DCF Annual General Meeting Minutes
June 14, 2018
5:00pm EST
Minutes From The DCF AGM - June 25, 2019
MINUTES OF THE DCF 2019 AGM
Held on June 25, 2019 at 7:00 PM ET
Minutes From The DCF AGM - June 14, 2018
In attendance: Heather Fraser, Melissa Hunter, Amy Boughner, Dave McGrane, Jonathan Weir, Diane O’Reggio, Anne Scotton, Karl Belanger, Alice Dean, Derek de Vlieger, Emilie Taman, Josh Bizjak, Doug Massey, Aurelie Sarrabezolles.
By phone: Calinda Brown, Gerry Barr, Michele Girash, Mohammad Akbar, Lydia Treadwell, Brittney Senger.
Propose Agenda: Doug Massey
Seconded: Aurelie Sarrabezolles
Agenda Adopted
Review Agenda, minutes from last AGM
Doug Massey proposed striking from last Treasurer’s Report $5089 expenses – typo?
Anne proposed minutes to be accepted – so adopted
President’s Report – DCF had good year in 2017. Numbers increased at convention for NDP – raised money, donations up to $10,000 for the year. Recruiting drive a few weeks ago took place as well. DCF had a booth at the convention, lots of signups. Not able to attend MB or NS NDP conventions due to lack of volunteers. Also attended Tommy Douglas Institute at George Brown University – theme was Indigenous Knowledge. Grant given to Canadian Roots Exchange. Bill Blaikie represented DCF. 2 grant projects: Les Communes (The Commons) – no money yet, meeting pending in September; Broadbent Institute – project in BC, working with Rockefeller Bros. on funding & scholarships still in place. Very pleased with growth of DCF.
Board missing 1 member according to documentation filing with government. Gerry Barr is stepping down, Doug Massey stepping down as Treasurer. New Treasurer to be elected at next Board meeting. Motion to approve President’s report. Discussion on Gerry Barr & Doug Massey’s contributions to the DCF. Seconded and approved.
Executive Secretary’s Report – Anne Scotton was travelling to the airport, no formal report to add at this time. Karl added that we needed bylaws check on proxy list. Chris M checked and there are a total of 19 proxies.
Treasurer’s Report – Documents attached and circulated to Board. All contributions are receiptable. Non-receiptable is through CanadaHelps. Investments went up to 2016 from 2015 to $96,000. $20K-$25K in dividends on average each year. Sales (DVDs, bobbleheads) – 2016 Tommy Douglas Center in Maryland purchased 100 bobbleheads. DVDs were a good concept, but haven’t sold very well. Proposes making available for free online as educational material. Ecwid ships all orders. Facebook ads - $100-$150/mth, possibly expanding to Instagram. Talked about SHARE and their work. They offer us collaboration with similar orgs and their AGMs. 2016 grants were $3500 (scholarships) and $10K to Inter Pares 2017 grants were $20K to Broadbent and $1000 to Canadian Roots Exchange. Sponsored SHARE, public policy $5000. Clerical services, insurance, $15K for Mouseland Project, website upgrades and NationBuilder - $24,607 (all-in loss/investments). Diane seconded report, so adopted.
Nomination of Board Members – 2 year commitment. 3 vacancies, officers will be elected at next Board meeting. Floor opened to nominations.
Mohammad Akbar – Self-nominated
Emilie Taman – Nominated by Alice Dean
Jonathan Weir – Nominated by Dave McGrane
Derek de Vlieger – Nominated by Lydia Treadwell
Anne Scotton requested that candidates speak on nominations. All 4 candidates accepted nominations. Proceeded to election. Gave each candidate 1 minute to speak on nomination. Confirmed each member of AGM will email vote to Doug & Karl to tally votes. Chris emailed list and confirmed list of proxy votes. Karl & Doug tallied votes. Doug thanked everyone for running. Emilie Taman, Derek de Vlieger and Mohammad Akbar were elected to the Board. Ballots destroyed by Josh Bizjak and Aurelie Sarabezolles.
Other Business – DCF direction. Path we are on not sustainable. Need to be giving more across the country. Spread message of social democracy, progressive politics. The right wing is very active. Tommy gave message when Foundation created to prevent politics on the left from going into a rut. Need to promote and educate people with studies, seminars, conferences etc. Being a charity gives us advantages to fundraise in ways that are not otherwise available.
Proposals: Full time executive director. Full time staff (3 or 4 at least). Committee struck to modernize our bylaws (with French translation). Look at governance policies etc.
Diversity & Equity – We don’t have in mission statement or principles/bylaws. Aggressive strategy to fundraise and to hire needed staff. Board instructed to strategize and plan. Need to ensure legacy of Tommy Douglas is not wasted. Motion presented to the board to take action on these proposals.
Discussion – Question on what role Exec. Director would fulfill and provisions in bylaws. Karl advised that bylaws do not currently cover this and need to be updated. Doug provided some historical context on when Tommy was in the charity fundraising etc. and made an impassioned plea to not let the DCF die and to get involved and spread the positive message of Tommy Douglas. Calinda spoke in favour, need to promote social democracy, fundraising important, need staff and the motion will help to stabilize and modernize the Foundation. Heather says it is a fantastic initiative. Diane supports motion, says DCF needs better governance, policies etc. and that it is long overdue. Critical for DCF to be diligent on grants, and the process involved. Amy says it is a fantastic idea, volunteers to be part of committee. Moved, seconded by Doug Massey. Unanimous approval.
Move to adjourn AGM by Karl, seconded by Aurelie. Meeting so adjourned.
Latest posts
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
m/s/c
7. Correspondence
