Transcript WELCOME! [www.bellpensionersgroup.ca]

WELCOME!
Ottawa Chapter
Spring AGM Meeting
May 26, 2010
AGM Agenda
9:30 a.m.
9:35
10:05
10:30
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:50
12:00 p.m.
12:30
May 26, 2010
Meeting call to order & review of agenda
Pension update
Ottawa Chapter update
~ Break ~
BPG Board of Directors slate for 2010-2011
Election of Ottawa Chapter Chair
Treasurer’s update, approval of Auditor for 2010 &
Auditor’s report
Note: due to the confidentiality of the financial
information, these slides have been excluded from
this web version.
Approval of changes to BPG by-laws
New business; Question & answer session
Adjournment
2
Bell Pensioners' Group
May 2010
President's Report
Presented by Bob Farmer
Agenda
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A big “Thank you” to Raymond Bertrand
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Pension Status
Pension Reform
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Developments
Advocacy
A few other comments
May 26, 2010
4
2009 Pension Plan Status
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2008: $1.8B Deficit
2009: Assets up
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+15% market return
Contributions by Bell for 2009
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Current service costs:
Deficit amortization:
Voluntary (to deficit):
$165M
$251M
$500M
2009: Liabilities up
Greater clarity after June 30
May 26, 2010
5
Pension Reform
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BPG Objective: Reduce Pensioners' Risk
Biggest Risk:
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Plan has deficit, AND
Plan is being wound-up
We call this risk “Plan Failure”
There is no sign that Bell's plan faces failure
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but we don't assume that it cannot happen
May 26, 2010
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Pension Reform: Getting the Rules Right
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Legislation and Regulations to
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Keep healthy plans healthy
Bring unhealthy plans back to health
Improve pensioners' position should a plan fail
The first two are key, so the third will stay an
academic concern for BPG members
May 26, 2010
7
Pension Reform: Advocacy
Recommendations (with rationale) given to:
 Bureaucracy
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Finance Canada
Pension Regulators on plan governance
Political
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Minister of Finance
Minister's lead MP on Pension issues
Minister's political adviser on pension issues
Standing Committee on Finance
Liberal Finance Critic
Consultation on Retirement Income System
Link with Canadian Federation of Pensioners communications
May 26, 2010
8
Pension Reform: Where We Are
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Keep healthy plans healthy
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Voluntary plan termination only if plan is fully funded
(within five years)
Contribution holiday only if 5% plan surplus
Annual plan valuation and funding reset
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Very positive legislative developments
To include all plan provisions
Enhanced disclosure requirements
Potential maximum surplus increased to 25% from 10%
Deviations from standard funding rules can be adopted
by sponsor only with agreement from its pensioners
May 26, 2010
9
Pension Reform: Where We Are
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Bring Unhealthy plans back to health
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Disappointing developments
Probably an overreaction to economic downturn
Increased risk to pensioners
Focus of current advocacy activities
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Time-line: near term
May 26, 2010
10
Plan Deficits Persist Longer
Deficit Elimination
% of Deficit Remaining
100.0
80.0
Current
60.0
Proposed
40.0
20.0
0.0
0
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2
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5
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9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Year
May 26, 2010
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Pension Reform: When Plans Fail
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Options presented
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Don't wind up plan
Better pensioner access to bankrupt's assets
A few mildly positive signs of political traction,
but this is a longer term struggle
May 26, 2010
12
A Few Other Comments
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BPG a professional organization
www.bellpensionersgroup.ca
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Very informative
> 1 million hits in last year
Over 10,000 unique visitors
Improvements?
Chapter outreach exemplary
May 26, 2010
13
Ottawa Chapter Update
Presented by Marc Davidson
Ottawa Chapter Chair
Ottawa Chapter Update
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Membership growth
Electronic payment of annual membership dues
Membership renewal process
Meetings outside of Ottawa
Succession planning
May 26, 2010
15
Our # 1 Priority: Grow Membership
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Grow membership is one of BPG’s strategic
priorities
We’ve done the following to grow our
membership
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Meetings outside of Ottawa (Kingston, Sudbury,
Pembroke)
4 newsletters per year filled with relevant content
Email “blasts” to our members who have email
Introduced the PayPal trial to facilitate electronic
payment of membership dues
Recently launched the “Circle of Friends” campaign
May 26, 2010
TM
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Our strength in numbers
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The following summarizes the BPG Membership Count:
Ottawa
BPG Total
Dec 2008
1,206
9,944
Dec 2009
1,332
10,213
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The Ottawa Chapter achieved a 10.4% year over year
increase during 2009
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We are committed to a minimum of 5% yr/yr growth
May 26, 2010
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Electronic Payment via PayPal
TM
Objectives:
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Faster and easier for our members
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Another option for our members versus payment by mail or
at the AGM meetings
Lower cost, i.e., no envelope, no stamps, no chequing costs
Can pay membership dues at any time, 24/7
Faster and easier for our Treasurer
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More timely payment of membership dues
Improve collection of annual membership dues
Improve efficiency: less paper administration & less trips to
the bank
May 26, 2010
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Costs
To our Member:
 BPG member does not need to have a PayPal account
to make a payment via PayPal
 Cost to the member is a $1.00 transaction fee
To BPG:
 $1.00 transaction fee paid by member offsets BPG costs
 We are charged $0.91 per transaction
 The remaining $0.09 is retained to cover any fees
charged by PayPal when transferring money from the
PayPal account to our bank account
May 26, 2010
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How does it work?
