This meeting was held via a Zoom call. 
Participating were six Board members and Secretary Manager Russell Gammon. Raynald Dube was not present. Incoming Secretary-Manager Kerry O’Donnell had accepted an invitation to take part in the meeting. 

Report of the Secretary-Manager 
Financial statistics presented included the following:
BMO Chequing account balance:  $8833.92 BMO Savings account balance: $89,250.92 CIBC account associated with activity at CLRC: $507.85 as of the Friday before the meeting. GIC investments at BMO were at $65,000 plus ongoing earned interest.Grand total for financial resources:  $163,592.69 
Gammon noted that a schedule had been established for communication between himself and incoming CGS Secretary-Manager Kerry O’Donnell regarding transition of the position and CGS possessions. He further noted that participation in One Day Milk Testing was high and that one Report of Award had been received from an early show. 

Introduction of New Secretary-Manager 
President Howell took great pleasure in introducing new Secretary-Manager Kerry O’Donnell to the Board. Sandy commented on how well-qualified Kerry was for the position. Kerry thanked the Board for naming her to the position and noted that she looked forward to meeting and serving members and working with them. 
Gammon presented a report of classification work completed in Alberta and the Interior of British Columbia in June 2023. He also reviewed plans for more work in British Columbia, service for remaining herds in Alberta, work in Saskatchewan, classification of two large herds in Quebec and the work ahead in Ontario. Gammon noted that work with the classification program software was operating much more smoothly in 2023 than during the program relaunch in 2022. 

Gammon also noted that communication would continue with CLRC regarding listing of only current year members on the CGS database in the CLRC website as of March 31^st each year. 

 CGS Committee composition and work and activities were discussed. As noted at the previous Board meeting more Western Canadian participation in the National Show committee is a definite need. Among suggestions to increase participation by members in all committees were the concept that upcoming issues of CGS newsletters and the CGS Facebook page would be used to encourage participation in committees. An explanation of the goals of the National Show committee was provided to the new Secretary-Manager in that the committee would provide mentorship and guidance to those considering bidding or actually bidding to host a national show from those with experience in hosting. Efforts would be made to expand the array of sites for national shows. Tanya McCarthy reported that a number of members had indicated interest in participating in the new Youth Program with interest spanning the country. Chris Grab reported that considerable progress had been made on proposals for revising policies and procedures for Judges Licensing Conferences. Chris would lead a search for more   members for this committee. Susan Frazer, the Board connection with the By-law review committee, agreed to reignite work by this committee.  

A member had asked about prospects for applying Canadian award status to animals from the USA, based on American performance information, as long as the American performance information met Canadian standards. This member volunteered to do research on American performance of animals in question and to present it to CGS for examination. 
A motion was duly made, voted upon and carried the CGS will accept US award information and status as being eligible as long as the Canadian standards for each award are met. 

Tanya McCarthy thanked the Board for input on a draft of the Yearbook. The book is now ready for publication with details re payment for printing being worked out with the selected printing company.
 
Nominations for Board positions were due in three districts as of June 30, 2023. In District One-British Columbia two positions were open. Sandy Howell and Ted Brooks had both received sufficient nominations to be candidates as of the meeting date. In District Three Manitoba and Saskatchewan one position was open. Susan Frazer from Manitoba has received sufficient nominations to be a candidate as of the meeting date. In the latest newsletter a mistake in districts had appeared in the notice of elections. Explanation was provided that it is the Quebec District #5 where a position was open. The Board requested that all 2023 members in Quebec be contacted by email or postal mail and informed of the position being available. Terms for those elected will begin at the next annual meeting of CGS.

The Board was informed that, as of the meeting date, no bids to host National Shows in 2024 had been received. 
Sandy thanked Kerry for taking part in the meeting and agreeing to accept the position of Secretary-Manager and Russell Gammon for his service to CGS since September 2019. 

This meeting took the form of a Zoom call. 
All Board members, including newly elected Board member Susan Mangan were in attendance along with Secretary-Manager Russell Gammon. 

