End of Year Message from QPAT’s Executive Director Sébastien Joly
The 2018-2019 school year was busy, full of challenges and stimulating. As you know, I started the school year as president, representing the association alongside our union colleagues and with other partners in education. I was able to pursue, with the members of the QPAT team and my colleagues on the executive committee, the objectives that we set ourselves as an organization for the current school year. We continued the work begun the previous year on certain labour relations issues such as violence in the workplace and conflict resolution. The first part of the school year involved working with our partners at the FSE and the CSQ to prepare for the next round of negotiations, which is just around the corner.
Following Alan Lombard’s retirement announcement, I made the decision to apply for the position of Executive Director of the association. The Executive Committee and the Board of Directors have honoured me by appointing me Executive Director of QPAT as of January. I thus carried out the functions of President and Executive Director of the association until the official appointment of our new president, Heidi Yetman.
It was certainly a challenge to fill the position held by Alan Lombard for more than 30 years, but it is with enthusiasm and commitment that I started 2019 as Executive Director of the association. In collaboration with the QPAT and our new president, Heidi Yetman, I continued the work started earlier in the year with respect to labour relations, political matters, as well as pedagogical files. QPAT was and remains active in various dossiers, namely the revamping of the referential of teachers’ professional competencies, the question of fees charged to parents and the access to free public education, the 4-year-old kindergarten program, Bill 21(the law on laicity of the state), as well as many other issues concerning the teachers we represent. The survey that is currently being analyzed on inclusion and services for students with special needs will take up a lot of our time in the coming year, both at the local level and at the level of the federation. We think that the quantity and relevance of the data collected will allow us to support our arguments on such a key issue that has a significant impact on both your working conditions and the learning conditions of students. For the upcoming round of negotiations, we will need you and your mobilization to increase our chances of achieving the goals we have set for ourselves.
It is essential to highlight the quality of work of all members of the QPAT. It is through their day-to-day commitment that we are able to provide the best possible service to members and to our local unions, as well as strong representation at the provincial level. I would also like to acknowledge the great privilege of working with our new president, Heidi Yetman, whose dynamism and commitment will ensure that QPAT members will continue to have the best possible representation at all levels. I now wish you all an excellent end of the school year and a very relaxing summer vacation.