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Minutes: 20th Annual General Meeting
CANADIAN FEDERATION OF BIOLOGICAL SOCIETIES
Salon 4, Shaw Convention Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
Friday June 19th, 1998; 12:30pm

AGENDA

1. Call to Order

2. Approval of Agenda

3. Approval of Minutes of the 19th Annual General Meeting

4. Report of the President – Peter Dolphin

4.1 Science Policy Summary (attached)
4.2 Members-at-Large

5. Report of the Honourary Secretary - Peter Anderson

6. Report of the Honourary Treasurer – Arthur Hilliker

6.1 Budget (attached)
6.2 Appointment of Auditors

7. Other Business

8. Adjournment

Minutes

The 20^th Annual General Meeting of CFBS was called to order at 12:35 p.m. by the president, Peter Dolphin. He extended a very special thanks to the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and to the Program Chair, Linda McCargar, for having put together an excellent conference.
A motion to accept the Agenda was made/seconded by Judy Anderson/David Andrews: carried
A motion to accept the minutes of the minutes of the 19^th AGM of June 20, 1997 was made/seconded by Judy Anderson/David Andrews: carried
Report of the President

P. Dolphin noted that he wants to establish a nominating committee to ensure that executive and Board positions are filled in a timely manner with good people. There is also a need for an awards committee to ensure that the various awards that CFBS is responsible for are made to outstanding recipients, again in a timely fashion.

A review of the By-Laws by Peter Anderson has highlighted the fact that a number of changes are required. P. Dolphin stated the intention to form a committee to review these and the roles of the various executive, Board and committee positions.

He noted that the finances of CFBS are in a much healthier state now than they were, thanks to the efforts of Judy Anderson, Jim Fryer and Arthur Hilliker among others. He reiterated the need to have an endowment to provide CFBS with a bit of a cushion for those times when revenues might be less than expected, such as when a meeting did not realize its registration expectations. There is the CFBS Foundation which is a registered charity, but which CFBS has never accessed for support of any of its activities. It is based in London, ON, and meets once per year under the chairmanship of John Hamilton. Gene Tustanoff is a member of the Board of the Foundation.

4.1 Science Policy Report

Paul Hough was asked to provide a few comments on the science policy efforts of CFBS. He highlighted the fact that CFBS had been instrumental in building a strong collaborative working relationship with the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR), the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), the Humanities and Social Science Federation of Canada (HSSFC), and the National Graduate Council (NGC) over the past 2½ years. The result has been a high profile research advocacy effort that has contributed significantly to convincing the government to invest more in research and on research infrastructure.

This collaborative approach will continue and we hope to realize further such investment, but the task is going to be even more difficult because of so many competing demands for whatever resources that the government might have.

One potential program that is beginning to attract a lot of attention is the concept being developed by the MRC for a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This is an ambitious proposal that would eventually bring $500 million per year into health research, which would probably include far more than biomedical research. A session with representatives from the MRC is scheduled for Saturday, June 20^th at the CFBS meeting, at which a status report of the concept will be provided.

While the CIHR concept may eventually become the primary focus of our lobby effort, it is important to develop a small number of proposals that meet the needs of the research community. Thus, it is anticipated that basic research, through additional resources for the granting councils, will remain a priority. A lot of consideration is also being given to specific programs (e.g., research support to recipients of Canada Foundation for Innovation New Opportunities infrastructure funding; a program to retain the top researchers, or to attract such people back to Canada; etc.). The specific lobby program is being developed over the next few months.

P. Dolphin noted that he wants to ensure that a broader understanding develops within CFBS as to the level of effort being made in science policy, and the impact that this is really beginning to have.

4.2 Members-at-Large

P. Dolphin noted the importance of these positions and the desirability of brining in young people to the Board. He requested nominations for the two Member-at-Large positions that are open as of this AGM. Two names were put forward:

Doug Ward, a biochemist who works with one of the companies that has long exhibited at the CFBS Annual Meeting. He is keen to be involved, especially in the science policy work. He was nominated by Judy Anderson and seconded by Gene Tustanoff.
Heather Durham, who has just finished a term as a Member-at-Large, but who is keen to continue on the Board. She was nominated by Dennis Fitzpatrick and seconded by Judy Anderson.

Gene Tustanoff moved that the nominations be closed, seconded by Ted Palmer: carried.

Both nominations were declared duly elected for the two year term as Member-at-Large.

Report of the Honourary Secretary, P. Anderson

5.1 Edmonton Meeting

Dr. Vern Paetkau kindly agreed to Chair the Local Organizing Committee for the 1998 CFBS Annual Meeting. Dr. Linda McCargar, also of the University of Alberta, took on the responsibilities of Chair of the Program Committee of CFBS as of June, 1997. Together with a very strong local committee of volunteers, they have put together a meeting with content and facilities that have led to the very encouraging participation level. An excellent scientific program, and a good turn out of exhibitors (thanks to Dr. Dennis Vance) with the booths close to the poster area, has produced what has all the appearances of becoming one of the most successful meetings of recent years.

