Held at the Holiday Inn, Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C.

Attendance:

Jeremy Hall	President
Doug Stead	President Elect
Micki Allen	Administrative Director, KEGS
Robert Mummery	Committees Director
John Clague	Education Director, GAC, CANQUA
Bryan Schreiner	Issues Director
Rene Barendregt	International Director
Susan Eaton	CSEG
Richard Grieve	NRCan ESS
Brian Fryer	MAC
W K Fletcher	AEG
Corey Froese	CGS
Don Lawton	CCCESD
Dan Moore	CGU
Brian Norford	CPF/CPAF (Saturday only)
Reg Olsen	CPG (Sunday only)

Action items are italicised within the script.

1. Welcome and introductions:

Jeremy Hall welcomed all attendees.

2. Approval of agenda:

Agenda approved as tabled, with inclusion of two items - insurance issues and inter-provincial mobility of professional geoscientists – under Item 20 - Any other business.

Motion to approve the agenda as per proposed change. Proposed by B. Fryer, Seconded: J. Clague. Carried

3. Approval of Minutes of the 107th Council Meeting (previously circulated and available at www.geoscience.ca/minutes/107minottawa.html).

Motion to approve minutes. Proposed by B. Fryer, seconded by J. Clague. Carried.

4. Action items from 107th Council Meeting not otherwise covered by items of agenda:

(i) CGC to continue monitoring activities of the DFO/NSERC marine science working group.


Monitoring continuing.

(ii) CGC member societies to send suggestions regarding topics and excellent speakers, for both the PAGSE breakfast talks and the annual colloquium to T.Aston.


Suggestions have been passed on to PAGSE.

(iii) All CGC member societies to ensure they have declared their membership level for the current year, using the revised subscription system.


Done.

(iv) CGC Board of Directors to assemble an expert panel on sustainable development and then produce a background paper.


Not done.

(v) T. Aston to check with Statistics Canada and HRDC regarding the value to them of acquiring the CGC census database.


Not done

(vi) CGC Board to investigate the feasibility of meeting (including AGM) in March 2002, in conjunction with the PDAC meeting. If this proved impracticable, the next meeting would occur either immediately before or after the CIM meeting (28 April to May 1, 2002)


Done.

(vii) CGC Board to revise visioning draft and submit to ESS management.


Done.

5. CGC Board of Directors and Executive Officer

(i) Finance Director


No nominations had been received for this vacant position on the CGC Board of Directors

(ii) Communications Director


Antoni Lewkowicz had recently resigned from this position due to extra commitments of his move to an administrative position at the University of Ottawa.

(iii) Executive Officer


Tim Aston had completed his term as Executive Officer, and had taken a full time job and so was unable to commit to a further term with CGC.

D. Lawton proposed a motion (seconded by C. Froese) to approve the Board’s proposal to appoint Bob Mummery to the position of Executive Officer. The motion was carried unanimously. Bob would work on a monthly fee basis, with the expectation of around 2 days per week put in to CGC business. Bob would resign as Committees Director

It was agreed that the first priority for the new Executive Officer should be to help the Board to organize a retreat of CGC member organizations to brainstorm on the way ahead for the geoscience community through recognizing and dealing with the opportunities, and obstacles, to more efficient and effective realizations of their mandates. The majority of CGC member organizations were willing to commit to the process, which would probably require a series of meetings over the next year or so.

The shift in location of the Executive Office from Ottawa to Calgary might have some benefits in representations to the federal government coming from an address outside of Ottawa. The loss of convenience of ready attendance at meetings in Ottawa could be addressed by appointment of someone resident in Ottawa to one of the three vacancies now present on the Board of Directors.

6. Reports from the Board of Directors

(i) President


J. Hall tabled his President’s report (available at http://www.geoscience.ca/presidentreport/pres2002.html)

(ii) Education


J. Clague would report under agenda items 13, 14.

(iii) Finance Director


The budget for the new fiscal year was presented by J. Hall and R. Mummery (who has been acting as Interim Financial Director). Approval of the budget was proposed by R. Mummery and seconded by B. Fryer; carried.