Once the meeting was called to order questions were raised about the policy of only Board members and staff attending Board meetings, policies for timing of completion of Board meeting minutes, and reports of Board meetings for the association website, and listing of only current year members as of March 31^st each year in the CGS database on the CLRC website. 

A motion was duly made and voted upon and carried to reinvest $10,000, available once a CGS grouping of investments matured in May 2023, in a two-year term GIC. 

Secretary-Manager’s Report
Gammon reported the following financial statistics: BMO chequing account balance: $12,935.64BMO savings account: $82,778.91-Interest income on this account was now in the range of $200.00 per month. CIBC account associated with registry activity income at CLRC: Just over $500.00 Investments: $65,000 with one investment due to mature during May. Grand total:  Just over $161,000. 
Award certificates are now being printed on parchment paper with the official CGS seal affixed. 

Ongoing and new business
President Sandy Howell welcomed Susan Mangan to the Board as the new Director from Ontario. Susan recounted her more than forty years of experience working with both dairy and meat goats and her other employment and business experience relevant to CGS activities. She also noted that she had been an active participant in CGS improvement programs. 

A motion was duly made, voted upon and carried that Kerry O’Donnell be named Secretary-Manager of CGS as of July 1, 2023. 

CGS committees were discussed along with any progress reports from them. Note was made of the fact that a Board connection with each committee is essential, that there is need for representation from Western Canada on the National Show Committee, that the By-laws review committee would be activated and that reports from each committee would be requested. 

The Yearbook Committee reported that the completion of work on this project was very close. Appreciation to Jonathan Dugdale for the enormous amount of work he had applied to this project was expressed. 

Board members were reminded of a June 30^th deadline for nominations of candidates for director positions in three regions-four positions are open for nominations.

This meeting took the form of a Zoom call. 
Six Board members and Secretary-Manager Russell Gammon participated. 

Ongoing and new Business 
Organizers of the Canadian Nigerian Dwarf Association Western Classic Show and an associated classification meet slated for June 3^rd in Olds Alberta had contacted CGS asking about the responsibility for service fees and expenses associated with the classifier serving at the meet. 

A motion was duly made and voted upon and carried that the Canadian Goat Society be responsible for all costs associated with the classifier traveling to and serving at the event.

Nominations were opened to fill a position on the Executive Committee of CGS. Nominations were made and a vote was held with Susan Frazer being elected to the position of Second Vice-President of CGS. 

Based upon section 7.20 of the CGS bylaws a motion had been duly made at the Board level that a deadline of April 5, 2023 be set for nominations for the vacant Ontario Director position, with no fewer than five nominations from members in good standing, resident in the district, needed to make the candidacy valid. This motion had been voted upon and carried. 

As the deadline noted in the above motion had passed at meeting time further discussion yielded a plan that all 2023 members in Ontario be contacted by email or postal mail informing them of the opening on the Board. Fifteen (15) nominations from members in good standing would be required to make a candidacy valid.  Deadline for nominations would be two weeks after emails were sent. a target goal for a deadline for nominations of Friday, May 5, 2023 was set. This plan was approved. 

A draft posting for the position of Secretary Manager had been created and circulated within the Board.   Input was provided upon an appropriate salary range for the position, venues for posting notice of the position available,  confirmation of hours of daily service within the position, and development of an appropriate contract, so that the posting could be completed. 

With regards to progress on the Yearbook some challenges with a listing of members with significant numbers of consecutive years of membership were noted. CLRC would be approached with a notation of the challenges and a request for a revised listing. 

A proposed sire development program had been presented to CGS by a member. The Board had studied the proposal.  Because the program would require a significant investment of resources by the Society to action the Board decided not to take any further action on the concept. 

Work is progressing to have CLRC list only current year members on the CGS database on the CLRC website. This change in listing policy would be enacted as of March 31^st in any given year. 
A discussion regarding a limited inventory of official CGS judges and prospects for holding Judges Licensing Conferences (JLCs) in 2023 was held. Staff were asked to follow up with the organizers of a proposed JLC in Ontario to determine if the event would be held. 

