SYDNEY: How to proceed with the appointment of an independent board overseeing the Port of Sydney Development Corp. will likely be among the items discussed at its upcoming annual general meeting, the board’s current chair says.
It is expected that the board won’t be in place until the beginning of the next fiscal year, noted Michael Merritt, CAO for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, when speaking to reporters this week. “We’ll continue on with the current board or whatever the board structure will be, based on the nominating committee decision,” he said. “We’ll have to have the discussion with the nominating committee … they should realize, unless it’s not approved, that they’ll only be sitting on that board for a few short months until we get the more permanent board in place.” Among the orders of business at the new council’s first meeting this week was to establish a committee to nominate members to serve on standing committees and external agencies and committees. The members of that committee are Ray Paruch, Amanda McDougall, Earlene MacMullin, Darren Bruckschwaiger and Kendra Coombes.
The port’s annual general meeting for the port is due to take place next month, a bit delayed from the original November target as the region continues to recover from the Thanksgiving Day flooding. Its audited financial statements were posted on the port’s website in September.
One member of the port’s interim board, which included several councillors as well as the mayor and deputy mayor, was not re-elected in last month’s municipal elections. “It will take time, there’s always a transition period to basically make sure that you are able to hire people, you’re able to get the best, there was an articles of association that was drafted about two years ago … that we’ll be utilizing and updating,” Merritt said. There are certain professional designations to be met by the members of the independent board and it will be preferred that they have port experience, he added.
In March, the port corporation had held its first annual general meeting since its formation in 2015 when it took over operations from the now-defunct Sydney Port Corp., but the audited financial statements were not yet ready, as the fiscal year hadn’t ended. At that meeting, the lack of audited financial statements upset some attendees who questioned the validity of holding an annual general meeting when the articles of incorporation aren’t being followed.
When the development corporation was set up, there was a secondment agreement with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency that saw Marlene Usher take on the CEO role with the port. Merritt said that agreement was for three years, with an option to renew. Councillors Coombes and MacMullin both asked for more detailed financial information about the port than was contained in the CBRM consolidated financial statements, which were in their council package. Those statements were deferred to December’s council meeting to give members more time to digest them. Chief financial officer Marie Wash said additional details will be forthcoming and the picture will likely be clearer to them at the port AGM. She added there will be a session taking place in the new year to help councillors better comprehend how municipal financial statements are reported. The ports audited financial statements will be presented publicly at the annual meeting. In future years, the Port of Sydney AGM will be held in September, and in municipal election years, it will take place in November.
