Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU)
Annual General Meeting
University of Michigan
24 May, 2006
The meeting was called to order at 7.00 p.m.
Present:
Vince Gray (Chair), University of Western Ontario
Monia Bergeron, Statistics Canada, DLI
Richard Boily, Université du Québec à Rimouski
Ernie Boyco
Bill Bradley
Susan Czarnocki, McGill University
Gaëtan Drolet
Dan Edelstein, University of Windsor
Michelle Edwards, University of Guelph
Walter Giesbrecht, York University
Suzette Giles, Ryerson University
Vivek Jadon, McMaster University
Sandra Keys, Waterloo University
Mary Luebbe, University of British Columbia
Kathleen Matthews, University of Victoria
Mary B. McGrath, Bank of Canada
Laine Ruus, University of Toronto
Kristi Thompson, University of Windsor
Wendy Watkins, Carleton University
1) Approval of the Minutes of 15 April, 2005
The minutes were approved, with three changes. Page 2, section C. Constitutional
Revision. The last sentence should read, “The motion was to strike paragraph 5.3 of the
by-laws” [not paragraph 5.4]. Page 4, section C. Regional Reports, i. OCUL-DINO.
Alan Darnell’s name is misspelled. Page 4, section C. Regional Reports, ii Atlantic. The
last sentence should read, “However, for the past two years Aspi has not been involved
with Data, so he could not comment.”
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2) Business Arising from the Minutes of 15 April, 2005
a. Online survey of DLI member institutions (education). The Education
Committee was to finalize the draft version of the survey report. Vince has no
further news.
b. Constitutional revision. The proposed revision, to strike paragraph 5.3 of the
by-laws, has not been put to the membership. It will be on the ballot in the
election for the next CAPDU executive. Notice of the vote on the amendment
must be put to the membership at least 30 days before the poll.
c. Public Relations Committee Brochure. Moira Russell and a volunteer were to
have written the brochure; Moira has asked to be relieved of this responsibility.
d. CARL data subscriptions. Suzette Giles and Bo Wandschneider were to
develop this project, dating from a discussion of academic purchases of statistical
databases at the 2004 AGM. Inspired by national British site licences for IMF
financial databases, Suzette and Bo were to draft a report indicating terms and
costs of statistical databases and listing currently subscribing institutions in
Canada for each one (information formerly included in the annual CARL survey).
Vince noted that Suzette had worked on a survey of Ontario universities for
DINO and this project got sidelined.
e. Treasurer’s report. Sandra has transferred the CAPDU bank account from
Ottawa to Waterloo.
f. Membership list. Vince has removed the single home address from the list.
g. Code of ethics. Several members volunteered to help Laine write a code of ethics.
This has not been done but is still a priority. Laine mentioned that she will have
more time after September, 2006. At the 2005 AGM Aspi Balsara, Walter
Giesbrecht, and Winnie Smit volunteered; Laine also pledged to send a note to the
general membership, asking for a show of interest. Action to be taken: Laine
and volunteers to create a draft code of ethics.
3)
Treasurer’s Report
Sandra Keys presented the financial statement for 2005-2006.
On 18 May, 2006 the balance was $5,981.09 in CIBC and $674.62 in the Bank of
Montreal. This included $5,000 transferred from the Bank of Montreal in Ottawa
to the new account at CIBC in Waterloo. Sandra reported on her ongoing attempt
to close down the Ottawa account, frustrated by her inability to contact the
“named account holder who still receives the statements” and who is the only one
with the power to close the account for good. Sandra plans to transfer most of the
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remaining funds to the new account, leaving a negligible amount in the Bank of
Montreal. Sandra and Michelle Edwards are both in Waterloo, making it easy to
sign cheques. There were 42 paid-up members in 2005; only 28 had paid their
dues at the time of the meeting, but Sandra was expecting more renewals.
Laine Ruus, seconded by Susan Czarnocki, moved that we transfer $4,000 into an
interest-bearing account. After some discussion about personal and institutional
accounts an amendment was added, stipulating that

The treasurer transfer $4,000 into an interest-bearing account, if it is
possible for an association to open an interest-bearing account. Carried.
Action to be taken: Sandra Keys to move a sum of $4,000 into an interestbearing account if possible.
4.
Role of CAPDU
Vince summed up the need for a discussion on the role of CAPDU: when it was
first established there were no other national data organizations or ICPSRfederated memberships. Now the DLI covers most academic institutions and users,
Ontario has DINO, Quebec has its own group, and the west and Atlantic regions
form ICPSR-federated groups. What purpose does CAPDU serve? The DLI
covers Statistics Canada data. Other federal agencies produce data, as do the
Institute for Social Research at York and the Canada Election Study teams; only
CAPDU covers these and other national concerns. Here are some comments:
Susan Czarnocki sees CAPDU as a lobby group, able to raise issues about access
to some Statistics Canada surveys and about a range of other issues that have no
profile in public discourse.
Wendy Watkins noted that CAPDU is now 17 years old. It has played a role in the
past and can incorporate training on non-Statistics Canada data.
Mary McGrath from the Bank of Canada mentioned that it and other federal
agencies pay for Statistics Canada data. This is an issue so it is good to have
representation by CAPDU. She noted that CMHC removed its data from
CANSIM and gave it to the Conference Board; this could happen elsewhere and
there is no other organization to voice these worries.
Laine Ruus proposed holding business meetings in a virtual setting since there are
enough other opportunities for networking in person. We should do a short
meeting as a trial. Vince Gray mentioned that Darlene Fichter has software for
web-based meetings. Vince wanted to consult with members before agreeing to
try it.
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Wendy Watkins submitted the following motion, seconded by Walter Giesbrecht:

