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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 October 21, 2003
Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Board Meeting
October 21, 2003
In attendance:
Bill Blaikie
Tessa Hebb
Kealey Cummings
Ted Jackson
Anne Scotton
Marion Dewar
By phone: David Mackenzie
Regrets:
Fraser Green
Nanci Morrison
Joy Langan
Robert Needham
David Woodbury
Guest(s): Audrey Moey
President’s Report
Tessa reported that DCF was involved in 2 big projects this year – Mining Watch and ETAG – we contributed $7500 to each project
Other contributions were:
$3000 – Carleton University Conference
$3000 – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Conference
$4000 – scholarships to various universities (see below)
Annual donations are almost meeting our administrative costs.
Woodsworth College scholarships been awarded at the University of Toronto in this last year. The Kaplanski and Bell scholarships at Carleton University are now listed in the university calendar, and are expected to be awarded this year.
CALM awards have not been given out over these last few years. We have followed up with CLC to see if these awards will be reinstated in the future.
Larger donations and larger grants means we garner more respect with organizations we are funding, thus increasing our profile.
Fraser Green will work on expanding our membership base. We hope to put together a list of 300 – 500 names, with the help of our board members, and Fraser will organize a call centre to do a membership drive. NDP MP’s and MLA’s should be on this list.
We are aiming to have donations sustain our admin costs, and use our portfolio for grants only.
The website is being kept up to date now, as we have hired someone locally to update the web site regularly – the website helps with increasing the transparency of the foundation.
Tessa thanked Adam Hodgins for his contribution over the last six years.
M/S/C Kealey Cummings/Anne Scotton
Secretary’s report (Anne Scotton)
Membership is holding steady at under 100. Membership dues are at approximately $3600 annually; we would like to take that up to $6000.
Tessa circulated minutes of the last meeting.
Errors/omissions/changes – correction to the spelling of Kealey’s name noted.
M?S/C TedJackson/ Bill Blaikie Minutes approved
Treasurer’s Report (Tessa for Nanci)
Officers met in September.
It was noted that the Royal Bank will be our VISA account and the Bank of Montreal remains our primary account.
Our portfolio continues to grow: it brings in $25,000 a year to distribute.
As of August 29, 2003, our US portfolio investments were at US$77,000, which translates to C$100,000.
Our Canadian holdings were at $517,000 – up from $500,000, bringing our total value to almost $650,000. It would be great to bring that up to a million.
We are remaining an affiliated member of SHARE, and are even more committed to socially responsible investment practices. Joy Langan will attend the SHARE meeting (in BC) and provide us with an update.
Our portfolio manager has been sensitized.
Audited statement was presented at last meeting, so only cash flow to report.
We are working on getting the website set up to accept online donations. Fraser will help us solicit automatic credit card deductions once this is set-up.
New Projects
John Polanyi Annual Conference at Concordia University, 12 – 16 November 2003 – a $5000 contribution was recommended.
M/S/C – unanimous support
Tessa also encouraged board members to be proactive in seeking another university that we can extend our profile in, especially in Quebec and BC. Joy Langan has been encouraged to look out for BC opportunities, e.g. the BOAG Foundation.
Georges Campeau’s book on unemployment has been translated into English, with an acknowledgement of the DCF. We are providing $1,000 of support for publication.
Board members should keep an eye out for interesting ideas about how the country is changing, e.g. multiculturalism, and the integration of new Canadians. Ted Jackson spoke to the need to find creative ways/projects to engage new constituencies/communities, and encourage them to be partners in bringing about institutional and policy change.
Anne and Ted to do informal scouting of opportunities.
New 5-year plan – it was noted that the present 5-year plan has worked well for the foundation, therefore we should propose another at the spring meeting.
Shirley Douglas is being considered as a potential Board member. Her acceptance will bring gender equity to the board.
Adjournment. 11:00 am M/S/C BillBlaikie/ Marion Dewar
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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