5.2 Winnipeg, 1999

Arrangements for the 1999 meeting are well underway in the capable hands of Dr. Judy Anderson and Dr. Dennis Fitzpatrick at the University of Manitoba. Despite the minor participation of CSBMCB due to their participation in a joint meeting in May 1999 with the American and PanAm Biochemistry Societies in San Francisco, an excellent program emphasizing strengths in nutritional and cardiovascular research is shaping up. The strong links to universities in North Dakota and adjacent states will be a real asset. This meeting will be held somewhat earlier in June than usual to avoid conflicts in hotel arrangements in Winnipeg, which is hosting the PanAm Games in July, 1999.

5.3 Future Meetings

An important decision is to be made in the near future concerning the site for the 2000 Annual Meeting. The new UBC conference facility on campus is available and has the capacity to handle over 500 people. However, an LOC has yet to be formed, and if this is not possible at UBC, CFBS will look to have the meting in Eastern Canada. These meetings are essential for maintaining the operations of CFBS, as well as being the largest biological/biomedical scientific events in the country.

5.4 Other Initiatives

Several things seem to be coming together to raise the profile of CFBS as an organization with responsibilities for administering award programs in Canada. In August, the first five Burroughs Wellcome Visiting Professorship awards will be announced. CFBS has been asked to recommend up to five nominees from applications submitted on behalf of Canadian institutions for visits by biomedical scientists to promote research in the basic medical sciences. Another opportunity is with the international drug company Astra Pharma Inc. with whom CFBS is working to finalize the ways in which CFBS will administer a Request for Proposals from Astra to support research in molecular biology, in areas of interest to the company. A committee to handle the applications and to determine the recipient is being formed.

Report of the Honourary Treasurer, A. Hilliker

6.1 Budget

Presentation of the budget (attached) resulted in the following points being discussed:

CFBS has essentially two sources of revenue, membership that has been decreasing, and Annual Meeting revenue. A bit of a cushion was provided through having the contract to produce the proceedings for the International Union of Nutritional Sciences meeting in Montreal in August, 1997.
In 1999, the membership revenue will be lower due to the loss of two societies, CSPP and CSI. However, operating costs have been substantially reduced in many areas.
The Treasurer stated that he would have liked to have been able to reduce the fees next year, but the loss of the two societies will not allow for this action.
The audited statement for 1997 are available (the fiscal year coincides with the calendar year). It essentially says that the auditors are satisfied with the state of the books and that CFBS had a positive year in 1997.
The bottom line for the 1998 Anticipated column in the budget sheets is lower than that in the 1998 Approved column due to the IUNS costs being incurred in 1998.
With much of the Federation’s revenue coming in during the first few months of the year, cash flow problems arise if societies do not remit their fees until late in the year. Several societies have yet to do so, and the Treasurer requested that do so as soon as possible.
The 1999 budget calls for a very modest positive balance, so that the financial outlook is stable if not particularly bright.
A question was posed as to the actual level of the membership – approximately 2,200 at the moment.
A question was also asked concerning the reasons that the two societies mentioned decided to withdraw. One, CSPP, did so for financial reasons (their members were unwilling to pay the $45 fees), while the other, CSI, apparently believes that it can be as effective in lobbying on its own.
It was noted by David Andrews and Judy Anderson that there is a lot of support for the lobbying function of CFBS, and that this would likely attract a number of people if they could join as individuals. Having such a category would have to be structured such that would not result in the constituent societies losing members, especially as CFBS does not want to detract from the activities of the societies. Thus, any individual membership category would have to be considerably more than the $45 fee for regular members. P. Dolphin suggested $75. This discussion resulted in the executive being authorized to pursue the idea of having such a category of membership, working with the societies to ensure that they did not suffer any loss of membership through such an action on the part of CFBS.
P.Dolphin noted the fact that American societies have a lot of Canadian members. These members should be encouraged to petition the American societies to direct the lobby component of their fees to CFBS rather than to Washington.
A motion was made to reappoint the auditing company of Robertson & Hill (Judy Anderson/Leon Browder): carried.
A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report (Linda McCargar/Leon Browder): carried.

Other Business

Linda McCargar, Chair of the Program Committee, noted that the Program Committee would be meeting on Sunday morning, and that all the representatives from the societies were urged to attend. There is a pressing need to finalize the PMAC Lecturers for Winnipeg, and to have the symposium information details prior to the submission of the MRC grant application on September 1st.

Dr. McCargar also noted that the themes of the 2000 meeting had yet to be defined and that a site must be selected in the very near future. Vancouver is the current preferred location, especially as the Genetics Society and the American Genetics Society are meeting in Vancouver in 2000, dates to be determined.

Adjournment: motion to adjourn (Judy Anderson/Leon Browder) at 1:30 p.m.: carried.

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