7. BC Geological Survey: initiating a dialog with the BC government

J. Hall reported on the situation of the BC Geological Survey (BCGS), which was undergoing significant reductions, as part of the new BC provincial government’s cost-cutting measures (see Geolog, Spring 2002, vol. 31, part 1, page 1 for a summary). The initial reduction (from 45 to 30 staff) has already taken place but further reviews are underway, with the expectation that the BCGS budget may ultimately be reduced to around $1M per annum, instead of the pre-election $4M. After the initial round of letter-writing to the Premier and the Minister of Mines and Energy, attempts are being made to engage the government in a dialog that will, at the very least, enable the government to appreciate as fully as possible what the deliverables from a geological survey are, and how they help drive investment. CGC has been discussing the situation with other national bodies, and is prepared to enter into discussions, once it is clear that there are initiatives at the provincial level leading to dialog. Shari Gardiner (President, BC & Yukon Chamber of Mines) was to have provided Council with an update in person, but had been taken ill, and apologized for being unable to attend. Her written note advised us of the kinds of initiatives that are being mooted among provincial geological organizations as the kinds of proposals that might help the dialog. Council will continue to listen to these discussions, and will take specific actions in support of our colleagues when it is timely and appropriate to do so.

8. Canada Prize

In an in-camera session, B. Norford provided background on the Canada Prize.

9. Standing Committee on Sustainable Mineral Resources Development (proposal distributed with agenda)

Motion to accept the proposal to form the committee, moved by B. Fryer, seconded by K. Fletcher: carried.

It was suggested that the composition of the standing committee be broadened to include an economist and a lawyer, on the basis that, since the intention is to cast the geoscience component in mining in a broader social context, it would be appropriate to recognize this in the composition of the committee.

10. Workshop on Canadian participation in the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP): Standing Committee for the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program

J. Hall reported on the workshop, noting that a written report will be published shortly in Geoscience Canada, and is available on the CGC web site (http://www.geoscience.ca/ICDP.html).

Motion to accept the proposal to form the committee, moved by B. Fryer, seconded by R. Mummery: carried.

It was suggested that, again in the broader context of this proposal, it might be valuable to engage those involved in economics, biology and the environment.

[Meeting adjourned 5:00 p.m. Saturday, continued Sunday morning, 9:00 a.m. D. Stead took the chair as newly-confirmed President of CGC; he thanked outgoing President, J. Hall, for 6 years of hard work and looked forward to receiving prompts and encouragement from him during the upcoming year.]

11. Review of position papers and backgrounders

Formatted versions of position papers on geoscience mapping, disposal of high level radioactive waste, subaqueous disposal of tailings waste, and sequestration of carbon dioxide were tabled. French translations will be forthcoming shortly. It was suggested that reference to the location of present storage of high-level waste be removed from the paper on this topic. The papers would be available on the CGC web site and ready for hard-copy printing whenever one of them became a media or political hot-topic. It was suggested that copies of the papers, once translations were also available, should be sent to various federal government Ministers (Natural Resources, Finance, Industry) and MPs (such as Peter Adams) that have known interest in geoscience issues. CGC should also begin to work on how to present to the media: S. Eaton will work with R. Mummery on this.

Motion to approve present 4 papers (with amendment on radioactive waste noted), moved by J. Hall, seconded by B. Schreiner; carried.

New papers are being prepared, on groundwater, earthquake hazards, and landslides. Climate change should be added to the list, especially with increasing public interest in the Kyoto protocol.

12. Canada’s Innovation Strategy

R. Grieve presented a view of the federal government’s Innovation Strategy, outlined in two papers (http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca/cmb/innovation.nsf/pageE/Executive+Summary+Cover; and
http://www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/stratpol/sl-ca/home.shtml). Because Industry Canada had not defined a geoscience sector for the consultation period – next 6 months – we would need to do something about this ourselves. Council charged Mummery, working with Grieve, Hall and Stead to implement a plan to respond to government on the Innovation Strategy. Again, we should write in support of the strategy and the geoscience contributions to it, and send the letter to federal ministers of Natural Resources, Industry, and Finance. The plan should include early consultation with CGC members as part of the planned retreat (see agenda item 5, above). It would also help to win the support of industry associations – the Mining Association of Canada and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

13. Survey of public awareness activities: CGC and CGEN

J. Clague reported on CGEN’s general activities - the series of EdGeo workshops for Earth science teachers; the EarthNet web site, as a resource for teachers; and the Geoscape series of posters of various areas in Canada. A priority task for the next year would be the updating of geoscience careers information. A. Morgan had begun this more than a decade ago with a “careers in geoscience” booklet, that was successively transformed into alternate media – a CD-ROM and a web site. The material is now dated and needs refreshing. The primary venue for the new material would be an updated web site.

