Planning meetings

[Milan]

We had our first planning meeting last night - 27 June 2012.

We have another planned for Tuesday July 3rd, from 7:00pm until about 9:00pm. The aim of the meeting will be to discuss recruitment and possible actions the group could undertake.

If you want to attend, please contact milan.i...@gmail.com

[Tamara Brownstone]

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday July 10th at 7pm (likely until about 9 again) to further develop ideas for the Kalamazoo action in July, the Peter Kent documentary screening later in the summer/early fall, and summer recruitment/canvassing events.

Contact tamarabr...@gmail.com or toron...@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

[Milan]

Sounds great. I will be there.

[Milan]

Planning meeting - 3 July 2012

Present: Ian, Mike, Mark, Monica, Tamara, Milan

Topics:

1. Film screening
2. Kalamazoo event
3. Recruitment

1) Film screening

Possible venues?
* Parks require permits
* A bar may be best

Documentary is only about 30 minutes
* Should probably be accompanied by something else
* Another film? A speaker?
* Music to follow?

Possible speakers: Paul Fletcher, Peter Taubins, Dana Harris?

Goals of event: recruitment, draw attention to Toronto 350

Milan will coordinate the search for a speaker
Ian will look into venues
Mark will look into music
Mike will look into a promotional strategy
* Once we have a plan, 350 will probably send out an invitation to their mail list
Monica will look after logistics and equipment

2) Kalamazoo - July 25th

Ian will make enlarged photos of oil spills with explanations and rent easels to put them on and a van to transport them
* NRDC has some photos available
* Send other plausible license-free photos to Ian

Where to do it? College Street? Queen Street?
* We want wide sidewalks, lots of foot traffic
* Should probably cover the timespan of lunch break through afternoon

Our event will be a 'blip in a larger campaign'

We should bring good cameras and try to bring a couple of volunteers each

Mark will bring email signup sheets, clipboards, and pens

3) Recruitment

We could send a couple of people to upcoming festivals and events
* Pedestrian sundays, vegetarian festivals, etc

Group email address and Twitter account will be set up

[Milan]

10 July 2012 - Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Present: Monica, Tamara, Mark, Milan

Topics:

• Kent screening
• Kalamazoo event
• local.350.org
• Other initiatives

1) Kent film screening - 20 September 2012

Venues

Innis Hall at U of T as possible venue
* 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada
* Space for 200 people
* Suggested via email
* Has a reception area outside where music could happen
* Would it be possible to get an alcohol licence?
* Could be good for a movie-focused event

Can a U of T student book any similar space for free?

At an event at a bar or club, people could buy their own food and alcohol
* A bar with an existing sound and video setup would be ideal

Possible music
* Tamara has approached some possible singer-songwriters
* Willing to work for free?

Possible speakers
* Andrew Cash - Davenport MP (could also be willing to play music - may also know about other possibilities)
* Professor at U of T? -Milan will look for possibilities
* Does Maude Barlow live in Toronto?
* Who spoke at the Tar Sands event in Ottawa? -Monica will get a list of names
* Milan will ask Gracen Johnson about who she got to speak at the 2009 'Fill the Hill' event in Ottawa

Video to show
* CBC would only release 'for research purposes'
* Web video isn't of the highest quality
* Also trying to get a copy through the Council of Canadians -Milan will push more
* Any chance a library would have it?

Alternative things to show?
* Peace Out (2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2016259/
* Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIswPYd3e8A
* Would they be willing to let us screen it for free?
* Mark will get in touch with them to ask

Equipment
* We should be able to borrow or rent the necessary audio and video equipment
* We should do a practice run to test the gear

Objectives
* Get people out for a fun event
* Recruit

Priorities: find a speaker and a venue
* Please send suggestions to Milan
* Also, find a high quality copy if possible



2) Kalamazoo event - 25 July 2012

Lots of news coverage today - National Transportation Safety Board testimony

We need to start promoting
* Social media
* Poster / flyer / information sheet

Should we have a preparatory meeting for volunteers?
* Probably not necessary

Ian is handling the printing

Pipeline prop?
* Mark's Home Depot idea

Clipboards, pens, etc
* Mark can bring for this event

Tamara will produce a page of talking points on Kalamazoo / line reversal

Is the Hamilton 350 group doing a Kalamazoo event?
* If not, we should invite them to this one
* Monica will get in touch with them

We should eventually ask the 350 people to send out an email to their whole Toronto list about this

Should we have a press release?
* Ask Ian if Environmental Defence already has one
* If not, Milan will prepare one
* We should develop a list of local media contacts



3) local.350.org

Person who normally approves pages on vacation
* But should be back soon
* No problems expected in terms of getting approval

We have a GMail account and a Twitter account
* Mark will keep an eye on the Twitter account

We could create a Facebook page

Different purposes for different pages
* Google Group - for planning discussions
* Facebook page / local.350.org - for promotion of events, discussions between less involved participants
* Twitter - for announcements

toron...@gmail.com is our general contact email



4) Other initiatives

In October - "Planet in Focus"
* Five day environmental film event
* Could have a table perhaps, to try to recruit
* Mark already has a pass

Lots of other opportunities for recruiting outdoors
* Monica has been making a list of upcoming events
* Form to collect email contact information: http://bit.ly/toronto350

Recruiting more people for planning meetings

Next meeting
* At Monica's
* Next Tuesday 7-9
* Could change if Mike or Ian wishes

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

17 July 2012

Present: Neal, Monica, Mark, Ian, Tamara, Milan

Agenda
* Review of minutes and action items
* Kalamazoo event - 25 July
* Kent film screening - 20 September
* Recruiting / websites
* New business



1) Review of minutes and action items

Reviewed

2) Kalamazoo event - 25 July

Ian has submitted materials to be printed
* Maps of Line 9 and Northern Gateway Pipeline
* Overhead photos of Kalamazoo spill
* 13 placards in total
* Easels rented
* Fact sheet in development - Can be shared via Google Docs

Press release
* Environmental Defence will put out a national press release
* Will cover event here, events in BC, and events in US
* We can put out our own media advisory for the Toronto

25 actions happening across North America

Big press conference planned in Michigan

Email list
* Environmental Defence will send to their list
* Their email can direct people to toron...@gmail.com
* We should definitely ask 350.org to send it out to their Toronto list

Photography
* 350 is setting up a Flickr group
* We should also be using Twitter, etc

Logistics
* Meet at Queen and Spadina at 11am
* Easels to be delivered to Queen and Spadina
* Bring friends if possible
* Will probably run until 3pm or 4pm

