors of the Children's Aid Society for the months of January - October 2012
They can be e-mailed in electronic form to me at johndunn@afterfostercare.ca or by mail to
Foster Care Council of Canada
Attn: John Dunn
12-1160 Meadowlands Drive East
Ottawa, ON
K2E 6J2
CC:
Tracy Engelking, Senior Legal Counsel, CAS
Mary Parisien, Executive Administrative Assistant
Monique Taylor, MPP - Opposition Critic, Children and Youth Services, Ontario NDP Party
Jane McKenna, MPP - Opposition Critic, Children and Youth Services, Ontario PC Party
Jennifer Mooradian - Shadow Cabinet, Children and Youth Services, Ontario Green Party
Sincerely,
John Dunn
Executive Director (Volunteer)
Foster Care Council of Canada
Website: http://www.afterfostercare.ca
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/afterfostercare
News Blog: http://www.fostercarenews.blogspot.com
Child Welfare Discussion Forum: http://www.fostercare.proboards.com
Letter Response
Barbara MacKinnon's interim response is shown below until the Board of Directors provides their formal response;
Hello Mr. Dunn,
I understand that Mary Parisien, my assistant, informed you that we will distribute your request to the Board of Directors for their consideration.
However, I would like to remind you of the rationale of our current practice which I think we discussed a while ago.
The current CASO practice is not to publicly distribute Board committee and working group minutes. The rationale for this practice is that the committee and working group minutes become redundant once they are received by the Board of Directors:
The model of governance applied at CASO is that all decisions are made within the committee of the whole which is the Board of Directors. The committees and working groups of the Board discuss and provide advice to the Board of Directors specific to their Terms of Reference.
The committees and working groups report on their activities and make recommendations to the Board of Directors which are discussed and the final decision is made through a motion and a vote at the Board of Directors. These decisions are recorded in the minutes of the Board of Directors which are available to the public.
The committee minutes are received by the Board and are noted both on the agenda and within the minutes of the Board. This confirms all the meetings occurring on behalf of the Board of Directors outside of the Board Meetings are known and acknowledged at the Board Meeting.
The committee and working group minutes or reports are dealt with at the Board meeting which immediately follows their meeting and are recorded in the Board minutes.
This practice is consistent with our model of governance, is efficient and ensures public access to the decisions of the Board of Directors.
I anticipate that the results of the deliberation of the Board of Directors regarding your requests will be available to you before the end of the year.
I hope this is helpful. Barbara MacKinnon - Executive Director The Children's Aid Society of Ottawa La Société de l'aide à l'enfance d'Ottawa (T) 613.747.7800 ext. 2600 (C) 613.697.1481
Barbara MacKinnon is saying that they do not provide members of the public with copies of the committee or working group agendas or minutes, that once the Board members have read them the public do not need to see them because they are deemed by her to be redundant, that this practice is consistent with the Society's "Model of Governance" but does not state what model of governance the Society implements, that doing so is somehow efficient, insinuating it is not efficient to let the public see such agendas and minutes, and that this ensures public access to the decisions of the Board of Directors, yet this does not in any way provide members of the public with the details of what the yes or no decisions are based on or about.
The question still remains, why does the Society feel the need to hide the content of the Minutes and agendas which the Board members are permitted to see yet the public are not permitted to see. Especially when the Society is funded by tax-payers to the tune approximately 20 Million a year.