1. Go to our website
http://www.bellpensionersgroup.ca
2. Highlight “Become a Member” on the banner
at the top and select “Application Form” on
the pull-down menu
3. On the opened page, click on “Ottawa” and the
membership application form will appear
4. Complete the application form and follow the
instructions to complete the transaction
May 26, 2010
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How does it work? (cont’d)
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Once the transaction is completed, the member
receives an email from PayPal, specifying: the
amount, notation on credit card statement, merchant
info and receipt number
PayPal confirmation is also sent to our Treasurer by
email when a transaction occurs
Email contains payment amount, payee name,
address, telephone number, and email address
Transfers of funds from the PayPal account to our
BPG bank account can only be initiated by the
Treasurer
May 26, 2010
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Preliminary Results
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As of April 1st, 58 members have used PayPal
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54 Renewing members
4 New members
Sample Feedback from members:
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“Love this on-line method of paying; simple and easythank you.”
“Hi Marc and Terry - thanks for the new Paypal
Membership renewal…I completed the transaction
online and it worked great.”
May 26, 2010
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Next steps
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All other BPG chapters will adopt the electronic
payment method
It was decided that a Corporate application be
developed by a web developer to ensure:
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consistency in approach
consistency in member experience
ease of implementation for other Chapters
sharing of information and computer/web skills
This couldn’t have happened without the great work
& leadership of our Ottawa webmaster, Terry Acker
and our Treasurer, Don Dutton
May 26, 2010
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Membership Renewal Process
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One of the issues that we have struggled with in
the past are: how to consistently acknowledge
receipt of membership renewal payments, and
how to manage the issuance of membership
cards
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At its April 2010 meeting, the Chapter Executive
adopted a new process for membership renewal
and membership cards
May 26, 2010
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Permanent Membership Cards
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Starting with the October 28, 2010 Ottawa
General Meeting, we will be issuing
permanent membership cards
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Those who do not attend the October 28
meeting will receive their cards, via mail, during
the month of November 2010
May 26,
April
26, 2010
2010
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Membership Renewals
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Payment made at AGM: information sheet (indicating
confirmation of payment) will be provided upon receipt of
payment. Membership list will be updated by Chapter
Executive upon receipt of payment
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Payment made by mail or PayPal from member with
valid email address: Information sheet indicating
confirmation of payment will be sent via email
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Payment made by mail from member without a valid
email address: Due to the costs and effort involved, we
will not send a confirmation of payment; the cancelled
cheque will serve as confirmation
May 26, 2010
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BPG General Meetings
Outside of Ottawa
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Kingston: May 27, 2010
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Sudbury: Fall 2010 (date TBD)
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Pembroke: Fall 2010 (date TBD)
May 26, 2010
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Succession Planning
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I will be leaving as Chair of the Ottawa Chapter
at the end of my two-year term, but will remain
on the Chapter Executive Committee as Past
Chair
There will be an election today to elect my
replacement
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To date, Marlyn Easterbrook, who has served as ViceChair for the past year has submitted her nomination
Others are welcome to submit their nomination
May 26, 2010
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Succession Planning
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Lancy Hum has filled a key role as Chapter
Secretary replacing Francis Christensen
Terry Acker has taken over as the Webmaster
replacing John Wright
Both Lancy and Terry have made significant
contributions in their first year of service
On behalf of the executive committee, I wish to
thank Francis and John for their dedication and
outstanding contribution to BPG
May 26, 2010
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Succession Planning:
Membership Coordinator Role
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We have another key role to fill: membership
coordinator
Current incumbent, John Campbell has been
doing this role for the last five years on top of
being heavily involved in other work
commitments
On behalf of all of us, I wish to thank John for his
great work
May 26, 2010
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Membership Coordinator Role
This role has 2 dimensions
1. Contact point for members and prospective members:
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Provide a phone number and email address for members to
contact the chapter
Provide prospective members with assistance in becoming
members, answering generic questions about the association
Take questions or concerns from the members (between
meetings) and pass the message to the appropriate Chapter
member
2. Perform mailings by email and prepare for mailing by
Canada Post:
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This role requires computer skills (e.g., MS Excel) and the ability to
send out large volume of emails
May 26, 2010
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Membership Coordinator (cont’d)
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John Campbell is available to provide the
necessary training to ensure a smooth
transition
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Please see me at the break or after the
meeting if you’re interested in helping us out
We really need your help!