Training beforehand?
* Monday the 23rd - 7pm
* We can hold it at Milan's

Tamara will email the 350 people about sending a message to their whole list
* To include details on the event and for training

Environmental Defence is having a 'beach day' celebration after
* On Centre Island



3) Kent film screening - 20 September

Blue Moon as possible venue
* At Broadview and Queen East
* Good space, but not inherently equipped for video - no screen or projector
* Environmental Defence may be able to provide a projector

Dominion is an alternative possibility
* On Queen, near VIstek
* Would cost $100 / hr or $300 / night for a private room, but they do have video capabilities
* Front space could be reserved for free

What information do we need on venues?
* Availability of drinks, food, chairs
* Video equipment

Kent video
* Web copy? CBC version?
* Do we want to find some more recent video to contrast
* We could all try and find clips to send to Mark, to be edited together
* Can be made available via YouTube

Should we invite him to answer questions?
* Public invitation

Blue Moon on (Thursday) 20 September seems good to everyone
* Start at 7pm? Film at 8. Music later. Over around 11pm.
* Every piece we fix should make it easier to assemble the rest

Speakers?

Should we charge? Pay what you can? Donations?

Should have a follow-on event planned to tell people about

Promotion?
* Mike said he would come up with a promotion strategy
* Neal could design a poster
* Milan can put up posters on student boards at U of T
* Promote to people running existing environmental student groups



4) Recruiting / websites

local.350.org site
* Still waiting for the woman to get back from vacation

Recruitment cards
* Neal will make up the graphic file

We're on Twitter and Facebook

Previous Toronto 350 events
* Who organized them?
* Do the people at 350.org know?

Flickr
* Mark will look into us getting a free Flickr Pro account
* Milan will find and send a link to the page

Key mailing list
* Google Docs page will work for us for now



5) New business

Toronto Green Drinks tomorrow
* Milan is planning to go

Contested Futures panel at OISE - 30 July

Fundraising?

Official group at U of T?
* Not an onerous process for application - Have to create a constitution

Next meeting
- Next Monday at Milan's

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

23 July 2012

Present: Amelia Rose, Monica, Ian, Tamara, Milan

Agenda:
* Kalamazoo event
* Film screening
* Websites and recruiting
* Windfest - Sept 22nd


1) Kalamazoo event - this Wednesday

Ian has the placards ready
* Easels to be delivered Wednesday morning

Press release nearly done

How many people expected?
* At least ten, between the people here and university volunteers
* University volunteers experienced in talking with people

Key points to hit when talking with people
* Lots of options
* Climate change, pipeline safety, diluted bitumen, First Nations issues, etc
* Oil sands development, safety record of Enbridge

One goal is to find people who are sympathetic and interested in volunteering
* Also, provide new information to people

Petition to the National Energy Board?
* Ian will draw up wording and email it around tomorrow
* Re: line 9 reversal
* Ties closely to the Kalamazoo spill

Ian will also print up some copies of the Kalamazoo spill primer

What key issues should we touch on, re: pipelines
* Lots of spills
* Greater danger from tar sands oil - more abrasive and corrosive, harder to clean up
* Benzene and other unknown toxins and carcinogens
* EPA had no experience cleaning up bitumen before Kalamazoo
* Upstream damage in Alberta: air and water pollution, habitat destruction
* Line 9 was constructed in 1975, when standards were more lax
* Runs through the newly declared Rouge Park

Key points re: Kalamazoo
* 6 alarms ignored right at the outset
* 55km of river contaminated
* Only discovered the spill when an employee from a Michigan utility worker
* 150 families had to relocate
* Most expensive oil spill on land in US history - 5 times most costly than previous
* $800M in cleanup so far -Enbridge fined $3.7 M and harshly criticized for safety practices by US NTSB
* Another NTSB board member Robert Sumalt said that the accident demonstrated a "corrosion" of the safety culture "throughout the Enbridge organization."
* 'Culture of Deviance' at Enbridge, Finds US Transport Safety Board
* http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/07/10/Enbridge-Culture-of-Deviance/

Actions we can encourage
* NEB not taking comments at the moment, but will be again later
* If people are interested, we could create template letters to send to MPPs, MPs, etc

What can we say to people to convince them to volunteer with us?
* 350 is our stabilization target, meeting it requires the massive deployment of zero carbon forms of energy

Logistics
* Meeting at 11:00am at Queen and Spadina
* There is some construction in the area
* Monica could invite a friend to take photos
* Milan will bring his dSLR
* Mark can bring shirts for people who turn up -Also any other 350 swag we've got

Responding to aggressive passers-by


2) Film screening

[to be discussed at future meetings]

Possible collaborators include the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition


3) Websites and recruiting

Email lists
* Should we use the Google Docs spreadsheet as our main list?
* Have a separate list for organizers / people who have attended meetings?

The Google Group is probably best for organizers
* To avoid hitting people with excessive amounts of email, especially as the group gets more active
* People can set their own email preferences
* Milan is happy to provide a quick training session on Google Groups for those who would like it

Milan will look into mail list options

Vegetarian food festival - Sept. 7-9

Tamara will continue putting together a possible list of events to attend


4) Windfest

Seems like a good place to have a table
* Or some volunteers to sign people up

Milan will contact them to ask if we can participate


5) Next meeting
* Tuesday July 31st -7pm
* At Tamara's

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

31 July 2012

Present: Yasmin, Tamara, Mark, Milan

Agenda
* Kalamazoo debrief
* Contested futures discussion
* Recruiting
* Mailing lists
* Managing web presence
* Role assignments
* Peter Kent screening
* Next meeting


1) Kalamazoo debrief - 25 July 2012

Email addresses copied into Google Docs system

Lessons?
* In future, stress that people should write their email addresses in big clear block capitals
* Better to schedule shifts, rather than have everyone arrive at the start and then peter out?
* This particular area and approach had a low 'success rate'
* People had the misapprehension that we were trying to get money from them
* Ways to get more press attention?


2) Contested futures discussion - 30 July 2012

Yasmin was there
* Many environmental groups represented
* One issue that came up - how to coordinate between groups


3) Recruiting

We need both event participants and event organizers

Monica may be assembling a list of events where recruitment could happen

Creative possibilities?

Conference calls / Skype for organizing meetings?


4) Mailing lists

MailChimp
* Links with Facebook and Twitter

First email to new list?

Separate list for media / press releases?


