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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 25, 2008
Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Board Meeting
May 25, 2008 - 1:30 pm ET Board Meeting
In Attendance:
David Mackenzie
Pat Kerwin
Anne Scotton
Lynn Williams
Frank Saptel
Éric Hébert-Daly (Guest)
Doug Massey (staff)
By phone:
Tessa Hebb
Erin Armstrong
Regrets:
Allan Blakeney
Ed Broadbent
Kealey Cummings
Fraser Green
David Woodbury
Marion Dewar
Howard Leeson
Dick Proctor
Steelworkers' Hall
25 Cecil St (lower level)
Toronto, ON M5T 1N1
Board Meeting Agenda
1. Minutes of November 22nd 2007 Board Meeting
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2. Correspondence
Went over the received correspondence from the following:
Youth Activist Retreat Report
CUPE Donation letter
Note from Pat Martin
Woodsworth College student thank you letter
Carleton University Scholarship - Kalman Kaplansky Recipient comments
Carleton University Scholarship - Beverlee Bell Recipient comments
3. President’s Report
The President’s report was moved to the Annual General Meeting
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4. Secretary’s Report
The Secretary’s report was moved to the Annual General Meeting
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5. Treasurer’s Report
Pat reviewed the Auditor’s reports and the audited statements and YTD Financial statements
Pat discussed the 2nd DVD project and also the 3rd which would use the audio we have been able to get access to of the debates in the House of Commons on the War Measures Act. The third DVD would involve compiling video and photo montages to complement the audio.
Pat also discussed our expanding abilities for accepting different types of donations. Securities, In Memoriam and In Celebration donations can now be accepted.
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With the advice of our auditor, it is proposed to move the poster stock that we are currently selling to raise funds to advertising expense and just make them available for free (with the request that postage be covered for shipping)
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6. 2009 Award Discussion
Reminder of the upcoming due date of September 26th for the 2009 Award submissions
Discussion was also tabled around where to announce the award.
7. Scholarship Report
All scholarships except for the University of Regina have been given out. Anne and Howard will contact Bill Brennan at U of Regina to see what assistance can be made to ensure there are applicants.
The CALM awards were discussed. The Morden Lazerus Award and Cliff Scotton Prize are two CALM awards that we have supported in the past. More work is going to be done in the future to ensure the DCF gets associated with these awards and will work with CALM to promote them.
8. Nomination Committee Report
The Officers will be the Nomination Committee bringing forth their recommendations to the Board of Directors who will prepare a slate for the Annual General Meeting.
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9. New Business
Frank discussed if the DCF could hold an event in Ottawa for CLiFF – Canadian Labour International Film Festival – opening footage would be “Six weeks of solidarity” which is 10 minutes long. Doug to investigate options and report back.
Motion to adjourn at 2:53 pm
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