A discussion was held regarding prospects for a change in policy to allow members to attend Board meetings as observers, or, as participants upon request by the Board. A motion was duly made, voted upon and carried that attendance at Board meetings would continue to be limited to Board members and the Secretary Manager. 

This meeting took the form of a zoom call with all Board members and Secretary-Manager Russell Gammon in attendance. 

Matter discussed included timing of preparation and distribution of Board meeting minutes. 

Three proposed by-law amendments, which had been reviewed by the by-law amendment review committee, distributed to the Animal Registration Officer at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Manager of the Canadian Livestock Records Corportation for comment and presented to and discussed with members at the annual meeting were considered by the Board. 

The first proposed amendment had this wording: it is proposed that bylaw 8.4 which currently reads ” The President may vote in the event of a tie; said vote being in addition to his regular vote as a director.” A motion was made that the wording be amended to read: “In the event of a tie vote, the vote must be retaken until the tie vote is resolved by additional voting.”A vote was taken and the motion to approve the amendment for a member vote was carried.

The second proposed amendment had this wording:It is proposed that bylaws be amended to include the following:”No individual may serve as a director more than 2 (two) terms consecutively.”
A vote was taken to approve this amendment and it was defeated and thus did not carry.     

The third proposed amendment had this wording:It is proposed that by-laws be amended to include the following: 
” The role of President cannot be filled by a director who was acclaimed.”
On the first vote a tie resulted with one abstention. Following discussion, a second vote to approve the amendment for next steps action was held. The motion was defeated and thus did not carry.   

Report of the Secretary-Manager Gammon reported a chequing account balance of $9274.66; a savings account balance of $81,709.83 and a total of $90,984.49 in the two accounts. The most recent balance for the CIBC account was $3073.76 . Investments totalled $55,000 plus earned interest. 
Following this report, a motion was made, and carried, to invest a further $10,000 in a GIC with a two-year term. 

Ongoing and New Business 
Discussion of the history of CGS financial support for Judges Licensing Conferences (JLCs) took place. No decisions regarding changes in any policies for JLCs were made. 
Preliminary investigations into board governance training and outside assistance with board functioning had been conducted. No decisions on forward motion on the topic were taken. 

Work on a 2023 budget continued after Board review of a draft budget. Recommended changes were a reduction in anticipated revenue from judge’s license renewals and JLC fees and for milk recording. 
In expenditure line items the amount for classification services was increased, as were accounting/audit fees and the projected fee for use of credit cards to pay for registry services at CLRC.  Additional recommended increases in expenditures were for legal fees, advertising, milk recording program costs and costs of presenting an annual meeting. Costs associated with conducting director elections and purchasing director liability insurance will be added to the budget when more accurate estimates are obtained or actual amounts known. 

Jonathan Dugdale had indicated his intention to resign from his Board position to the CGS President. The Board approved director Tanya McCarthy as CGS representative to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Board of Governors and RAWF AGM as Jonathan was unable to attend. 

Re-confirmed Ed Cavanagh as classifier for the meet in Alberta in early June and other on farm work in that province.
The matter of donations to CGS by members and other parties was discussed briefly. 
As President Howell had to leave the meeting First Vice President Chris Grab assumed the chair. 

Assignments for classifiers in 2023 were made by a motion made and carried and Eugenia Carnegie, Jon Raymond Dykstra and Edward Cavanagh were approved as 2023 classifiers by motion also. 

The meeting was adjourned after this business was completed. 

This meeting took place on Saturday, February 18, 2023.

The meeting took the form of a Zoom call.

When the meeting began there were more than 30 members on line. Quorum is 18.

During the meeting there were time periods when forty members were online.

President Sandy Howell called the meeting to order at 12:07 pm Eastern time zone.

Sandy expressed pleasure at the turnout and thanked everyone for participating.