5) Managing web presence

Potentially, each of our web presences should have a clear purpose and a specific person with primary responsibility

Twitter
* Purpose: Mostly for announcements? Providing general information on climate change?
* Responsible person: Various people have been posting bits and pieces -should one be put clearly in charge?
* Mark will keep an eye on it every few days

Facebook page
* Purpose: Announcements / people talking among themselves
* Responsible person: Monica?

GMail account
* Purpose: Outgoing, to speak as the group -Mechanism for strangers getting in touch with the group
* Responsible person: Milan will keep an eye on it, as will Tamara

local.350.org site
* Purpose: Central location - people can create their own event
* Responsible person: Monica?
* Who does 'Contact Group Leaders' contact?

Google Groups discussion forum
* Purpose: Main communication tool for organizers
* Responsible person: Milan
* Universally accessible - has upsides and downsides
* Hasn't included addresses for meetings
* Do we want to establish a private discussion forum?

Avoid a situation where people try to communicate with us and cannot


6) Role assignments

Possible eventual positions
* Liaison with external groups in Toronto
* Liaison with other local 350 groups
* Treasurer
* Press liaison
* Campus representatives: U of T, Ryerson, etc

Establishing a U of T club
* Less hassle than becoming a charitable organization / NGO by other means


7) Peter Kent screening - 20 September 2012

Venue set, but we still need a speaker (or more than one) and music
* And a better quality version of the film, if possible

We should have a meeting there to make sure the space works for us

How could we assemble some press coverage? Now Magazine / local papers

What kind of numbers can we expect?
* At least 20 seems safe
* Reaching out to other local groups

Practicalities
* Projection / sound system

One possible musician: Juan Pablo Bermúdez Rey
* http://individual.utoronto.ca/juanpa/Site/video.html


8) Next meeting

* Tuesday, August 7th
* 7:00pm - 9:00pm
* Blue Moon Pub
* 725 Queen Street East (just east of Broadview Avenue)

Specific things to work on
* Please keep looking into possible speakers / music
* Identify other events of interest before September

Salsa / capoeira event?

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

7 August 2012

Present: Mark, Tamara, Yasmin, Milan

Topics:
* Planning meetings
* Peter Kent film screening
* U of T event
* local.350.org page
* Recruitment
* Power Shift
* Next meeting


1) Planning meetings

Should meeting times be used for recruitment instead? For instance, go to university campuses or events?
* Could be a mechanism to focus more intensely on recruitment
* Season suitable for outdoor recruitment will come to an end

What are our major goals?
* Educating the general public about climate change
* Participate in larger 350 actions
* Community outreach
* Protests and other events to attract media attention

What other sorts of events could we have?
* Workshops?
* Monica may be compiling a list of events in which we could participate
* Presentations in schools?
* Are there tools on the 350.org website that could help with this?


2) Peter Kent film screening - 20 Sept

Venue - Riverside Public House (formerly Blue Moon Cafe) - 725 Queen St. East
* Has no open Wifi, which would impede watching the video as a stream
* Video can be played tolerably through Milan's cell phone's internet connection
* Somewhat long transit journey from downtown
* Drinks $7-$9, appetizers $8-$12, mains $14-$20

Staff member says we may be able to use their wifi to stream the film

Movie projection
* We need a screen, projector, and sound equipment
* We may need to acquire some folding chairs (venue may be getting some)

Juan Pablo is on for music
* Yasmin exchanged emails with him
* He wants information on lighting and sound equipment
* There is a stage with sound and lighting gear in place
* The restaurant would prefer not to have too much noise before 11pm
* Mark can speak with the owner of the venue about using the wifi, timing for music
* Could be worthwhile to ask how he promotes his own events, to see if we can do some cross-promotion

Coordinating with other organizations
* Environmental Defence
* Toronto Environmental Alliance
* Citizens Climate Lobby
* Lead Now
* Clean Train Coalition?
* We could send a sample email promoting the event to various organizations and ask them to pass it along to their membership

To-do items:
* Find a speaker (MP? City counsellors?)
* Assemble necessary gear
* Get better version of documentary if possible
* Assemble promotional materials - Tamara can write up a preliminary event description

Tamara and Mark will collaborate on writing up an event description to send out to potential speakers

Sensible sequence is probably to have the speaker first, then the film, then music
* Doors at seven, speaker at eight?

Ways to estimate how many people might show up?

Will Mike be working on a promotional strategy?

Will Environmental Defence be involved? How many people might they bring out?

It would be great to bring 50+ people
* We can each recruit a few friends to come


3) U of T event?

Something early in the school year, before people get busy?

Incorporating as a U of T club?
* What would be necessary to participate in some sort of 'clubs night' event
* Milan will look into this further
* Necessary to draft a constitution to create a club

Sometime before the September film screening, to draw people out?

Could potentially have events at other schools

Are there timing issues we should be considering? Exam periods, etc


4) local.350.org page

It would be useful if people aside from Monica could also become managers of the local page


5) Recruitment

Should 1-2 people be put in charge of coordinating this?
* Monica may be willing
* Tamara will email her to ask
* In particular, we should finalize a list of events that we could go out to for recruitment purposes
* Farmers' markets, pedestrian events
* Toronto beaches

Do we want to establish more formal roles generally?

We should send some sort of email to everyone whose address we collected
* Provide basic 'save the date' info for music event
* Direct people toward social media channels
* Mention that some 350 Toronto people are going to Power Shift

Having regular events will be important for building and maintaining the momentum of the group
* Helps to develop a track record of success, experience, contacts, etc


6) Power Shift conference

Happening in Ottawa in October
* Mostly people between 18 and 30

Being organized by 350.org and other groups: Indigenous Environmental Network, etc

Workshops and skill training

Yasmin planning to go; perhaps Tamara too


7) Next meeting

Next Tuesday
* At Milan's, 7pm
* Will include details in email with minutes

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

14 August 2012

Present: Stuart, Maya, Tamara, Monica, Milan

Topics:
* Agricultural summit at Ryerson
* University of Toronto club constitution
* Mailing list
* Peter Kent documentary screening
* Brainstorming ideas for events or campaigns
* Next meeting


1) Agricultural summit at Ryerson

Runs this Wednesday to this Saturday (Aug 15-18)
* Maya is volunteering

More info at: http://urbanagsummit.org/

2) University of Toronto club constitution

Draft prepared by Milan, distributed electronically and on paper at the meeting
* Based on guidelines provided by U of T
* Designed to be as flexible as possible when it comes to Toronto 350 members outside the U of T community

Who here is a member of the university of Toronto?
* Milan, Monica

Article by article review
* Changes made using 'track changes' in Word

Provision for replacing executive members?
* Added a paragraph to article 3 (executives)

