Outcome of our 2025 Annual General Meeting: Congratulations to our Leadership Team for 2025-2026!

This year’s Annual General Meeting on September 20, 2025 began with a presentation from David Errington of AMI (Accessible Media Inc.). David provided an update on AMI’s evolution from solely providing described programming to creating original content focused on the disability community. He highlighted AMI's success in expanding media accessibility across Canadian broadcasting and their efforts to distribute content through multiple platforms, including AMI+. David also discussed current challenges facing the broadcasting industry, including the need for sustainable funding and potential support for Bill C-11, which aims to address the impact of American streaming services in Canada. If you missed our meeting, you can watch the replay of David’s presentation on our YouTube channel.

After David’s presentation, the formal portion of the Annual General Meeting commenced with the approval of the agenda and minutes from the previous year's AGM, followed by the presentation of the President's Report which highlighted AEBC's new mission, vision, and values, and the Treasurer's Report for 2024-25.

The meeting then focused on presenting awards and scholarship winners. Chantal Oakes presented two awards: the Volunteer of the Year Award to Diana Brent and the first-ever Distinguished Service Award to Ryan Fleury. Marcia Yale then outlined this year’s scholarship winners, including recipients of the Tom Teranishi Memorial Scholarship, four AEBC scholarships, the John Rae Memorial Scholarship, an Allyant scholarship, and the BC Affiliate Scholarship in honour of Betty Nobel. Each scholarship recipient was recognized for their achievements and future aspirations in various fields, including business, psychology, and web development. You can read more about these incredible students here. 

Next, our members reviewed and approved various resolutions for 2025. Lee Pigeau, Executive Director, guided the discussion and approval by consensus of eight resolutions. The resolutions covered topics including access to information services, circulation of meeting minutes, convention sponsorships, archiving past resolutions, ratifying 11 policies, technology acquisition, and refinements to the process for Volunteer of the Year and Distinguished Service Awards. Many thanks to AEBC’s Governance and Bylaws Committee which spent the past year working to retire approximately 60 outdated resolutions.

Last on the agenda was the elections for board positions. Lee facilitated the process, guiding nominations and votes for President, Second Vice President, Secretary, and a Director position. Marcia Yale was acclaimed as President, Ryan Fleury as Second Vice President, Diana Brent as Secretary, and Louise Johnson as Director. The elections proceeded smoothly with clear procedures and acclamations for all positions. The Board thanked outgoing member Pat Seed for her time and dedication over the past year.

In closing, here is your new leadership team:

Marcia Yale (Huntsville, ON) - President

Linda Bartram (Victoria, BC) - 1st Vice-President

Ryan Fleury (Vancouver, BC) - 2nd Vice-President

Chantal Oakes (Kelowna, BC) - Treasurer

Diana Brent (Calgary, AB) - Secretary

Hilton Schwartz (Montreal, QC) - Director-at-Large

Louise Johnson (Surrey, BC) - Director-at-Large

Lee Pigeau (Ottawa, ON) - Ex Officio, Executive Director