CKC Board Meeting - Toronto - January 14 & 15

The 2012 Alberta Reps are as follows:

COUNCIL 2012 REP email

AGILITY Patricia Kopec – Calgary, AB kopingweims@shaw.ca

CONFORMATION Hilary Oakes sevenoaksmarketing@efirehose.net

DRAFT DOG Paul Bagnall lbagnall@planet.eon.net

EARTHDOG Mary Smithdorff smithart@platinum.ca

HERDING Gwen Haynes GHaynes@blg.com

JR KENNEL CLUB Loren Bressers abjuniors@gmail.com

LURE COURSING Pat Ingram ingrampm@rimouski.org

OBEDIENCE Jeff Lunder dogman@telusplanet.net

POINTING Sue Deyell suedeyell@xplornet.ca

RETRIEVER FIELD TRIAL Bruce MacDonald big-mac@shaw.ca

RETRIEVER HUNT TEST Kathy Miner kathyminer@me.com

SPANIEL Wayne Brennan brickburn@nucleus.com

TRACKING TEST Pat Solkshinitz triplebark@shaw.ca

WORKING CERTIFICATE Bill Marshall marshallbill1@gmail.com

Day one was largely orientation. A takeaway message from both the audit committee and legal counsel was talk to them early and often and especially before you sign anything.

We reviewed the contract for the new CEO, the first time that the board has been able to do so.  Benefits are identical to other CKC staff.   In light of the policy that salaries over $100k are disclosed at the AGM, the CEO's salary will be disclosed at that time.  The board was very satisfied with the contract.

The CKC Foundation has assets of $150,000 to fund canine health research with virtually none allocated. The foundation is struggling to attain meeting quorums and the new board needs to attend to this in the near future.

A newchair was elected in Michael Shoreman.  He thanked the previous chair, expressed a desire to increase member communication, to strive for excellence in board governance and management, service to members and marketing of purebred dogs and the CKC.

Day 2 dealt with regular business.  Since the budget was not passed at the previous board meeting in December, it was dealt with as the first item on the agenda.

Budget - expenses - fixed cost of building is killing us and the huge amount of vacant space due to the closure of Apex and associated staff layoffs at both Apex and the CKC is an issue at a time when there is lots of lower priced space. Attempts are underway to sublet space but there is lots of lower cost space both in the same building and the area. This is a big financial vulnerability given the lease length remains at 12 years.  In conformation we are chasing the same pool of declining numbers at a faster and faster rate. There is an urgent need to address since registration as 60% of revenue and where registration units are declining.   Memberships are also dropping.  A number of areas were identified where full expenditure may not occur. Savings in these areas may be required as the revenue budget for conformation shows may be optimistic given the rate of decline.   Operating budget was amended to increase French language translation by $35,000 and passed. The board will review forecasted actuals during the year to keep an eye on these issues.

The capital budget was not approved. The audit committee recommended moving to a requirement of project charters brought to the board on capital expenses greater than 10K which was agreed. A project charter was presented for the purchase of a digital scanner to replacing aging microfiche readers. This will allow prevention of data loss  and creation of stud books for the missing years of 1969-84.

Board members were appointed to various councils and committees. The priority dates committee was directed to bring back a definition of "remote" for the purposes of multiple shows per day for discussion at the March meeting.

The next meeting is in March  29-31 in Sudbury and includes the annual General Meeting.