Would it be better to have the annual general meeting at the end of the academic year?
* We can have the first meeting this September, then amend the constitution if necessary

Updated text:
* http://www.sindark.com/350/Constitution0-3.doc
* http://www.sindark.com/350/Constitution0-3.pdf

Deadline for comments - next week's meeting

3) Mailing list

MailChimp is set up, using email addresses from the Kalamazoo event

The login is just our Twitter account
* We may want to have a better password for this

Please encourage Toronto friends to sign up
* People can sign up themselves at: http://eepurl.com/orv31

Should we send regular updates?
* We can try monthly to start

We should ask the 350.org mothership to send a message about our September 20th film screening


4) Peter Kent documentary screening

Maya will see if she can get a copy via the CBC

One thing we still need is a speaker
* Tried Andrew Cash and Margaret Atwood
* Maya will contact George Stroumboulopoulos and Adria Vasil
* Milan asked an environmentally-inclined prof at U of T
* Mike Layton - counselor for Ward 19
* Someone from the main 350.org organization

It wouldn't be a problem to have a small panel
* It would be good to have people with a mixture of backgrounds, for instance a prof and someone in the media

Promotion
* We should design a poster to put up at U of T and other places
* Use our social media channels: Twitter, Facebook, etc
* Email through our mailing list
* Email through the 350 mothership
* Cross-promotion with Juan Pablo and any speakers
* Tell your friends!
* Ask other environmental groups to tell their membership - might make sense for one person to be in charge of this

August 22nd is the first anniversary of the death of Jack Layton
* There is an event in Toronto
* Could be a place to identify and contact possible speakers

Gear
* We need a projector
* We need any audio gear necessary for the showing or the music
* Could we borrow gear from U of T once we're an official club


5) Brainstorming ideas for events or campaigns

We could have a more serious policy discussion about what Canada should do on climate change
* Would likely attract a different audience from some of our other events

It would be good if people contributed ideas online

Possible campaigns could focus on how people can reduce their own climate impact, as well as how they could become more politically active on the subject
* Eat less meat, travel less, have fewer children
* Contact your elected representatives

Look into where schools have invested their endowments
* Encourage divestment from fossil fuel industries
* Do U of T, Ryerson, York, etc have existing guidelines on how they choose investments? Do they make reference to sustainability concerns?
* Could we do something that gets media attention before one of their significant meetings

Door-knocking campaigns
* Could work well for local issues

We should keep an eye out for opportunities to collaborate with other groups
* We should also identify what other on-campus groups are doing

350 workshops
* Info online at http://workshops.350.org/
* Could be good for later in the fall, once we have had a chance to do some recruiting at schools

Orientation meetings for new members
* Not the same as our weekly planning meetings
* An event specifically for people who have not come to a meeting yet

Summertime recruiting at outdoor events
* Monica has a spreadsheet of suitable events
* Could be quite entrepreneurial - get a couple of t-shirts and a clipboard, add emails to MailChimp

Other film screenings

Media appearances

'Clubs day' at various schools

6) Next meeting

Next Tuesday
* 7-9pm
* At Monica's

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

21 August 2012

Present: Monica, Stuart, Tamara, Mark, Milan

Topics:
* U of T club constitution
* Peter Kent event
* Designating roles
* Expense tracking
* Possible recruitment events
* Next meeting


1) U of T club constitution

U of T official says there are problems with the fee and amendment articles
* Won't say exactly what

Amendment procedure
* Could be helpful to be able to amend between AGMs

Will people want to set up groups at Ryerson, other schools?
* How distinct will be overall Toronto group be from the U of T group?

Next steps
* Officially submit draft for comments
* Revise as necessary

Basically, the U of T club would be a relatively straightforward way for Toronto 350 to get institutional presence and a bank account

We should into when U of T has their 'clubs day' event


2) Peter Kent event

We have an 'event' created on the local.350.org site
* Do we have one on Facebook?
* One has been created: https://www.facebook.com/events/514717095221712/

Speaker
* Matthew Hoffmann (U of T prof) has said maybe, will get back to us for sure tomorrow
* https://matthewhoffmann.wordpress.com/
* If he confirms, pass along his info to Mark to give to other possible speakers
* Would be good to have additional speakers
* Maya said she would look for possible speakers at the Jack Layton event tomorrow

* Mark will contact some local politicians (city counselor and MPP)

Technicalities
* We have 2/3 of the video in an offline format, pulled off YouTube
* Last third is on the website
* Milan tested it with his phone, and it works
* Also, the venue said we can use their WiFi
* Stuart will see if he can get the stream off the CBC site

Promotional plan
* Poster - Monica may be able to design one
* Should be something that works in black and white
* Milan can put some up at U of T in early September
* Is there somewhere we can get inexpensive printing?
* We should put up some posters in the area of the venue

* Milan can announce it before a couple of appropriate classes at U of T (environmental politics classes, etc.)

* Social media
* Ask people with large social media presence to promote on our behalf
* Perhaps some celebrity through the film festival?
* Ideally, get them to link to our film screening Facebook event

* Cross-promotion with speakers / the musician
* Collaborate with Juan Pablo to promote
* (If there is any gear he needs, we should find out ASAP)

Should we invite Peter Kent?


3) Designating roles

Facebook
* Both Tamara and Monica are admins for the group
* Facebook updates go automatically to Twitter

MailChimp
* 'Save the date' reminder went out on 12 August
* Next message in the lead-up to the film screening
* Perhaps two: one in early September, one a few days before
* Would it be possible to put a 'tweet this' link in the email?


4) Expense tracking

Monica will create a spreadsheet to keep track
* In the event that we fundraise later, we could recompense people for early out-of-pocket expenses
* Google Docs may be a natural place to put it
* Receipts could be submitted to the treasurer, when we have one officially


5) Possible recruitment events

Tamara assembled a list, which is linked on the Google Group
* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/qbnL6OUcXcI/0n10lcGWnycJ

Do we want to assign people to events? Rely on volunteering?