Identification of members had already been handled via introductions as members had arrived prior to the meeting.

Minutes of the Previous meeting in February 2022

Moved by Mike Dietrich, seconded by Rayman Vella that reading of minutes of the annual meeting in February 2022 be dispensed with as they had been circulated.

CARRIED.

No business arising from the minutes.

President Howell noted that with the resignation of Catherine Lord during 2022 Raynald Dube had joined the board as director from the Quebec district All current board members were present and were introduced by name.

Reports from Board Members

Reports from Board members had been circulated prior to the meeting. A member had not had the time to read Sandy Howell’s report from British Columbia so that reading took place during the meeting.

The only pieces of correspondence received prior to the meeting were  requests for the link for the online call.

President Howell noted no unfinished business. She then asked that the financials be presented by the Secretary Manager Russell Gammon.

Gammon noted that the financials represented a draft version of reviewed finacials with a review being less extensive and expensive than a full audit.

Carol Clayson asked when the last full audit had been conducted. The answer supplied was that it had been more than five years. There was consensus that a full audit should be held on a regular basis after a set interval of years had passed.

As part of his discussion of the statement of financial position Gammon provided an update of the amounts in the Society’s chequing, savings and CIBC account in Ottawa associated with CLRC as of the day of the meeting:

BMO Chequing account $8728.28

BMO Savings account  $61704.74

CIBC account Ottawa   $4368.59

Total $74801.31

All investments in GICS are with Bank of Montreal ( BMO).

Gammon then explained amounts owed to CGS in the accounts receivable  segment of the statements.

With regard to accounts payable on the statement of financial position Gammon explained that these liabilities consisted of five credits on account for members; a payable to CLRC for December 2022 activity with that company dated December 31, 2022 and paid in mid-January 2023 and an accrual by our accounting firm for their services in 2023.

At this point 38 members were online.

Tanya McCarthy asked if the financials being discussed were the result of an audit or a review. Thus the question was an audit conducted for 2022? She noted that the CGS by-laws called for an audit every year.

Sandy Howell commented that David Trus of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) had approved the use of a review rather than an audit.

Tanya commented that doing a review only was a violation of the by-laws.

Carol Clayson agreed that by-laws must be followed.

Mike Dietrich congratulated the Board and staff on the fact that the financial position/bottom line of the association had improved more than two times from the bottom line of the previous year.

Zoe Thorbergson asked if a review could be accepted over an audit.

Linda Carlson commented that the financial turnaround of the Society in recent years was stunning. She also commented that the Society needed to follow the process to revise by-laws, as outlined in those by-laws.

A motion was made by Mike Dietrich and seconded by Jaki Ayton that CGS engage an accounting company to perform a full audit for the 2023 financial year.

During discussion Tanya McCarthy noted that there was no need for this motion as the Society must do an audit.

Calum McLeod noted that David Trus is an employee of AAFC and not CLRC and thus administers activities of associations who operate under the Animal Pedigree Act.

Zoe Thorbergson asked if the motion on the floor could be amended to read that an audit be conducted on 2022 financial performance and that a review of by-laws take place in 2023.

The moved and seconder of the motion agreed to this amendment.

Two motions were then made. The first by Mike Dietrich, and seconded by Carol Clayson was that a full audit of CGS finances for 2022 be conducted by a chartered accounting company. Carried. 38 votes for. None opposed.

Second motion-moved by Mike Dietrich, seconded by Natalie Mitchell that by-laws of CGS be reviewed to determine if the terminology in those by-laws is still appropriate for members wishes and is aligned with government legislation.

During discussion Jonathan Dugdale noted that the formation of a by-law review committee was to be announced later in the meeting.

Mike Dietrich withdrew the second motion in light of the fact that a committee already exists.

After more discussion a motion was made by Mike Dietrich and seconded by Rebecca Lange that the by-laws of CGS be reviewed to ensure that they are current and in line with member wishes and government legislation. CARRIED 39 in Favour.

