Huronia
Welcome to the website of Huronia Branch. Our aim is to keep members informed on branch activities; provide information on meeting schedules, including Meet and Greet, branch advocacy and other areas of interest. In addition to our regular events, from time to time you’ll find information on Association advocacy as well as national events.
We invite you to take a minute to learn more about our branch website, and more about our advocacy priorities. And please be sure to like Federal Retirees on Facebook. We will update our site regularly, so check back for the latest news and coming events.
Huronia Branch board
Check back soon for an updated president’s message.
Request for volunteers
The purpose of the association is to advocate on your behalf, reminding the government to honour the pension you were promised and to fulfill the commitments made to you during your employment. All it takes is a few hours a month to keep our branch viable and operating!
Serving on the board as an elected officer or director-at-large is an exciting opportunity! It is a chance to share your expertise and life experiences, add value in advancing the association’s goals and objectives, meet new people and make a difference. Volunteering is also good for your health!
We need members to volunteer to join us and revitalize the branch as soon as possible. The future of your branch depends on this. Currently, we have an urgent need for the following volunteer roles:
Vice-president: The vice president’s role is to assume the duties and responsibilities of president in the event of the president’s absence, disability, or refusal to act. The vice-president shall have such other duties and powers as the branch board may specify.
Secretary: Provides effective governance, focusing on admin functions. Working as an integral member of the branch board and accountable to the president, she / he is responsible for all administrative needs of the branch. Responsible for the following: Serves on the executive committee, keeps copies of the Association’s bylaws, branch bylaws and the branch board’s policy statements, maintains a full contact list of branch board members (and committees) including board member appointment dates, terms of appointments and board member bios, notifies board members of meetings, creates and distributes agenda for branch board meetings, Makes sure that there is quorum at board meetings, ensures accurate recording and distribution of minutes of the board meetings, signs board minutes to attest their accuracy, records all corrections to minutes, keeps copies of minutes of both board and committee meetings, conducts general board correspondence, Keeps records of all board correspondence, signs branch’s official documents as required.
Director-at-large: We have several portfolios for director at-large to choose from. Just to name a few:
- Membership and recruitment – Meetings are mostly held on Zoom, this role requires occasional travel to attend recruitment events at CFB Borden (and possibly other locations where there are federal department offices within the area). Also provides recruitment & engagement expertise when recruiting potential volunteers. Working as an integral member of the branch board & accountable to the president, and with the resources and support of the national office volunteer engagement staff, he / she is responsible for ensuring the branch has appropriate volunteer resources to maintain effective operations.
- Communications – Meetings are mostly held on Zoom. The member is to prepare Sagemagazine branch reports, branch listings and branch In memorials (upon request only). Prepare branch emails and coordinate with national office. Maintain a list of volunteer phone callers and provide them with a list of members to call and advise of events such as the AMM and AGM. Prior to vacating the communications director position, assist in recruiting and training a successor.
Ad hoc volunteers: This role can be short or longer term and may involve making phone calls to members and/or helping with registration at meetings; occasionally special committee work.
Please do not feel that you must live in Barrie to volunteer for these roles. We currently have three executive members and volunteers that live outside of Barrie and it works just fine!
Time commitment:
There are two general membership meetings per year: The annual member meeting and an annual general meeting that are approximately two hours each followed by lunch and usually held in Barrie at the Legion. There are monthly executive meetings on Zoom which are two hours long and one in-person meeting (none in December, July and August).
If you can spare some time to help revitalize your branch, you would be more than welcome. The ability to attend online meetings via Zoom may continue for some time. Ideally, board members should be comfortable navigating technology including emails, some knowledge of Word and/or Excel.
We invite you to contact us at huronia@federalretirees.ca to discuss the volunteer opportunities with your branch.
Thank you for considering volunteering for your branch!
Huronia Board
Contact us
Email Us: huronia@federalretirees.ca
i) For immediate assistance, please call the national office number, toll free, at: 1-855-304-4700.
ii) Staff at this number can help with most questions and concerns.
iii) For specific branch issues, headquarters staff will pass the issue to the appropriate resource at the branch, and you will be contacted within five days
iv) You may also leave an email message at huronia@federalretirees.ca. We will respond within 48 hours.
About the Huronia Branch
Huronia has been in existence since 1990 according to documents found at the National Office and sent to the Huronia Branch President Albert Secor at the time. This seems to also match the date that appears with our branch By-Laws (1990 Charter date).
Huronia covers a large area that comprises of 6 Federal / Provincial ridings: Parry Sound – Muskoka, Barrie – Innisfil, Simcoe – Grey, Barrie – Springwater – Oro – Medonte, Simcoe North and York Simcoe. Federal Retirees members are assigned to a branch based on their postal codes within the branch’s geographical areas. For more details, see the tab “Branch Federal and Provincial Ridings” under the main page “Huronia Branch” on this website.
The branch is a not for profit organization and is an entity and agent of the National Association of Federal Retirees (“the Association”), established by the Charter issued by the board in 1990. The branch is subject to the Association’s national by-laws. As an agent of the Association, the Branch provides services to its members and carries out local programs consistent with the purpose, strategic direction and policies of the Association.
The core services of the Branch are advocacy at the local level in support of national initiative to advocate measures to protect and promote the pensions, benefits and general welfare of members and potential members. Oppose measures detrimental to the interest of members and potential members, information sharing, membership recruitment and engagement, etc. More information on core services is contained in the branch Bylaws (tab “Bylaws and Regulations” of the main page “Huronia Branch” on this website).
Bylaws and Regulations
Seniors’ issues
Issues important to seniors will be listed here as topics arise. Please check back regularly for new content.
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- Globe & Mail — Ontario to loose nursing homes — Apr. 11, 2023 (PDF)
- Gotcare — Policy brief — Final, Aug. 14, 2023 (PDF)