Toronto International Film Festival
* September 6 - 16

If people wish, they can give completed sheets to Milan to enter into MailChimp


6) Next meeting

Tuesday, August 28th
* At Stuart's
* Email toron...@gmail.com for the address

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

28 August 2012

Present: Stuart, Tamara, Meaghan, Ben, Monica, Milan

Topics:
* Peter Kent screening - 20 Sept
* "Age of Stupid" screening
* Yesterday's 'climate action summit'
* Joining the Climate Action Network
* Establishing a U of T club
* 350 'workshop'
* Recruiting
* 'Chasing Ice' documentary
* Next meeting


1) Peter Kent screening - 20 Sept

We have a speaker - U of T professor Matthew Hoffmann
* local.350.org and Facebook events have been updated

We also have a full saved version of the video

Left to be done: more promotion, projection and sound equipment

Social event in September to promote Power Shift?
* If someone wants to come promote it at the screening, they would be welcome

Monica emailed a list of counselors
* Mike Layton busy, but interested in future events

Ian has access to a projector, but says it isn't very good
* Monica will look into some other options

Yasmin has been in touch with the musician
* Milan will check with her about if he needs anything


2) "Age of Stupid" screening

Being put on by a local NDP riding association
* September 7th

Milan will go and try and encourage people to attend our screening / planning meetings

Peter Tabuns is speaking there


3) Yesterday's 'climate action summit'

Milan attended

At Lillian Smith Library

Representatives from various groups: Council of Canadians, Citizens Climate Lobby, etc.
* Climate change critic from the Green Party

What priorities should we try to advance together? Carbon pricing and ending fossil fuel subsidies the most popular options

They encouraged groups not yet affiliated with the Climate Action Network to join


4) Joining the Climate Action Network

350.org is already part

Do we want to associate 350 Toronto with them?
* People can have a look at their website, and we can discuss whether to sign up next meeting


5) Establishing a U of T club

Constitution submitted
* Not clear how long it will take to get approved

Once it is approved, we can schedule an annual general meeting

Could be a good idea to have a 'membership package'
* With climate change information, a t-shirt, etc.


6) 350 'workshop'

There is information on the 350 site

Perhaps something to undertake later


7) Recruiting

Windfest in September

People can get clipboards, sign-up sheets, and t-shirts from Milan

[Meeting interrupted by a duo of adorable hyper-energetic dogs.]

We could get in touch with CUPE and other unions

Vegetarian festival -September 8-10
* Stuart is planning to go
* Milan will bring a t-shirt and clipboard to the next meeting


8) 'Chasing Ice' documentary

* chasingice.com

Shown at Hot Docs -Not yet released
* Part of the Extreme Ice Survey

If screenings independent of us happen, we could promote them
* An around-the-world tour is planned
* No dates listed yet

Could we get access to a lecture hall at U of T with good quality projection gear?


9) Things to do for next week

Stuart will look into the 350 workshop idea

Monica will coordinate with Neal on the poster, or just make it herself

Everyone should have a look at the Climate Action Network
* http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/
* Milan will contact them about exactly what being affiliated would mean

Keep approaching possible speakers


10) Next meeting

At Maya's
* If you need the address, email toron...@gmail.com
* Between Dundas and College at Harrison (south of College)

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

4 September 2012

Present: Tamara, Amelia Rose, Stuart, Milan

Agenda:
* 7 September 'Age of Stupid' screening

* Establishing a U of T club

* 20 September Peter Kent screening
* 350 workshops
* Power Shift Conference
* Recruitment
* Next meeting


1) 7 September 'Age of Stupid' screening

* https://groups.google.com/d/topic/toronto-350/bva9yGEDyJ4/discussion

Milan is planning to go
* Will bring a clipboard to try and get email addresses


2) Establishing a U of T club

Constitution and contact info submitted
* Once we hear back we can schedule an AGM and election

If we're rejected, we will amend and re-submit

Milan will ask about booking a room in Massey for some future meetings

It would be good to get some contacts within environmental science programs at various schools


3) 20 September Peter Kent screening

Milan has been in touch with Juan Pablo re: his technical needs
* Milan will make sure he will be able to connect his laptop to the bar's audio setup

Neal has said he will make a poster
* We should start putting them up ASAP
* If we don't have one by Friday, Stuart can make one on Saturday

It would be good if people could announce the event at relevant classes / lectures

There has been some promotion already on Twitter
* 19 confirmed attendees on Facebook

MailChimp
* Reminder sent to the mailing list today
* Date for final reminder? Perhaps Sunday the 16th, so people will see it on Monday morning of the week

Technical requirements
* Double-check that Juan Pablo will be able to plug in his sound gear / the speakers are adequate
* Get the best projector we can
* Make sure it can also be plugged into the sound system

Format for speakers?
* Should we have a podium?
* Or a table for all the speakers to sit at?
* They could give brief introductory remarks, then have a round-table discussion or take question
* We can email the final speakers a couple of days before to check that they are open to this kind of format

We should assign specific responsibilities for the day itself
* For instance, who is responsible for the projector

We should have questions prepared for the speakers, to get things going

Do we want to put out a press release
* We might as well
* We have a list of media contact from Environmental Defence

Juan Pablo wants help with transportation expenses
* Milan can pay these


4) 350 workshops

* http://workshops.350.org/

Ordinarily weekend-long events
* 3-5 hosts
* 30-50 attendees
* The 350 mothership could potentially come and help

There is a workshop being planned in Burlington, VT, USA
* It would be useful to attend one before we host our own

We could start with something smaller
* Some short presentations: climate science, climate policy, etc
* Perhaps at one of the schools


5) Power Shift Conference

* http://www.wearepowershift.ca/

October 26-29
* In Ottawa
* Early bird deadline has passed, currently $40
* Not necessary to register beforehand - can pay at the door

Main events on Saturday and Sunday
* Social even Friday night, action on Monday
* Buses are being organized

Amelia Rose is going, Tamara may go
* Milan is open to it, but may be busy or have teaching obligations


6) Other Toronto climate groups

Toronto Climate Campaign
* http://orgs.tigweb.org/toronto-climate-campaign
* Has organized massive rallies in the past
* 1000+ people in 2007

Zero Carbon Ontario
* http://zerocarbonontario.ca/

7) Recruitment

Veggie Fair this weekend
* Stuart is planning to go - needs a t-shirt and clipboard


6) Next meeting

Tuesday, September 11th: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
* Maya offered her place for next week
* Please RSVP
* If you need the address email toron...@gmail.com

There are scheduling challenges for next week
* Specifically, Milan can't be there for the normal time
* Someone else can take notes

We can try it as a Google hangout at some point

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Present: Maya, Mark, Ben, Neal, Tamara, Monica, Daniel, Milan

Topics:
* 'Age of Stupid' screening
* U of T club
* Vegetarian festival

* Peter Kent film screening

* Brainstorming future projects

Introductions around the room

1) 'Age of Stupid' screening

Milan attended
* Was able to promote our screening
* Met with Peter Tabuns


2) U of T club

We have a page up on their website
* But haven't heard back, re: bank account, etc


3) Vegetarian festival

"Amazing place to get signatures"

It would be good to get a booth next time
* Groups without booths not necessarily allowed to collect signatures there

Stuart got ten emails by hand, with some online signups
* Do people need to confirm the MailChimp signup before they count as signed up?
* Milan will do an experiment to see how this works

What would getting a booth involve?


