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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 November 27, 2008
Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Board Meeting
Thursday November 27, 2008
11:00 am ET Board Meeting
Boardroom
300-279 Laurier Ave W
Ottawa, ON
Present:
David Mackenzie
Pat Kerwin
Tessa Hebb
Kealey Cummings
Dick Proctor
Eric Hebert-Daly
On the Phone:
Alexa McDonough
David Woodbury
Frank Saptel
Anne Scotton
Howard Leeson
1. Adoption of Agenda
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2. Minutes of May 25 2008 Board Meeting
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3. Correspondence
David brought forward correspondence from the TDRI – Tommy Douglas Research Institute
A great deal of discussion occurred on this topic with the understanding this topic would be discussed in further detail at the spring Board Meeting in 2009.
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4. President’s Report
Thank you to Doug Massey and the Officers for the guidance of moving into the role of President.
David took a moment on everyone’s behalf to reflect on Marion Dewar’s life and her recent passing. David discussed her incomparable life as an activist and for all that she accomplished. She will be dearly missed.
Motion to appoint Dawn Black, MP and Eric Hebert-Daly to the Board to fill vacant positions
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Motion to approve President’s Report
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David welcomed Eric Hebert-Daly to the Board
5. Secretary’s Report
Doug went over membership numbers on behalf of Anne
151 currently paid members
77 to renew
29 Association memberships – we need to pursue these more
Frank asked that we set targets – for example – Lifetime members – bring to 20 (double current #’s)
Motion to approved Secretary’s report
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6. Treasurer’s Report
YTD Financial Statements
Pat went over the YTD financial statements including the current ScotiaMcleod Investment statement.
Pat discussed the third DVD Project which would include the War Measures Act debates and the Shirley Douglas – Tribute to Tommy at the 2006 Federal NDP Convention
Tessa – questioned investments – so far overall loss of 15%
Pat commented on the fact that some bonds are due in April and this is when the 2009 Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Award will be given out.
Motion to approve Treasurer’s Report
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Recommendations for 2010 – start at $5,000 for grants unless the markets rebound
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7. Scholarship Report
Discussed current Scholarships given out and will contact Bill Brennan at U of
Regina to follow up on that scholarship.
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8. 2009 Award Discussion
- Mary McGreevey - Reading Club
- Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
- Rideau Institute
- Urban Core Support Network Saint John Inc.
- ACORN Canada
- Parkland Institute
- Project Harvest - Guatamalan Project
Discussion about all the projects submitted.
Everyone was very pleased with all the projects submitted.
Motion to approve $25,000 Award to the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
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9. New Business
Allan Blakeney Memoirs book launch – looking for support
Motion to give $500 to launch
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Reminder about CLiFF – Canadian Labour International Film Festival
Motion that DCF will host Ottawa venue – at the National Archives theatre on November 28 and 29, 2009
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Motion to adjourn meeting at 12:52 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