J. Clague reported on the survey of member organizations’ public awareness activities. A substantial response had been received and an earlier, very extensive, CGEN survey (Mackin, 1998) reviewed. The next step would be to merge the new survey with an abridged and more-assimilable version of the earlier report. This would form a strong basis for determining how to build from the present status.

14. CGC support of GeoSciEd IV meeting in Calgary, 2003

J. Clague provided background on CGEN’s hosting the GeoSciEd IV meeting in Calgary in 2003. This is an international geoscience teachers’ conference. It would be very valuable to enable a good number of Canadian teachers to participate in the meeting, but this would require funding beyond the scope of the usual level of support by CGEN’s sponsors. Council determined to support attendance of teachers at the workshop and will make some effort to raise new funds to allow Canadian teachers to participate.

15. CGC Census of Geoscientists in Canada: distribution of database and first publication

J. Hall reported that the first paper on analysis of the Census data had been published in Geolog (Spring 2002, Vol. 31, Part 1, pages 6-10), and had been distributed to member organizations, as had the basic database information (with individual identities removed). Further analyses had been completed and would be submitted for publication in Geoscience Canada shortly.

16. 2002 Meeting of Ministers of Mines and Energy: CGC presentation?

Discussion of possible briefs to this year’s meeting of Ministers of Mines and Energy led to suggestions that the geoscience contributions to the Innovation Strategy would be an appropriate focus.

17. Reports from members of Council

(i) Earth Sciences Sector, NRCan


R. Grieve reported on the Geological Survey of Canada’s programs within the Earth Science Sector of NRCan. The gradual shift in programs to those that had direct connections with government priorities was well in progress. The Proposal Approval System would be tweaked again to allow only projects that addressed directly the strategic goals of the Department. Projects would have a short period of time to establish their value: exit strategies would allow for the removal of support if acceptable deliverables were not forthcoming. A good example was the new groundwater strategy, being developed in partnership with other levels of government.

(ii) Council of Chairs of Canadian Earth Science Departments


D. Lawton presented the latest (2002) registration statistics for the Canadian Earth science departments in universities. Graduation numbers were steadily increasing for BSc, after the low of the early 90s; but current registrations were steadily declining. MSc and PhD graduations were increasing presently, but had not regained the levels of the late 90s.

18. Strategic planning for geoscience in Canada

This item was deferred indefinitely. Previous attempts to move forward on this ‘umbrella’ approach had not generated sufficient energy from members. It was deemed more important to focus on the retreat, and the effectiveness of CGC and its members, from which further strategic planning might fall.

19. CGC brochure and slide presentation

Printed copies of the new CGC brochure were tabled; 1000 had been printed. These were consistent in style with the position papers, and other CGC products. A standard slide presentation of CGC and its aims had also been generated, and distributed to CGC Board members, from whom copies are available.

20. Any other business

(i) Insurance issues


J. Hall raised the matter of insurance. This was becoming an issue for CGC: we had made enquiries about both directors’ liability and professional liability. Costs on the order of $2000 per year are likely for either. If the same problems arise with CGC members, this might represent another example of how the geoscience community might collaborate in reducing costs by some kind of joint application.

(ii) Professional mobility


J. Hall remarked that one of the CGC members had asked about the present status of inter-provincial mobility for registered geoscientists. Hall undertook to get the latest word on this from CCPG and to distribute the response.

21. Date and venue of next meeting

Council recommended the next meeting be in Ottawa in the period mid-October to mid-November 2002.

22. Termination: The meeting terminated at 1:30 p.m., April 28, 2002.