Meeting Minutes

Nominating Committee
Conference Call
May 15, 2001 (10:30 - 11:30 EST)
Ottawa, Ontario

Participants

1. Advice to the Minister of Health on Appointments to Governing Council
   

   (Background)
   All members of Governing Council are appointed by Order-in-Council upon recommendation from the Office of the Minister of Health to the Office of the Prime Minister. To assist the process, Governing Council is prepared to submit its advice to the Minister of Health with respect to possible candidates to replace vacancies on Governing Council as a result of lapsed terms and a resignation. The Nominating Committee was mandated to identify the best candidates for appointment to Governing Council.

   (Discussion and Outcomes)
   The Nominating Committee recommended that five of six members(one member declined to be re-appointed for a three year term) whose terms will lapse on June 7, 2001 be re-appointed for a three year term, effective June 8, 2001. These individuals are integral members of CIHR's governance team whose sage advice and guidance were important in CIHR's first year of operations, and will be helpful for CIHR's continued success.

   The Nominating Committee recommended candidates to replace the individual whose term lapses June 7, 2001 and who did not wish to be re-appointed, and to replace the individual who resigned in March, 2001. In its deliberations, the Nominating Committee took the following criteria into consideration:

   • recognition within and knowledge of the health research community;

   • geographic and institutional backgrounds;

   • complementary expertise to existing Governing Council members;

   • support for the vision and mandate of CIHR.

   The Nominating Committee's recommendations will be reviewed by the President of CIHR. A list of suggested candidates will be sent to the Minister of Health as CIHR's advice with respect to appointments to Governing Council.

2. Process for Membership for the Standing Committee on Ethics (SCE)
   

   (Background)
   The Governing Council had approved the establishment of a Standing Committee on Ethics (SCE) in December, 2001. The recruitment process for SCE members began in May, 2001. A two - prong approach for soliciting members for the SCE was devised; namely, sending a letter of request to specific individuals and organizations; and, creating a master list of potential candidates from CIHR data bases, peer review panels, committees and unsolicited suggestions.

   (Discussion/Outcomes)
   The Nominating Committee offered its guidance with respect to collating and grouping the suggestions which will be forthcoming in order to create a useful and manageable working list for subsequent review.

   The Nominating Committee suggested that the SCE must be broadly representative, and must include members with perspectives different from that of formally trained academic experts and researchers in ethics, law and the socio-cultural dimensions of ethics. For example, potential members may include those with applied clinical experience; industry experience knowledgeable of ethical issues arising at the non-commercial/commercial interface of research; a consumer/patient or subject perspective; and a global perspective on social justice inequities.

   The Nominating Committee recommended that those individuals on CIHR Institute Advisory Boards (IABs) who were nominated for their ethics background and expertise should not be included in the pool of candidates for the SCE, as this would upset the balance of representation on IABs across all four CIHR pillars, which was achieved through a meticulous nomination and selection process.

3. Process for replacing Institute Advisory Board (IAB) members
   

   A process must be put in place to handle the reappointment and replacement of IAB members, due to resignations or lapsed terms. Furthermore, consideration must be given to the feedback and comments from Scientific Directors who will be assessing their IABs membership over the next several months, in terms of perceived gaps, strengths, weaknesses as well as performance.