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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 May 18th, 2000
Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Board Meeting
May 18th, 2000 - 9:30 am NDP Board Room, Ottawa
In Attendance:
Tessa Hebb
Ted Jackson
Lorne Ingle
Anne Scotton
Marion Dewar
Regrets:
Bill Knight
Geraldine McGuire
Bill Blaikie
Kealy Cummings
Dick Martin
David Mackenzie
Fraser Green
The Meeting was opened at 9:30 by the president with the display of the DCF web site www. DCF.ca.
The Board gave a unanimous vote of thanks to President Tessa Hebb for all her work on the M.J. Coldwell biography and the great success of the official book launch. There was a discussion of the success of the M.J. Coldwell book launch the previous evening with over a hundred guests in attendance. The Board had a general discussion about further promotion of the book over the next six months including book reviews and promotion in Party and labor newspapers, a book launch in Sask., and offering the manuscript as a possible film documentary.
M/S/C that the agenda be approved.
M/S/C that the minutes of the last Board meeting be approved.
President's Report
To be presented to the Annual General Meeting immediately following the Board meeting.
Secretary's Report
Anne Scotton reported that the amount of members and donors has reached 120 and made special note that both Margaret Carman and Stoddart Publishing donated $1 000 towards the M.J. Coldwell biography project. The Secretary also urged that every opportunity be taken to promote the book to push to be a best seller. She recommended that the book be suggested to university libraries and history departments and also brought up the possibility of a second book launch in Saskatchewan.
Correspondence
The Secretary reported that the DCF had been named as a beneficiary in the will of Alfred Russell Grimwood, and that the will has been contested, we expect to be notified of the final decision shortly.
We have received $29,000 from Eileen Suffrin's estate, that will be placed in our endowment portfolio.
Anne Scotton reported that Geraldine McGuire has stepped down from the Board due to the fact that she is currently limiting her commitments.
The Secretary reported that Todd Dickson, a recipient of the DCF's M.A. scholarship at the University of Regina, has completed his thesis and has received the second half of his award, even though the completion of his thesis was a number of years since the awarding of the scholarship.
Treasurer's Report
To be presented to the Annual General Meeting immediately following the Board meeting.
New Projects Review
Ted Jackson of the New Projects committee reported that five proposals were submitted to the DCF since the last meeting. He recommended that only one receive funding. The George Brown photo exhibit project in the amount of $1 000, the other four proposals; a video project on the life of Machine Gun Wallace, the book Petrotyranny, The Working Women's Conference in Toronto and the book Health for Sale were not recommended for funding.
M/S/C that the recommendations of the New Projects committee be adopted
The meeting was adjourned 10:30.
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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
m/s/c
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.
m/s/c
5 c). Adoption of Treasurer’s report.
m/s/c
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.
m/s/c
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.
m/s/c
7. Correspondence