Discussion of the 2022 draft financial statements continued.

The next portion of discussion was examining revenue and expenditures.

Gammon noted the flowing yearly performance figures:

2019 loss of $11,000

2020 excess of $2000

2021 excess of $31,050

2022 excess of $65,077  

Gammon noted that budgeting for 2022 was challenging as activity in many programs was limited or non-existent in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions.

A very detailed explanation of revenues and expenses followed-revenues first, with inclusion of some expenditures at the same time to increase understanding of impact on the bottom line.              

A few questions for clarification were answered.

 A donation of $5,000 for the classification program from Linda Carlson in British Columbia was noted.

After revenue lines had been reviewed the next step was to review expenses. Gammon noted they were $30,000 higher than in 2021 due to increased processing activity at CLRC and higher expenses for programs which garner both revenue but also create expenses when delivered. 

As classification expenses were being reviewed numerous comments were made.

Some members believe more trained classifiers are needed. There was also an expression of the  belief that more clarification re the process of training and hiring classifiers is needed.

Gammon extended thanks to member Grant Howley who had been an integral part of working with the 2022 team of classifiers.

There was also discussion that the number of animals and herds to be scored dictates the number of classifiers needed.

Zoe Thorbergson recommended the development of a manual on becoming a classifier.

Amanda Lindsay-Peaire asked why only four classifiers were hired when the number could have been six with trainees.

Tanya Vickers expressed support for the concept of a definite classifiers manual.

Office expenses were explained along with the fact that this segment includes the costs of membership renewal work done by CLRC and that CGS had worked with CLRC to find ways to reduce those expenses. Also noted was the fact that with higher activity levels in programs offices, expenses will increase.

Returning to the subject of classification Adam Scanlan commented on the value of an information piece on the qualifications and roles of a classifier and his support for Zoe’s recommendation. As a long-term user of the program Adam sees value for the program, and for classifiers, in a regular rotation of classifiers so that classifiers see a variety of animals and learn more about the amount of variation in the population.  

Ted Brooks reiterated that classification delivery must be run like a business with right sizing of the staff component and a close eye on the costs of delivery.

There was great support for Adam’s comments via the chat function.

Chris Grab suggested that the concept of auditors for classification training could be considered.

The discussion then returned to line-item expenses.

Genetic Evaluation expense-$3200 of the total amount represents a payment to Lactanet for sending data and information files to CCSI for 305 day milk tested herds.

More data from programs is needed to make genetic evaluations more valuable.

Because of work done with government funding dairy goat evaluations will be moving to a mixed BLUP system. Because of increased activity with the breed and the move to BLUP evaluations, genetic evaluations for the Nigerian Dwarf breed will be available sometime in 2023.

Linda Carlson noted that there is a classification manual available on the CGS website in the Classification section.

Accounting fees will naturally increase with the move to a full audit.

The various elements of Judges Training expenditures were explained.

Returning to classification for a moment Mike Dietrich commented that it is important that enough work be available for each classifier so that serving in the program is worthwhile.

Expenses for the shows line item was higher in 2022 with 39 shows compared to 11 in 2021.

There was a Board decision to seek input from a lawyer in 2022 to ensure that the Society was acting correctly in addressing topics with members.

Regarding extra costs for completion of the Goat Of Practice an explanation was provided and some promotion done on the code of practice and availability of the code  in hard copy from CGS, or online.

Rent costs for January 2021 ($325.00 for rent and $25.00 for internet access at our former office location) were explained along with the fact that there had been no charge for office space or internet access since the late February 2021 move to Fergus. As of meeting time this lack of charges to CGS had saved the Society approximately $8,000.00).

Tanya Vickers asked about planning for access to CGS property in the event of any challenges with availability of the current Secretary-Manager and for succession planning purposes. She also asked if there was a listing of pass words and user names so that easy access could be gained to equipment and bank accounts, processing software, etc.

Gammon noted that the Board had discussed this matter and was at work developing such listings and approvals for appropriate sharing with senior executives in the association.

