OPSEU/SEFPO 2022 Convention
Convention is the union’s highest-ranking authority, where delegates debate and vote on policy and a host of constitutional motions. The 2022 Convention was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center which commenced on Wednesday, the 6th of April and adjourned at noon on Saturday, the 9th of April.
This is the venue where OPSEU members from every region come under one roof, sharing their stories & working together in solidarity to choose OPSEU’s path forward. Members had a choice of attending the Convention in person or taking part in it, virtually. It’s an honour for every Delegate and Alternate to be part of this process which represents approximately 180,000 members across Ontario.
OPSEU/SEFPO kicked off its first Convention since the start of the pandemic and held elections for its top two positions – President and First VP/Treasurer. In-person events were not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas, OPSEU/SEFPO’s longest-serving President, announced late last year that he was retiring and would not seek re-election.
JP Hornick has been elected as the new President of OPSEU/SEFPO marking the first change in the union’s presidency in 15 years.
Hornick is the Coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College, a long-time OPSEU/SEFPO leader and a women’s rights, equity, LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist. She ran for President on a platform of change, deep renewal, and building a bigger and more inclusive union.
Under her leadership, Hornick plans to foster connections within the union and strengthen relationships with social justice movements across Ontario.
President JP Hornick understands life on the front lines. She has a lifetime of connections to the labour movement and to the public service – and more than 20 years in OPSEU/SEFPO.
JP has served as Chief Steward for more than a decade, mentoring stewards and helping members. She chaired the College Faculty Bargaining Team in 2021-2022, representing 24 Ontario-wide locals that stood strong on behalf of College faculty and students and worked hard to achieve gains while averting a strike. She also chaired the 2017 team, maintaining unity and strength in a strike that led to important gains.
JP grew up in a family of public service workers – from educators to correctional workers. She is a labour educator and the Coordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown College. Through her close ties to union and community allies, JP understands the hopes and aspirations of young workers: for good jobs and for a better world.
She is committed to building better, more inclusive, communities. She has served as Chair, Treasurer, and Director on several community boards and has been on the front lines of activism to advance issues of equity and in support of women’s rights, anti-racism, and decolonization. She believes that effective social action requires structural changes and has worked tirelessly to accomplish them: whether that means supporting the creation of childcare spaces at OPSEU/SEFPO events, helping to provide women with safe passage to abortion services, or fighting discrimination against LGBTTIQQ2S people in Toronto courts. She became personally involved in the latter struggle when she was charged by police in the women’s bathhouse raids in 2000. Not only did she defeat those discriminatory charges: she worked with a team of committed activists to change Toronto Police Service (TPS) policies around search and detention of trans people, and together they developed and delivered LGBTTIQQ2S training from the Chief of Police and on down in TPS. She has worked as a curriculum developer, trainer, and consultant for TPS. In 2002, JP was named co-Grand Marshall of that year’s Toronto Pride Parade whose theme was “Uncensored”.
JP was elected OPSEU/SEFPO President on April 8, 2022, on a platform that includes:
- Strengthening union democracy
- Ensuring financial responsibility
- Fostering an inclusive union culture
- Deepening connections to the labour movement
“My organizing and activism centers in anti-racism and anti-oppression frameworks, and is rooted in a deep belief that we cannot build a successful social movement without challenging our own perspectives and privilege.” JP Hornick
Laurie Nancekivell has been an active OPSEU/SEFPO member for much of her career in the public sector and has served on the union’s Executive Board for a decade.
Whether at the Executive Board table or within our communities, Laurie has a proven track record of advocacy for what is in the best interests of OPSEU/SEFPO members and their communities. She is a consensus builder and mediator who tries to find common ground and build relationships.
Laurie has served for nearly five years as a Trustee on OMERS, a major pension plan of over $100B, and has earned Director’s College certification through MacMaster University and the DeGroote School of Business where she studied, among other things, financial responsibilities and good governance practices. She is a graduate of the Labour College of Canada.
Laurie was elected OPSEU/SEFPO First Vice-President/Treasurer on Apr. 8, 2022, after pledging to ensure that integrity, knowledge, and inclusion will be at the heart of all of the union’s financial decisions.