That CAPDU contact Darlene Fichter to explore the possibilities and costs
of holding electronic meetings. Carried unanimously.
Action to be taken: Vince is to contact Darlene Fichter about the program
for conducting web-based meetings.
Wendy mentioned that CAPDU was established in 1987 and has always held a
Canadian dinner during the IASSIST conference. Kathleen Matthews suggested
we try to meet regularly for a business meeting at IASSIST; Vince prefers the
business meeting to be a virtual one.
Bill Bradley noted that lobbying was traditionally CAPDU’s role. When he
worked on surveys at Health Canada there was interest and pressure from other
government departments. He would like CAPDU to concentrate on lobbying and
coordinating meetings about various government datasets. Laine remarked that
the membership is too small. Bill would like to build CAPDU, to raise
awareness of government datasets. He suggested we could also focus on
provincial data. Vince mentioned that there has been some movement toward
access to provincial GIS data.
Kathleen asked about lobbying for a national data archive. Vince noted past
efforts over the years toward the establishment of a national data archive.
5) Elections
Laine Ruus, past president, will chair the nominating committee to select
candidates for elections to be held later this year. Wendy Watkins and Susan
Czarnocki will also serve on the committee. The incoming executive will take
office immediately after the vote. The by-law amendment will be on the ballot as
well. Laine pointed out that the by-laws do not prohibit an electronic vote. The
last IASSIST election used voting software for a total cost of USD 155.00.
Wendy put forward a motion:

That CAPDU conduct the 2006 vote electronically. Carried.
Action to be taken: the nominating committee is to procure a program for
electronic voting. The committee will identify candidates willing to run for
CAPDU executive positions.
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6) Liability Insurance
Vince introduced the topic because organizations holding meetings are urged to
get liability insurance in case of mishap. He has not looked into the costs. It was
noted that CAPDU would not be liable in such a case; the host university would
be. Some organizations buy it so their officers are not liable; Susan mentioned
that this is typical for unions, not for potential physical accidents. Action to be
taken: Vince will investigate the need for and cost of liability insurance.
7) CAPDU Excellence in Access Award Nominations
Wendy had previously nominated the Canadian Election Studies. The team won
this award in 2004. It was suggested we could present the award in person at
next year’s meeting in Montreal. There were no other nominations – nominees
must be national, not restricted to one province.
8) Conference Related Issues
IASSIST will be in Montréal next year and Wendy pointed out that CAPDU and
IASSIST have traditionally met together whenever IASSIST takes place in
Canada. Wendy is strongly opposed to holding joint meetings with any group
other than IASSIST in the years where IASSIST meets in Canada.
McGill is organizing the IASSIST conference; l’Université de Montréal is
organizing the CAPDU and DLI meetings, as well as ACMLA. Vince confirmed
the latter with Maryna Beaulieu at l’Université de Montréal. There was a lengthy
discussion about scheduling all these events. We want to find time for joint
ACMLA/CAPDU sessions. Vince will write to David Jones, president of
ACMLA, to see whether our proposal is agreeable, and to Maryna as well.
Proposed meeting schedule, May 2007
Saturday, 12 May, Université de Montréal
Sunday, 13 May, Université de Montréal
Monday, 14 May, Université de Montréal
Tuesday, 15 May, McGill
Wednesday-Friday, 16-18 May, McGill
ACMLA
Joint ACMLA/CAPDU workshops
Joint CAPDU/DLI workshops
IASSIST workshops
IASSIST conference
Wendy pointed out that this DLI national training is in addition to the regional
sessions. The DLI will pay for travel for one person from each institution.
There will be no fees for the CAPDU conference since we will not be bringing in
paid speakers. The executive will meet in a virtual conference later this year, and
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will report back to the membership as to how it worked. Action to be taken:
Vince is to write to David Jones, president of ACMLA, and Maryna
Beaulieu at l’Université de Montréal, about the 2007 schedule of meetings
for ACMLA, CAPDU, DLI, and IASSIST.
9) New Business
Public Relations Committee Brochure. Moira Russell and a volunteer were to
have written the brochure; Moira has asked to be relieved of this responsibility.
Michelle Edwards took on the project and Kristi Thompson volunteered to help.
Action to be taken: Michelle Edwards and Kristi Thompson are to create a
descriptive brochure for CAPDU.
Membership dues. Kathleen suggested changing the membership year to MayMay to coincide with our meetings instead of the Calendar year. No change was
made.
DDI tools report. Michelle had attended a meeting earlier this evening.
Discussion centred on the tools currently available and the tools users would like
to see in DDI 3.0.
The meeting was adjourned at 9.00 p.m.
Action Items Resulting from the Meeting
1. Laine Ruus and volunteers will create a draft code of ethics for data
librarians/archivists (item 2g).
2. The by-law change is to be put to a vote of the membership to eliminate the
inconsistency between sections 5.3 and 5.4. The membership must be advised of
the vote at least 30 days beforehand (item 2b).
3. Treasurer Sandra Keys will transfer $4,000 into an interest bearing account if
possible (item 3).
4. Vince Gray will contact Darlene Fichter, University of Saskatchewan, about the
software used to conduct virtual meetings (item 4).
5. Laine Ruus, Susan Czarnocki, and Wendy Watkins will form the nominating
committee to select candidates for the next CAPDU executive. The committee
will also procure a program for electronic voting (item 5).
6. Vince Gray will investigate the need for and costs of liability insurance (item 6).
7. Vince Gray will write to David Jones, president of ACMLA, and to Maryna
Beaulieu at l’Université de Montréal, about the 2007 schedule of meetings for
ACMLA, CAPDU, DLI, and IASSIST (item 8).
8. Michelle Edwards and Kristi Thompson will write a descriptive brochure for
CAPDU (item 9).
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Minutes: Mary Luebbe, Secretary
6 July, 2006
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