In leaving the meeting Adam Scanlan thanked the Board for a successful 2022.

Gammon noted zero cost to host the annual meeting as we have an annual zoom connection package.

No questions or comments were made re the statement of cash flow.

Gammon explained the CGS portfolio of $55,000 in GIC investments with the Bank Of Montreal. He explained current interest rates and the fact that in February 2021 CGS had no money invested in any interest bearing investments.

No motion was made to approve draft statements of the financial performance review.    

New Business

Sandy Howell announced that Paul and Sharon Stoll of Woodville, Ontario had won a Silver Master Breeder Award based on the performance of their animals.

Susan Frazer of Beulah and Winnipeg, Manitoba, had earned both a Silver Master Breeder and a Master Breeder Award.

Sandy Howell also announced that beginning with membership renewals due to be distributed in late 2023 for 2024 memberships, and new memberships in the future, it would be necessary for the continuing member or new member to signify their agreement with the CGS code of ethics for their membership to be processed.

Sandy also announced that going forward information on only those members who had renewed by March 31^st of any year would be included in the CGS database for “Search The Registry” on the CLRC website. If a member renewed after March 31^st their information would appear once they had renewed.

Jonathan Dugdale announced the formation of both a By-law Committee and a National Show Committee. He urged anyone interested in serving on these committees to email the CGS office.

Sandy Howell announced that all program fees would stay the same in 2023.

Secretary-Manager’s Report

Gammon noted that he would be expanding upon his printed report.

Key elements of his presentation included:

-The central concept of the report was about all that the members had done.

-Registrations 5.5% higher than 2021.

-Transfers 37% higher than five years earlier in 2018.

-Memberships 3.7% higher than in 2021 and at their highest level since 2001, twenty one years earlier, at 642.

In the latest five years membership totals have grown by 21%.

-B.C will have two director positions available in the elections in 2023 based upon the regions 2022 membership total.

-In the last two years 277 new members have joined CGS.

-Units of registry work processed by CLRC for CGS in 2022 were 6.9% above 2021 and 23% higher than in 2018.

-More than 570 head  were classified in 2022. Gammon praised the efforts of our four classifiers during the year.

-Classification deadline March 15^th, form being revised.

-Since 2019 the Society has attained an excess of revenue over expenditures of $98,000 with one loss and three years of excess revenue.

-CGS has $129,000 in resources in our bank accounts and investment portfolio at meeting time.

-Shows 39 in 2022, 11 in 2021.

-National Integrated Genetic Database Initiative funding will support positive changes at CLRC re operating efficiencies.  

-National Code of Practice for goats was mentioned again.

-National Shows for 2023 will be held in Edmonton in July and in Toronto at the RAWF in November.

-Productive Board Meetings were held on February 11^th and 13^th prior to the AGM.

Sandy Howell thanked Russell for his report.

Response to the Secretary-Manager’s report.

Zoe Thorbergson noted that development of SNP testing must remain a priority in the goat industry. Gammon commented that the National Integrated Database Steering Committee have had introduction and expansion of genomic testing in the Small Ruminant Industry as a priority. Effective testing for Scrapie resistance must become a priority topic in the goat industry. Action on importing bucks to Canada during the temporary period in 2022 when this was possible for Canadian herds on the Scrapie program was very impressive.

Carol Clayson raised the question about opening possibilities for semen exchange between members. She commented on the narrowing gene pool in goat breeds in Canada. While Carol was urged to communicate with Dr. Lynn Tait at OCFlock she commented that collection at AI centers was very expensive and that on farm collection by vets was much more economical.

Tanya McCarthy encouraged Carol to contact her local CFIA office to investigate changes to the domestic collection program rules.

Proposed By-Law Amendments:

Three proposed amendments had been submitted by members. A by-law review committee ( consisting of the full Board) had met to consider whether the proposed by-laws conformed with the Animal pedigree act and were consistent with the rest of CGS by-laws. This meeting had taken place in November 2022.

