Highlights of the 2016 ARTA AGM
VI OKO
Members of the Board of Directors , delegates representing the eighteen branches and ARTA staff attended the 53rd Annual General Meeting at the Chateau Nova Yellowhead on October 4 and 5 . Elections were held for vacant officer and committee positions and officer , committee , benefit plan , trust fund and charitable foundation reports were heard .
Juanita Knight , Marilyn Bossert and Dolaine Koch were re-elected by acclamation to their respective positions of president , vice-president and treasurer .
The Communication Committee defined its new roles and responsibilities . An associate editor was hired and the previous Editorial Board was subsumed by the committee . A workshop on how to use the Joomla platform to develop a branch website was offered to a few branch webmasters .
A workshop in the use of WordPress will be offered this year . The photo and writing contests were a great success and will be repeated again next year .
In consultation with AON Hewitt , the Health Benefits Committee developed a Health Charter that will act as a moral authority for the committee , retained Cubic Health to monitor the drug formulary and developed a drug enquiry tool to inform the policyholder and medical professionals regarding medication coverage . The Emergency Travel Benefit Reserve Fund was established to mitigate escalating emergency travel costs . Travel premiums have increased by 52 %. Allianz Global Assistance was contracted to provide emergency travel plan coverage , beginning November 1 , 2016 .
Dolaine Koch , Vi Oko , Carol Loewen , Juanita Knight , Dennis Espetveidt , Marilyn Bossert , Maxine Anderson , Shirley Strembitzky , ( back ) Gordon Cumming and Laurie Semler
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