DCF Board Meeting June 30, 2017
Minutes From The DCF AGM - June 25, 2019
MINUTES OF THE DCF 2019 AGM
Held on June 25, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET
DCF Board Meeting - June 30, 2017
Friday, June 30, 2017
6:00 ET
Location:
25One Community
251 Bank St.
Ottawa, ON K2P 1X3
Attendance:
Present: Miles Krauter, Oliver Kent, Doug Massey, Karl Bélanger, Anne Scotton
By Telephone: Calinda Brown, Diane O’Reggio, Gerry Barr
- Adoption of Agenda
m/s/c
2. Adoption of minutes
Minutes from November 23, 2016 Board Meeting
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3. President’s report
Thank you to previous staff, including Chris, Isaac and Amy. Long term sustainability is to have a full time employee. Kevin Wright is stepping down from the board. There are 7 board members whose terms are expiring at the end of this meeting. I am pleased to inform you that everyone is going to stand for re-election. The Mouseland renewal project is moving well, we will be rolling it out this summer. At the last board meeting, we approved a grant for the 5th Youth Reconciliation Conference organized by the Canadian Roots Exchange. The event was a success. Bill Blaikie was there to represent the Foundation and he was recognized by the organizers, who were thankful for the support of the Foundation. Broadbent Institute: Our partnership is going well. The joint discussion paper release to launch the project was well received. Cobranding on the education and research part of the project. SHARE: We funded the third phase of existing project. Canada’s largest group that in engages Corporate world on Ethic and Corporate Accountability. They work to organize Strategic Share holder interventions, focused on things like tackling climate change.
Partnering with progressive groups has and should always be an important part of the Foundation. Our partnership with the Broadbent Institute is ongoing and we are working on the next phase of our joint project. I have established contact with the Fabian Society to see if we could work together and share best practices. Unions: I have a plan to reach out to Unions for some support as we move forward and try to grow the organization.
4. Executive Secretary: Anne updated on membership numbers: 58 members, 15 lifetime
5. Treasurer’s Report:
Moved forward a motion to cease renting out desk space at 25One Community Centre due to lack of use. Motion carried unanimously.
- 2 years of financials to approve. No variances to report. Highlights:
- 2015 – Membership/donations - $6000
- $24,614 revenue
- $239 product sales
- ATU Union purchased conference center, renamed it Tommy Douglas Center; bought 100 Tommy Douglas bobbleheads
- $235,089 expenses
- $4000 net loss 2015, $42,000 loss market revenue
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- 2016 – Cash on hand - $16,464
- Market value increased to $50,000 due to website investment and Mouseland Project
- Capital Assets - $12,134
- Total Assets - $828,995
- Grants - $10,000
- Scholarships $3500
6. Other Business - None
7. Adjournment - m/s/c
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DCF Board Meeting - February 27, 2020
DCF Board Meeting
Thursday, February 27th, 2020
19:00 ET
Location:
By Telephone
Attendance:
Karl Bélanger, Melissa Hunter, Mohammad Akbar, Rebecca Blaikie, Jon Weier, Derek De Vlieger, Diana Idibe, Chirs Markevich.
- Adoption of Agenda
m/s/c
2. Adoption of minutes
Minutes of the July 23rd, 2019 meeting
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3. President’s report:
Hope everyone is well. Mayor of Ottawa has asked people to stay home because of the coronavirus, thankfully we can hold our meeting by phone.
Transition has been happening. Our new treasurer will give us an update.
The group “Nos Communes, Our Commons” appears to have gone dormant. We were wise to set conditions to go along with the grant approval.
Work has been done to update our registration with Industry Canada. No progress has been made on the Stokoe bequest. 4Executive
4. Secretary’s Report:
Anne Scotton is unable to join us and send her regrets.
5. Treasurer’s Report:
Transition has been happening. Priority now is on issuing tax receipts. We have to handle a few manually. We have a lot of different systems which are more or less
compatible with each other, but things seem under control. We are issuing cheques to catch up on some accounts due.
5. b) Fee structure at Scotia McLeod
Good discussions with Scotia McLeod about our assets. They remain healthy.
Their proposed new fee structure, SM would be much more nimble in the markets as there are no commission minimums on trades. Currently, the commission minimum is $175. That does limit profit taking opportunities and specific positions when considering weighting in the portfolio, which we must do as our assets are now stock-heavy.