Minutes of the review committee’s meeting had bene shared with all those involved in supporting the proposed amendments. The proposed amendments had also been sent to the Animal Registration Officer at AAFC and the Manager of CLRC for comment.

The first proposed amendment related to the current by-law allowing the President to vote in the case of a tie and also vote as a Director, two votes per one person. The proposal was to change wording to “ In the event of a tie vote, the vote must be retaken until the tie vote is resolved by additional voting.”

The second proposed amendment is to add to the by-laws: No individual may serve as director for more than 2 (two) terms consecutively.

The third proposed amendment is to add to the by-laws that : The role of President cannot be filled by a director who was acclaimed.

Responses from both the ARO at AAFC and the Manager of CLRC had been shared with members before the annual meeting.

Responses from members at the meeting:

Zoe Thorbegson: Common practice is that Presidents only vote to break a tie vote. A local organization she is part of has a policy that a director must have one period of three years not on the Board during any 12 year term, i.e max of nine years on the Board in twelve year period. Regarding not allowing acclaimed directors to serve as President there does not appear to be a precedent for this in other associations.

From chat-no one should be allowed two votes.

Mike Dietrich-no term limits, no special/different status for acclaimed directors would be his stance.

Callum McLeod-supported one vote only per Board member; noted that it is hard to find willing candidates for director positions now, if acclaimed directors have restricted responsibilities two levels of directors are created. Board members are meant to have equal roles and responsibilities.         

Tanya McCarthy-The American Institute of Parliamentarians Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, which is the manual CGS works from ,supports continued retaking of votes in the case of a tie.     

Ted Brooks-Chair only votes in the case of a tie, no term limits should be applied.

Rebecca Lange-Chair or President only votes in the case of a tie, disagrees with term limits, hard to find volunteers to be directors and new and experienced directors should be able to work together effectively, directors elected by acclamation should not be discriminated against.

In other business Zoe Thorbergson suggested the concept of a mentorship program for director prospects whereby they would work with a current director and obtain training in how the Society and Board work and would understand the role better.

Tanya McCarthy raised the topic of opening up Board meetings to any members who wished to attend them.

Jonathan Dugdale commented that he would have appreciated sitting in on at least one board meeting, after his election and before his term began, so that he could learn how the meetings were conducted and the type of business addressed.

Ted Brooks spoke in support of open meetings so that members knew how processes worked.

Susan Frazer returned to the matter of Presidents not voting and only in the case of ties and how this impacted their role as director from their own district/region.  

From the chat function the following comments were gleaned:

-Drop districts

-Develop a What to Expect as a Director Manual.

-Member would like to join meetings.

-Transparency is important and allowing members to see actions at Board meetings expands it.

-The president is not always the Chairperson.

-With the exception of In Camera sessions members should be allowed to attend Board meetings.

Ted Brooks live comment:

In the case of ties the motion is regarded as failing in some parliamentary guides. He disagrees with the concept of no director districts.

Susan Frazer commented that directors represent their region and all of Canada. There should be an equitable solution to allows directors to serve regions if they are also President.

Linda Carlson agreed with this stance.

Sandy Howell noted that the Board will vote on moving forward with the three proposed by-law amendments.

Zoe Thorbergson addressed the topic of their being differences between the classification scorecard and the show ring scorecard.            

She asked if the Society planned to address these differences.

Jonathan Dugdale commented that in the show ring animals are being compared one to the other while in classification each animal is analyzed as an individual.

Zoe noted that changes came about when Holstein was involved in classification-changes were made in the classification scorecard while the Showring card remained the same. Before the classification changes the scorecards were identical. Her question was: Which card recognizes a more structurally correct animal?

Ted Brooks indicated he agreed with Zoe, and also noted that genetic diversity is markedly limited in Canada. He believes there should be more correlation between the show ring and classification.  

There were multiple expressions of agreement with Zoe that the scorecards should be the same.

