This pandemic has brought into sharp focus the critical need for income support and the idea of Universal Basic Income (UBI) has become part of the public conversation. Lifting the income floor is a top concern for progressive Canadians worried about growing poverty and increasing inequality.
How can Provinces provide protection for all
The webinar Lift the Floor: How Provinces Can Provide Protection for All is the first of the 2020 Digital Convening Series, launched by the Broabent Institute in partnership with the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.
Douglas-Coldwell Foundation to provoke discussion on COVID-19
The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have been devastating. People have fallen very ill. Too many have died. Millions have lost income and now have to rely on emergency programs - if they qualify. Anxiety is on the rise.
Mourning Shirley Douglas
1934 - 2020
Statement by the President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation, Karl Bélanger
It is with great sadness that we learned yesterday of the passing of Shirley Douglas, an impassioned activist, daughter of Tommy Douglas, a patron and long-time supporter of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.
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
m/s/c
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
Minutes From The DCF AGM - June 14, 2018
DCF Annual General Meeting Minutes
June 14, 2018
5:00pm EST
DCF Board Meeting - August 27, 2018
DCF Board Meeting Minutes
August 27, 2018
6pm EST
DCF Board Meeting - December 13, 2017
DCF Board Meeting
Wednesday, December 13th, 2017
5:00 ET
Minutes From The DCF AGM - September 12, 2017
Minutes From The DCF AGM - September 12, 2017
DCF Board Meeting - June 30, 2017
DCF Board Meeting June 30, 2017
Mouseland Renewal Project Update
On July 10th, 1944, Tommy Douglas was sworn in as Premier of Saskatchewan. His CCF government was the first social democratic government in North America.
DCF At Tommy Douglas Institute 2017
Friends,
On May 31st, I was thrilled to participate in the 5th annual Tommy Douglas Institute conference at George Brown College in Toronto, under the theme: “Social Justice = Environmental Justice: Rethink! Reclaim! Respect!”
Social Democracy - The Past, Present and Future
From May 12 to May 14, the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation participated in Social Democracy and the Left in Canada: Past, Present, and Future, a conference held in Calgary.
The choice of Calgary in 2017 is significant because it connected the conference with the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation at the Royal Canadian Legion in Calgary in 1932. The CCF was a political coalition of progressive, socialist, and labour groups that wanted economic reform to help Canadians affected by the Great Depression.
From pacifism to peacekeeping, from socialism to social democracy, the CCF/NDP has had its share of successes and disappointments in Canadian federal and provincial politics. Despite the almost 85-year existence of the CCF/NDP, however, there has been relatively little academic work done on the movement and its history. That is especially true in the last 20 years. This is particularly noteworthy in comparison to the extensive body of work that exists about Canada’s other two national parties.
Organized by historians Jon Weier (Western University), Roberta Lexier (Mount Royal University), and Stephanie Bangarth (King’s University College), the conference aimed to look at this imbalance, examine the state of the NDP and the extra-parliamentary Left and provide a critical historical and current-day analysis of the state of social democracy in Canada.
The conference featured several papers on the history of the CCF-NDP and left-wing organizations in Canada. A wide range of topics were covered from the criminalization of left-wing dissent in the first half of the 20th century in Canada to the evolution of the CCF-NDP’s ideology to “Laytonian social democracy” and the LEAP manifesto. An edited collection of the papers is expected to be published as a book sometime in the future.
The Douglas-Coldwell Foundation was proud to have been able to take part in the conference. David McGrane, one of our Board Directors, chaired a session of the conference on our behalf. The conference proved to be an ideal setting to promote and encourage academics studying social democracy in Canada. The DCF’s presence was noted by the participants and we were able to provide more information about what we do.
Please consider contributing $20 today so that we can continue our work to promote research and education into social democracy in Canada.
Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.
Broadbent Institute and Douglas-Coldwell Foundation launch reflection on status of social democracy in Canada
MARCH 13, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Broadbent Institute and Douglas-Coldwell Foundation launch reflection on status of social democracy in Canada
OTTAWA — The Broadbent Institute and the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation are partnering to convene a national discussion on social democracy in Canada, on the occasion of our nation’s 150th birthday in 2017.
As the country looks to this milestone, Canadians will be reminded of the role played by the thought and practice of social democracy in fashioning much of what generations have held most dear about Canada, whether it is public health care, protection of workers’ rights, or a generous system of social provision.
“Social democracy transformed daily life in Canada and most other advanced economies in the 20th century, as governments delivered virtually full employment, rising wages and access to social programs and public services. The result was much greater equality of both condition and opportunity, enhanced security for all, and broadly shared economic progress in a still market based economy,” said Ed Broadbent, Chair of the Broadbent Institute.
“As we celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, it is vitally important to reflect on this historical experience, and to re-examine the intellectual sources of social democratic achievement. An important first step is to take a closer look at Canada’s rich progressive traditions and their significant accomplishments for Canadians,” stated Karl Bélanger, President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.
The initiative is being launched with the publication of a discussion paper, Reflections on the Social Democratic Tradition by the Broadbent Institute’s Senior Policy Advisor, Andrew Jackson. The paper, available here, provides a political history, overview and critical evaluation of the social democratic project in Western politics - and in Canada in particular - in this moment of upheaval, inequality and decline in democracies around the globe.
Since the 1980s, the market-restricting structures of social democracy have been under attack. As David Frum has pointed out, in launching this attack Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan deliberately set out to destroy social democracy.
“The result,” said Mr. Broadbent, “has been an increase in environmental degradation, the financial crisis of 2008 and especially the alarming increase in inequality - culminating in the rise of right-wing populism.”
Reflections on the Social Democratic Tradition will set the stage for the Broadbent Institute’s project Change the Game – an in-depth reflection on not only what history teaches us, but on what might constitute genuinely progressive policy advocacy in the months and years ahead.
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For more information please contact:
Willy Blomme, Program Director at the Broadbent Institute
[email protected] (514) 699-4636
Karl Bélanger, President of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation
[email protected] (613) 232-1918