Motion: BIRT the Board authorizes ScotiaMcLeod to move the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation wealth management account into a Partnership Plus account, which modifies the fee structure from a Per Transaction formula to an annual fee based on the DCF assets.
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5 c). Adoption of Treasurer’s report.
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6. Progress Summit
The Progress Summit will be held in Vancouver. We will have a booth. Looking for volunteers, so if anyone is attending, please let us know.
The next TDI Institute will be held in May. Theme is Our City & the Green New Deal. We have been invited to take part once again.
7. Office Space
Mohammad Akbar has raised the issue of the DCF securing a new permanent space by buying a building. The CFS building is no longer on the market. Board members express general interest in doing so sometime down the road.
8. DCF 50th Anniversary
Next year is the 50th anniversary of the DCF. It is a good opportunity to complete the reboot of the DCF and move forward with the plan adopted by AGM two years ago. We should have a year of activity of events, maybe a gala? Jon Weier volunteers to coordinate the DCF planning.
The Institute for Change Leaders (ICL)’s proposal to create a multimedia project that tells the story of progressive campaigns, driven by Olivia Chow, is moving forward, with Tim Harper on board. Another application will be forthcoming at the next board meeting. Board members expressed once again their support in principle for this proposal.
9. Next Meeting
Board members agreed to look for a suitable date in late April/early May.
10. Other business
The Institute for Change Leaders (ICL)’s proposal to create a multimedia project that tells the story of progressive campaigns, driven by Olivia Chow, is moving forward, with Tim Harper on board. We are still awaiting their next application.
We have received news from Beryl Young that Tommy's Dream, a children’s book that tells the story of how Tommy Douglas's childhood experience with his own health inspired him to work toward establishing universal health care, is now going to be published by Louis Anctil, the publisher of Midtown Press in Vancouver. Target is the spring of 2021. An update application will be forthcoming before the next meeting.
11. Adjournment
m/s/c
DCF Board Meeting - July 23rd, 2019
DCF Board Meeting
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2019
6:00 ET
Location:
By Telephone
Attendance:
Karl Bélanger, Melissa Hunter, Mohammad Akbar, Rebecca Blaikie, Diane Idibe,
Jon Weier, Amy Boughner, Jay Ramasubramanyam, Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah.
Non-board member: Josh Bizjak
Adoption of Agenda
m/s/c
2. Adoption of minutes
Minutes of the previous meeting are read and adopted.
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3. President’s report:
Karl mentions that there was a significant turnover of Board Members at the AGM, which is interesting and challenging.
The two committees charged by the previous AGM to review governance issues and the DCF by-laws made limited progress.
The DCF received a nice letter from a scholarship recipient and was read. The DCF needs to revisit its links with the different universities to strengthen the relationship and increase awareness.
4. Financial Report: No official report as the position is vacant, following the resignation of Emilie Taman. Karl gives a general overview of the financial situation. Our assets remain healthy. The DCF raised more money in the past year, thanks notably to a generous donation from the Flanagan Institute.
Minimal progress has been made on the transition. A full audit needs to be conducted before the end of the year.
Karl had a meeting with Scotia McLeod about our assets. They are proposing a new fee
structure, in essence moving to a fee-based structure from a per transaction cost. With the fee-based structure, our investors pledge to make himself available for board meetings and consult on the construction of a new investment policy statement. With a fee-based structure, we would be much more nimble in the markets as there are no commission minimums on trades.
Motion moved to ask the new treasurer to review, met with Scotia McLeod and report to the Board on a recommendation for the proposal.
m/s/c
5. Election of officers
President: Karl Bélanger
Vice-President: Rebecca Blaikie, Derek DeVlieger
Executive Secretary: Anne Scotton in abstentia, pending her acceptance;
Mohammad Akbar as alternate.
Treasurer: Melissa Hunter
6. Staffing
Chris Markevich has moved on from his position but has been elected to the Board, which will be helpful for institutional memory. Josh Bizjak has been helping out on a volunteer basis.
Motion moved to regularize Josh Bizjak’s situation by compensating his work on a similar contract as previous assistant, to be negotiated with the President.
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7. Correspondence