Comment was made that this alignment work would be a good project for Classification and Show committees to work on.

Tanya McCarthy reminded members of the new Youth Program.

She and Jonathan Dugdale indicated that a lot of hard work had been done on the yearbook and that it should be published within a month.

Amanda Lindsay-Peaire asked for an update/explanation of the letter of intent to withdraw from use of CLRC services.

Gammon noted that the letter had been sent to the Manager of CLRC and the Animal Registration officer at AAFC.

CGS would not be able to withdraw from the business relationship with CLRC until the end of 2024 to avoid severe financial penalties for leaving early.

As CGS represents about 7% of CLRC’s units processed CLRC would want to continue working with us and would definitely “take us back” if CGS left and any new solution re provision of registry servces did not work out for CGS. The CLRC Manager received the letter from CGS in a very good manner and regards it as a spur for CGS to perform at a higher level. CLRC regards 2023 as a “make or break” year in that they must land of ways in which work can be processed efficiently on a more cost effective basis.

Sandy Howell announced the 2023 Executive: Second Vice President-Jonathan Dugdale; First Vice President-Chris Grab and herself, Sandy Howell as President.       

Sandy thanked members for the growth in activity CGS had enjoyed in 2022 in registry work and programs.

Numerous expressions of congratulations to the new Executive were received via the chat function.  

Carol Clayson asked when the Board would address the question of members attending meetings. Sandy replied that the board would address this matter at an upcoming meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:43 pm Eastern on a motion by Joanne Battersby.

CGS OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED MONDAY, JULY 3
AND TUESDAY, JULY 4 AS MATERIALS ARE MOVED TO NEW OFFICE.

OFFICE RE-OPENS WEDNESDAY, JULY 5.

NEW MAILING ADDRESS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY:
Canadian Goat Society
P.O. Box 726, Roblin, Manitoba R0L 1P0

NEW PHONE NUMBER EFFECTIVE JULY 5, 2023:
1-639-921-7788

The current CGS Secretary-Manager will be out of the office from the afternoon of June 6th until the morning of June 19th.

During this time email will be checked on a periodic basis. There may be a delay in response.

If you have a matter requiring emergency attention during this time period please contact CGS President Sandy Howell at clearday29@gmail.com. 

Your messages are important to us and we will address them as soon as possible.

The CGS Board is thrilled to announce that Kerry O’Donnell of Calder, Saskatchewan will begin service with the association as Secretary-Manager on July 3, 2023.

Ms. O’Donnell brings a wealth of practical experience and service in leadership positions within the livestock industry to the position.

In addition to her agricultural endeavours Kerry has served as a Registered Nurse with the Saskatchewan Health Authority for almost four decades.

Kerry and her family own and manage all work on a mixed livestock operation where sheep, cattle, meat and dairy goats are part of the enterprise.  

In the agricultural arena Kerry has served for over fifteen years on the Canadian Meat Goat Association (CMGA) board

as a representative of the Saskatchewan Goat Breeders Association (SGBA). This service has included terms on the Canadian National Goat Federation (CNGF) board as a representative of both CMGA and SGBA. Within CNGF activities and work have included development of the On-Farm Food Safety program for goats, work on traceability, the Scrapie committee of CNGF. Kerry has CMGA Judge’s License and has been involved in development of a type evaluation program for meat goats. She has also been a CGS member in the past and participated in CGS genetic improvement programs, thus knows their operation and value.  She is familiar with the roles and services of CLRC from firsthand experience.

Within volunteer positions Kerry has gained valuable experience with accounting, strategic planning, proposal writing and experience as a Board member with time spent as an interim manager of an association. These experiences, knowledge and abilities are going to be extremely valuable in taking CGS activities to the next level!    

Kerry is a perfect individual with a wonderful resume of experiences to work with the Board of CGS, industry partners and members of the association.

As noted Kerry’s work with CGS will begin on July 3, 2023.

Our EVENTS page has been updated to include all of the 2023 sanctioned goat shows across Canada!