May 26, 2010
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BREAK
Ottawa Chapter Meeting
May 26, 2010
Bell Pensioners’ Group
2010 Election of Directors
Presented by Marc Davidson
Ottawa Chapter Chair
Bell Pensioners’ Group
2010 Election of Directors
The current Board of Directors approves and
recommends the following Directors for the
2010/2011 Board:
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Ontario: Bob Bartlett, Robert Farmer, Linda
Gervais, Gwen Guillet, Ron Hunt, Pam Went
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Quebec: Andre Bergeron, Michele Boyer, JeanLuc Geha, Robert Guay
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5 Chapter Chairs (Ottawa: TBD)
May 26, 2010
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Bell Pensioners’ Group
2010 Election of Directors
Motion:
“That the membership of BPG elect the slate
of Directors for the 2010/2011 BPG Board
as approved and recommended by the
current Board of Directors.”
May 26, 2010
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Election of New
Ottawa Chapter Chair
Call for Nominations
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Marlyn Easterbrook
Others?
May 26, 2010
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Election of Ottawa Chapter Chair
Motion:
“That the election of ..................
as Ottawa Chapter Chair
be accepted and approved.”
May 26, 2010
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Ottawa Chapter- Financial Report
May 26, 2010
Don Dutton
Ottawa Chapter Treasurer
BPG Auditor Appointment for 2010
Motion:
“That the firm Collins Barrow be appointed
as the auditors for BPG until the close of
the next annual meeting at a remuneration
to be fixed by the Board of Directors.”
May 26, 2010
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Revised BPG By-Laws
May 2010
Presented by Marc Davidson
Ottawa Chapter Chair
Revised BPG By-Laws
May 2010
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Why change?
Since the last update (2006):
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London Chapter became SWO
The BPG Vision was created
The Chapter Handbook was created
Practices and policies were documented, e.g.,
counting the membership
May 26, 2010
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Revised BPG By-Laws
May 2010
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Article I “Overview”
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Article II “The Rights and Responsibilities of
Members”
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London is now SWO
The BPG Objective is the same as in the BPG Vision
Definition of Member updated
Membership Count methodology agrees with current process
Article III “Organization”
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Updated to agree with Chapter Handbook & current processes
Election of Officers clarified
May 26, 2010
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Revised BPG By-Laws
May 2010
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Article V “Financial and Banking Practices”
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Article VI “Dissolution of Group”
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Updated to reflect current financial practices and processes
Updated to reflect common Board practice and language
Article VII “Amendment of By-Laws”
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Updated to reflect common Board practice and language
May 26, 2010
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Revised BPG By-Laws
May 2010
Motion:
“That the revised By-Laws dated May 2010
be accepted and approved.”
May 26, 2010
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NEW BUSINESS
Circle of Friends
2010 Membership Campaign
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Need to increase our 2010 membership by 5%
Launched in early May 2010 to our members
with email addresses
Two ways to win:
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Help BPG’s voice to be stronger to protect your
pension and benefits. The more BPG members, the
more effective is our voice;
Win your 2011 BPG annual membership
May 26, 2010
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How does it work?
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On the form provided, give us the name, telephone number
and email (if available) of your friends or former colleagues
who are Bell pensioners, but not yet members of BPG
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If you’re not sure whether your friend or former colleague is a BPG
member, provide us with as much detail as possible so we can
confirm their membership status in our in our database.
Your completed form can be sent to us by mail, email, or
handed in at the end of the meeting
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Instructions are on the form
Additional copies of the form is available on the BPG – Ottawa
Chapter website (http://www.bellpensionersgroup.ca/)
May 26, 2010
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Circle of Friends Input Form
May 26, 2010
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How does it work? (cont’d)
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A member of the BPG Ottawa Chapter Executive
Committee will contact your friend or former colleague to
invite them to join BPG
For every name you submit, you will receive one entry in
the draw to win your 2011 BPG membership
At our October 28, 2010 BPG meeting, winners will be
announced for the three (3) prizes of 2011 BPG
membership dues:
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The person who has provided the most names of prospective
BPG members; and
From all the qualifying entries, we will draw two (2) winners
May 26, 2010
Good Luck!
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Live Well/Age Well Savvy Seniors Fair
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A one-stop event dedicated to informing, promoting and sharing
information and resources about healthy aging in Ottawa
A forum of experts will be on hand to discuss aging in place
strategies for seniors
Guest speakers include: Dr. William Dalziel from the Regional
Geriatric Assessment Clinic; Lisa MacLeod, M.P.P. Nepean and
Carleton; Ann Dobbins, from Memory Matters; ABCs of Fraud,
and much more
Booths from various City of Ottawa departments responsible for
seniors programs and services are expected to be present
The event is hosted by Comfort Keepers & is free for seniors
For more information call Comfort Keepers at 613-820-1612
When & where:
Saturday, June 5
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Nepean Sportsplex, Salons A & B
May 26, 2010
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QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS
NEXT MEETING
Thursday, October 28, 2010
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Nepean Sportsplex