4) 'Chasing Ice' documentary

Very good - compelling imagery
* "Can't be unseen"

It would be good to have an event related to the film
* Our own screening, attending a screening, etc


5) Peter Kent film screening

Details on third speaker: Tim Grant
* Ran for the provincial legislature with the Green Party
* Involved in local residence association
* Involved with green teacher magazine
* Tamara will send Milan background to write a quick intro
* Also, contact information

Postering in progress
* Milan has put up many at U of T: environmental science area, ecology, mining, political science, economics, nearby churches, Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market
* Posters available at the meeting
* Milan can provide more if needed
* Tamara can put some up at York and Ryerson
* United Churches are a good place to poster
* Quakers are also involved in climate activism

Neal will make some changes to the poster
* QR code with link to Facebook event
* Make address more prominent
* Add info on third speaker

Small gift for speakers
* Bottles of wine?
* Books?
* Photo prints?
* Mark will get a bottle for Tabuns, Monica will get a bottle for Tim Grant, Stuart can get one for Professor Hoffmann

Format for speaking
* Do we want a podium?
* Milan can email them, suggesting a format where the speakers sit together at a table, make opening statements, talk with one another, and take question

Social media promotion ongoing
* There have been Twitter (Margaret Atwood retweeted us)
* Promote to Toronto websites, blogs, etc
* Milan will send out another MailChimp message on Thursday
* Milan will send this to Mark, so it can go to Tabuns' email list and over
* Milan will also send a test email to the organizers to make sure it is complete
* Also, Tamara will ask the 350 mothership to send out a message
* Citizens Climate Lobby sent it to their list
* Use your own Facebook, Twitter, etc

Try any other sort of promotion you can think of
* Businesses that promote community events

Music
* Juan Pablo would like us to pay for his taxi rides
* Otherwise, he is set for gear

Please save your receipts
* a) We may be in a position to reimburse at some point
* b) Good to know how much events cost

Projector
* Ian says he has it booked

We will be using the sound system in the bar

Movie
* Milan will bring his laptop, and an adapter for a projector
* Stuart will burn a DVD

Mark will go by the venue to remind them tonight

We can be adaptable in terms of the seating, based on how many people show up

Milan and Stuart will aim to be there no later than seven on the 20th


5) Brainstorming future projects

Venues for future events
* Venue of the NDP film screening was very good for showing movies / having speakers (Centre of Gravity)
* And the owner was quite open to this cause
* Stuart knows of a venue in the Kensington Market
* $100 for two hours
* Monica has friends with an art gallery near Spadina

Funeral for the arctic sea ice

Divestment campaign at U of T
* Oil sands and pipeline companies, etc
* Milan will see what he can find about where U of T's endowment is invested now

Sponsor film at Planet in Focus event (Oct. 12)
* Happening in three weeks
* Taking on a film, help with promotion, working with the film-makers on a post-film event
* Could try it with more lead-up next year
* At the very least, we can send some people with t-shirts and clipboards to the most climate-relevant films
* We could also make an announcement about this on the 20th

Workshop on winterizing a Toronto home
* Aimed at students, renters, etc
* Plastic wrap sealing for windows
* "Save money, save the planet!"
* There are probably existing organizations that promote energy efficiency
* Point to resources online

Consumer education campaigns
* Tips for saving energy

Recruitment
* Recruitment cards
* Incentivize signups? Bonuses for signing up X people?

YouTube video using '350' somehow?
* 3:50 videos?
* Climate solutions in 3:50?

External insulation for concrete tower blocks
* Proposal killed by the Ford administration
* We could try to encourage them to change course

Greenpeace does training in high schools and elementary schools
* We could see what they do
* Monica attending one on September 17th

Stuart is attending an activism workshop

6) Next meeting

Tuesday, September 18th
* 7:00pm to 9:00pm
* At Daniel's (near Greenwood subway station)

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Present: Daniel, Mie, Stuart, Monica, Ben, Neal, Milan


Topics:
* Climate fast - 21 SEP - 2 OCT
* 'Defend our Coast' event - 22 OCT
* Peter Kent screening - this Thursday!
* Meeting space at Ryerson
* Olivia Chow pipeline awareness event
* local.350.org webspace is buggy
* Next meeting

We have a new person, so we will do some quick introductions
* Brief intros from new and existing members


1) Climate fast - 21 SEP - 2 OCT

Details at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/YVM_EcvUwnk/9VrHOeoCtYQJ

Website: http://www.climatefast.ca/

Should we have a formal process for endorsing such things?
* Or just rely on who turns up at the relevant meeting?
* Does 350.org itself have any guidelines?

Should we endorse it?
* Hamilton 350 (Hamilton350.org) supports the fast
* Also Citizens Climate Lobby

Mie moves that we support the fast
* Stuart seconds
* Motion carries unanimously

Does anyone want to participate?
* Milan might participate on one or both Sundays

Are there any organized events in Toronto?
* Milan will look into it

Milan provided them with a data file of the Kent documentary

A fast seems like a fairly appropriate gesture to make in response to climate change, given the potential for global agricultural disruption


2) 'Defend our Coast' event - 22 OCT

Website: http://defendourcoast.ca/

Objectives: "We want the B.C. and Federal government to listen to the majority of people in B.C., growing numbers across Canada, dozens of municipalities, and the over 100 First Nations who all say no to tar sands tankers and pipelines on Canada’s west coast. We also want the Federal government to respect First Nations people’s internationally enshrined right to free, prior, and informed consent."

