REGULATION NO. 7 - REGIONAL OR INTER-REGIONAL CONFERENCES

7.1 REGIONAL OR INTER-REGIONAL CONFERENCES

1. Regional Vice-Presidents shall arrange regional or inter-regional conferences as required or if requested by a simple majority of Local Presidents.

2. At least thirty (30) days prior to the Conference, a Regional Vice-President shall submit, in writing to the President, a request for funding.  The request shall include:

   1. the date;
   2. location;
   3. proposed agenda;
   4. proposed budget; and
   5. names of guests that require the spending of UTE funds.

3. Upon receipt of the Regional Vice-President’s request, the President shall review it and inform the Regional Vice-President of the decision.  If the decision is non-concurrence, rationale must be given.  Concurrence will not be withheld by the President if the conference is requested by a simple majority of Local Presidents provided such conferences do not exceed two (2) in any fiscal year.

4. Following approval by the President, an advance to cover expenses of the conference will be sent to the Regional Vice-President(s).

5. In the event of a labour dispute that results in additional expenses related to an approved regional event in respect to travel and related costs, the region will be eligible to request a subsidy up to a maximum of $500.00 per delegate.

   The Regional Vice-President requesting this subsidy must provide to the National President for review and approval, in accordance with UTE Regulation 13, details itemizing the additional costs including but not limited to, airfare, mileage, accommodations, per diems or loss of salary.

6. The Vice-Presidents shall be entitled to attend regional or inter-regional conferences in which their Local is entitled to participate, and to attend any other Regional or Inter-regional Conference if invited by a participating region.

7. Within ninety (90) days of each conference, a Regional Vice-President shall:

   1. provide written minutes of the conference to the National Office and to the delegates; and

   2. account for the advance obtained for the conference and any additional expenses incurred.

8. If the requirements of 7.1(7) are not met, the President shall not consider any additional advances under this Regulation.

9. Regional Vice-Presidents shall obtain and maintain a separate bank account for the purpose of depositing funds received for Educational Courses and Regional or inter-Regional Conferences and issuing the reimbursement of expenses.

7.2 REGIONAL DISCRETIONAL FUNDS

1. A maximum amount of ten per cent (10%) of the region’s yearly allocated budget may be used for discretional spending, subject to the approval of the majority of the Locals in the region.

2. All requests for spending must have approval of the National President or in their absence the 1^st Vice-President.

7.3 GUIDELINES FOR REGIONAL EDUCATION BUDGETS

1. The regional education budget is divided equally among the ten regions.

2. For a regional to use their educational budget, it must be matched dollar for dollar from their regional budget.

3. The President may approve the use of the educational budget for approved UTE courses, in full, in part, in combination of the approved courses and/or workshops provided at Presidents' Conferences listed in 7.3.6.

4. Portions allocated to each region that are not used in a given year shall be carried over to a subsequent year for that region until the next UTE Convention.

5. Non-UTE educational courses shall need the approval of the Executive Council.  Once Council has approved a course, it will be an approved UTE course,  therefore only needing the approval of the President:

6. (a) UTE courses/workshops approved by Council:

   • Grievance Handling;
   • Local Officers Course;
   • Staffing Course;
   • OFL Return to Work Course;
   • PSAC Convention Preparation Course;
   • PSAC Convention Procedures Course;
   • PSAC Duty to Accommodate Course;
   • Workshop on Developing Membership Activism;
   • Workshop on Drafting Resolutions
   • Workshop on Local By-Laws;
   • Workshop for Local Treasurers;
   • Workshop on Performance Management; and
   • Basic Accounting Course for Locals
   • The Mental Health First Aid course presented by the Canadian Mental Health Association

   (b) Modules of the PSAC Local Officer Kit as follows:

   1.3, 1.4, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.9 and 3.1

   (i) If the education portion of a regional session last a full day or more, they may expend fifty (50) % of the expense from their education budget.

   (ii)  If the education portion of a regional session lasts at least half (½) day, they may expend twenty-five (25%) of the expense from their education budget.

7. (a) when planning a Regional or Inter-regional conference that includes a training element or module not listed as an approved course as shown above. The RVP will meet the requirement to access their regional education funds if approved by the President; and

   (b) the RVP requesting approval for training not listed above must provide information to the President, including but not limited to the following: overview of the training to be provided, length of the module and subject matter before the approval can be granted.