board meeting minutes 

Regular Board Meeting Minutes

18 March 2026

Present:   Kay Coburn, Cathy-Ann Glockner, James Hiebert, Kate Miers, Leannah Fidler, Kendal Benesh, Mike Morrison

Staff Present: Ashley Elliott (HR Director, IGM), Sean Silverson (Finance Director, IGM)

Regrets: Paul Cowan, Amanda Verigin (Operations Director, GM Candidate)

Chair: Kay Coburn

Recorder: Sadie Yancey (Board Administrative Assistant)

Meeting brought to order at 4:34 pm on Zoom. BAA requested to record the audio transcript of the meeting and there was no opposition.

Adoption of March Meeting Agenda:  M/Kate S/Kendal,  one amendment. All in favour.

Declaration of Interests: A director acknowledged that they would like to participate in proposed board training. 

Approval of February Meeting Minutes:  M/Leannah S/Kendal, no amendments. Carried with one abstained

4:37pm Cathy-Ann and Mike arrived

Approval of consent agenda, including: 

• Governance Committee minutes 
• Board Development Committee minutes
• Finance Committee minutes
• Member Engagement Committee minutes
• HR Committee

M/James S/Kate

A director acknowledged that Board Development is working on election promotions, and voiced support for the butcher shop renovations being done on budget and only 1 day over schedule.

CARRIED. All in favour.

Business Arising

1. Manager of the Month – Leannah Fidler, Front End

1. 1. Leannah shared with the board information about the Front End department, including checkout, member services, and online shop. Leannah gave an overview of the staffing and new projects
   2. Leannah responded to questions from directors.
2. Review member feedback.   The BAA shared that there was a request for information on our expansion from another food Co-op, a request to attend a meeting, and an offer of archival photos. 
3. Appoint Vice President. In response to the need for succession planning as the President, VP, and Treasurer are all up for election this year,  Mike has agreed to serve as Vice President

MOTION To appoint Mike Morrison as Vice President until October 2026

M/Kate S/Leannah

Several directors shared thanks to Cathy-Ann for stepping up to the role, stepping aside, and for Mike for stepping into a role when new to the board.  Kay will keep Mike in the loop with the day-to-day work of the President

CARRIED All in favour

4. BAA review – As discussed in the HR Committee notes, it was decided that BAA review would be more efficient to be completed together with annual review for operational role. Ashley will circulate a short survey. 
5. Approval of policies

MOTION To approve the updates to polices Objectives, Definitions, and Policy Development, as circulated

M/Cathy-Ann S/Mike

CARRIED All in favour

6. Board activities in the Strategic Plan.  The chair shared a document in the meeting package that tasked activities to committees. ACTION Committees will review the document and add assigned activities to their calendar.

MOTION To approve addition to all Terms of References the activity: “Carry out activities from the Strategic Plan that are delegated to the committee. Report on the progress, as appropriate.”  

M/Leannah S/Kendal

CARRIED All in favour

7. Columinate Training Proposal. As circulated in the meeting package, the HR Committee recommended that the board participate in the proposed training from Columinate to complement the GM Candidate’s training. The total cost is $2000 USD for 4 sessions for all directors.  There was agreement that this training must include guidance on goal-setting for the incoming GM in the first year.  ACTION HR committee will continue to refine the scope so that this need is explicitly stated. 

MOTION To accept the proposal for Columinate training, with the specific additions of the HR committee in the incoming GM’s first year

M/Cathy-Ann S/Mike

CARRIED All in favour

8. CCMA Conference. One director has expressed interest in attending the annual conference for food cooperatives. In the past, the Co-op has sent officers or the GM. It was noted that it was particularly helpful for the board president to attend when recruiting a GM around 2013. 

MOTION That the board approves participation in the CCMA conference in Tacoma, May 28–30, with expenses of up to US$5k to be covered from the existing board training budget. Participation would be optional and at the discretion of individual directors.

There was a lengthy discussion balancing the cost of the conference, the risk of traveling to the US at this time, and the benefits of participating in the greater food co-op community.  

 It was noted that CCMA has offered recordings in recent years. It is not known if this will happen again, but if so, these will be made available to directors. 

FAILED 4 opposed, 1 in favour, 1 abstain.

 

9. Election update
   1. The chair of board development shared that the call for nominations is opening soon, with a similar process, format,  and timeline to last year.  Directors were invited to comment on the wording. 
   2. Directed current directors who are seeking reelection to complete a nomination form. 

IGM Report – Presented by Sean Silverson and Ashley Elliott

10. Sean shared the highlights from the February financials, as circulated.  As with the last number of months, sales and net income continue to be steady, with February sales approximately 7% above the same month last year.
11. Sean shared the highlights from the liquidity report
12. Questions from member attendees – There are no non-board members in attendance.

Next Meetings:

April 21 – 5pm in-person,

May 19 – 4:30pm on Zoom.

The board intends to meet in person in June and to not meet in July.

The meeting adjourned to in camera session at 5.44pm