Many endorsements already: http://defendourcoast.ca/endorsements/
* Toronto 350.org could potentially endorse it as well

People can have a look at the website and we can discuss endorsing the event at next week's meeting


3) Peter Kent screening

Music issues

Milan bought an adapter to connect his laptop to the Environmental Defence projector
* It would be good if someone could bring a backup laptop
* Dan will bring one

Stuart has a playable DVD

It would be helpful if we could borrow a screen
* Milan will try to arrange to borrow one from Massey College tomorrow
* Otherwise, he can try to book one for rental from Vistek

We need to know how long an audio cable we need
* If it's more than five feet or so, we will need a source for one
* Milan will check if Vistek rents them
* May also be possible to borrow from Massey College

Ideally, someone should check with the Riverside Pub about whether they have a screen and/or long cable
* Perhaps Mark could ask them

Can someone take photos?
* Milan normally would, but will probably be busy with the projector, speaker intros, etc
* Neal will take photos

Other checklist items?
* Have the bottles of wine been purchased, as discussed last week? - Stuart bought three bottles
* Do we have a video DVD as a backup? - We do

We should put on a final flurry of promotion
* Please, tell your friends, family members, etc
* All the posters Milan printed have been posted
* Daniel put up an extensive number at Ryerson
* Neal has put up posters in churches and friendly shops east of Greenwood

Neal has created an updated graphic
* Milan will print some more for a final round of postering around U of T
* Mie will take 20
* If anyone is able to put some up, they can get them from Milan at Massey College (4 Devonshire Place) or he can meet you somewhere on campus

Social media promotion
* Facebook, Twitter
* Invite your friends
* Use mailing lists
* Milan has been haranguing the Massey College community
* Milan will send it to the U of T mailing list for graduate students in political science
* Also, will send it on to one of the people who run the environmental studies program
* blog.to is listing us on their list of daily events in the city

Do we want to prepare a press release?
* We have the list of media contacts from the Kalamazoo event
* Milan will cook one up and send it to some of these people
* Will be circulated for comment
* Should probably be sent ASAP
* Next time, it would be good to send one out earlier to try to get into weekly entertainment papers

How many people do we expect?
* Probably most of the people who attend planning meetings
* 25 RSVPs on Facebook

We can ask for donations, explaining how the financing of the group works - all volunteer, etc

Contacts for emergency assistance on Thursday?
* Neal should be available during the afternoon

What's happening on the day itself
* Milan will pick up projector and screen, bringing laptop and adaptor
* Milan will sort out where we're getting a screen from
* Then we can plan exactly how to get to the venue
* Probably best to take subway to Broadview, then take streetcar down Broadview


4) Meeting space at Ryerson

Daniel will book a space there for October 2nd
* To be confirmed at next week's meeting


5) Olivia Chow pipeline awareness event

Free Film Showing – Pipe Dreams
* When: Tuesday, October 9th, 6 to 8:30 pm
* Where: Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West
* What: Free film screening, followed by discussion with Greenpeace Canada and MP Olivia Chow
* RSVP: Call 416-533-2710

We could meet there in lieu of a meeting that week
* Or meet somewhere briefly beforehand, then go together


6) local.350.org webspace is buggy

Milan and Monica have both been having trouble posting comments
* Monica will write to them about the trouble with posting comments

Not a super-well-designed site

Usually best to point people toward our Facebook page


7) Next meeting

At Massey College - 4 Devonshire Place
* People must RSVP today
* Also, please try to come on time

Planning to come: Neal, Monica, Stewart, Mie, Ben, Daniel, Milan

[Milan]

The following people have been put on the RSVP list for Tuesday's meeting at Massey College:

Ian
Mark
Neal
Monica
Tamara
Stuart
Mie
Daniel
Yasmin
Ben

If you want to attend and your name is not on the list, please send me an email or post a message here.

Milan

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Present: Stuart, Ian, Mie, Ben, Milan

Topics:
* Kent screening debrief
* Greenpeace 'Earth Defenders Training'
* Long-term planning
* Shadow constitution
* Contest to raffle Planet in Focus tickets
* Next projects
* Next meeting

1) Kent screening debrief

Lessons learned, re: venue, marketing, etc?

Good turnout (40+) and speakers
* Stuart counted 43

Speakers worked well
* Two political parties represented
* Good to encourage people to ask actual questions

We mostly got out people who are already engaged and active on climate change
* Most people heard about the event from friends - not posters or social media
* How did these friends find out about it?
* Not many directly attracted by posters - may not be the best use of time and resources
* Future posters should be designed for immediate impact

Are we preaching only to those who are already serious about climate change?
* Should we focus on informing the general public, mobilizing those who are already serious, or something different?
* We should probably be doing both

If we want to attract people with little or no prior interest in climate change, we probably need to design the event to be more accessible and alluring

Good to have a speaker from Power Shift
* Do we know anyone who is attending?

It would be easier to have future movie screenings in places already wired for video and sound
* Also, background noise in the pub was distracting
* The people who attended didn't drink much - Not optimal for the pub

Next time, we should use more time at the beginning of the event to tell our story
* What 350 is about, what the consequences of different stabilization concentrations and temperatures could be
* The start of this event felt rushed (because of Tabuns' limited time commitment)

In the future, we will be able to use OISE and U of T rooms

We need to be more organized on roles and have a program agreed beforehand
* Having someone with a t-shirt right at the door would be helpful
* It worked well to break up the speaking between people

Everyone who spent any money on the event, please tell Milan how much
* So we can know how much running an event like this costs

[Aside - sometimes, we meet in fancy rooms]


2) Greenpeace 'Earth Defenders Training'

Attended by Stuart this past weekend

Greenpeace diagram
* Allies - actively working on campaigns - us, Citizens Climate Lobby, etc
* Passive allies - sympathetic, but need encouragement
* Neutral
* Opposition
* Passive opposition - can be provoked into opposition

People often get involved through people who they know

Appealing to the 'mushy middle'
* Moms can be used as sounding boards

How do we mobilize people who are concerned about climate change, but who aren't doing anything about it
* What is the most meaningful kind of action people can take?
* One good point Hoffmann made - it may make more sense to focus on municipal and provincial politics


3) Long-term planning

Toronto 350.org has done two actions so far
* We may now want to develop a specific long-term campaign where we can track success
* Can involve multiple actions

There has been some good brainstorming during the last few meetings
* Lots of one-off suggestions, but fewer ideas for a strategic campaign

Not everyone will be interested in working on every campaign
* Focusing on just one thing could limit the amount of participation people undertake

We could split into a long-term campaign group and another focused on one-off events
* We have been doing this in terms of having people show up at events to collect email addresses
* We need to remain accessible to volunteers

Roles in meeting
* Facilitator - organize meeting, make sure people get a chance to speak
* Timekeeper, minute-taker
* Could be good to split up some of the things that Milan has been doing

Setting SMART objectives
* Specific, measurable, achievable, rigorous (relevant?), timely


4) Shadow constitution

Basic idea of the U of T club is to get out of the university system what we can
* 'Cayman Islands shell company model'

Our constitution is based on the minimum requirements of U of T

The 'president' and 'treasurer' are required by U of T, but don't necessarily need to be in charge of the overall group
* Are alumni technically allowed to vote?

Do we want internal rules that are not bound by U of T requirements?

We could deem a simple majority of votes in favour or opposed to a motion to be equivalent to one U of T student voting in favour or against

So far, the principal has been that whoever shows up makes the decisions
* We may want a formal mechanism to warn about especially important topics of discussion
* We can have a general principle of announcing important votes in the minutes one week, then holding them officially the next

How do we want to define 'membership' for our own purposes?
* Can people just turn up?
* Should we require people to participate in one event?

Do we want to adopt something like Robert's Rules of Order?
* May be necessary as the group grows

Preparing a draft
* We want a shadow constitution
* Stuart and Milan will form a committee to produce a draft
* A draft can be presented to an ordinary meeting within the next few weeks
* Doesn't necessarily need to be called a shadow constitution

Milan will look into what our current official status as a U of T club is
* We have a website, but it's not entirely clear

We need to have an Annual General Meeting
* People could get 5-minute stretches to present long-term campaign ideas


5) Contest to raffle Planet in Focus tickets

We have two pairs of two tickets for a screening on Saturday, October 13th at 9:30pm

Some ideas of Monica's
* The 20th person to message our Facebook page with the date and time of the screening for 'Occupy Love,' wins a free pair of tickets. We get FB traffic and so does the PIF site.
* The second give away could go to the 20th person to message our Facebook page with the name of a previous film by 'Occupy Love' director Velcro Ripper, (this won a Genie Award for best Feature Length documentary).

Enter every new person who comes to a planning meeting can be entered into the raffle?
* We could create a flyer to hand out to students, encouraging them to come to a planning meeting
* Every new person who attends a meeting can be entered into a draw

Could we encourage people to take a more substantive action - contact an elected representative, perhaps? Or write to a newspaper?

Mark isn't here to fully explain what this sponsorship means and how we will be involved
* Part of the plan is to try and collect email addresses here


6) Next projects

Neal's 'funeral for the Arctic summer sea ice' idea
* Could be done outside Queen's Park

A divestment campaign at U of T?
* U of T has an endowment of over $1.5 billion
* About 40% is invested in Canadian and US stocks
* We could encourage them to divest from all fossil fuel industries
* Alternatively, we could encourage them to divest selectively from coal and unconventional oil and gas (could be an easier sell)
* If U of T took action, it could encourage others to do so
* There is a precedent for attempting to get the university to selectively divest, namely the pro-Palestinian divestment campaign
* Milan can do some more research on past divestment efforts, what the U of T portfolio is, etc.
* He can try to meet with someone who is responsible for managing the endowment
* Alternatively, encourage U of T to invest more in renewable energy
* Encourage them to sell 5% of their fossil fuel holdings per year, investing instead in renewable energy

Would be a valuable precedent
* North American universities have many billions under management

Encourage U of T to buy its electricity from Bullfrog Power

Encourage U of T to take advantage of the Green Energy Act to install more solar panels
* Or to invest in improving the energy efficiency of buildings

Who could the targets of our campaign be?
* U of T, other universities
* The city of Toronto
* The province of Ontario
* Encourage social justice groups (like churches) to devote more attention to climate change

What could we plausibly ask the city or province to do?

Participate more actively in 350's campaign against fossil fuel subsidies?
* Try to convince the NDP to change their position on removing the HST from heating oil?

Cladding for concrete high-rises

Work on encouraging the federal NDP and Liberals to merge?
* "You're going to keep losing forever, as long as you keep splitting the vote"
* Encourage the emergence of a federal Wild Rose party?
* Custom-designed to pull votes from the Conservatives but be un-electable

Yes Men style pranks?
* Perhaps, if the opportunity arises
* Might have to be technically unassociated with the group
* "Climate change is killing Santa"
* Video zooming in on ice-free pole from orbit, eventually showing candy canes, elf hats, other debris floating in the ocean
* Suffocating methane-clathrate explosions?
* "The North Pole will never be the same"

Something on the theme of '350'
* 3:50 YouTube videos?
* Encourage the 350 mothership to do this?

"Do the Math" -US tour
* November 7th to December 3rd
* http://math.350.org
* "Each event will be a unique and interactive experience, unlike any talk you’ve been to before. It will pick up where Bill McKibben’s landmark Rolling Stone article left off — and everyone who comes will be asked to join a growing movement that is strong enough to stand up to the fossil fuel industry."
* Being organized by the 350 mothership
* We could send people to the closest one?
* Encourage them to have some sort of event in Toronto?

'Winterizing' workshop
* Environmental Defence could be able to provide some support, since it would be non-political
* Is there anything easy beyond shrink-wrapping your windows?
* David Suzuki Foundation could also be involved

We could quantify where the average Torontonian's emissions come from
* Energy embedded in 'stuff', travel, heating and cooling, etc
* Could help us direct our efforts efficiently

We could be the one pro-nuclear environmental group...
* "More Darlingtons please..."
* Relative risks of nuclear power and climate change

Fundraising strategies
* Try and get a lot of money from a small number of affluent, climate-concerned donors?
* Push the fact that we're volunteers who can do things in a cost-effective way
* We may want to form a fundraising committee, or have an executive member appointed for the purpose

Overall objective?
* To stabilize atmospheric carbon at 350ppm
* Take action in places where we can make a difference


7) Next meeting

October 2nd, 7pm - 9pm
* Ryerson library
* Room 959B

Let's aim to have our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, October 16th
* Milan will see if he can get a fancy room

[Milan]

Further to the aside about fancy rooms...

[Milan]

TORONTO 350.ORG PLANNING MEETING

2 OCTOBER 2012

Present: Neal, Daniel, Stuart, Maya, Monica, Milan

Agenda:

* MailChimp signup sheets
* Tools for Change
* Planet in Focus film festival
* Preparation for Annual General Meeting - Tuesday, October 9th
* Meeting locations

1) MailChimp signup sheets

People could use an electronic copy

Milan has paper copies only

Stuart has an electronic form he cooked up himself - he will post it on the planning forum


2) Tools for Change

Milan and Stuart attended a workshop on facilitation on Sunday

Tools for Change has a series of other workshops, information is on the planning forum already

People are encouraged to attend their future workshops


3) Planet in Focus film festival

Mark is organizing
* If you are interested in participating, it may be best to contact him directly


4) Preparation for Annual General Meeting - Tuesday, October 9th

Today, we should decide on the agenda and clarify a few points about the electoral process

Electing an executive

We have two mandatory positions
* President and treasurer
* Must be U of T students

Nominations
* People shall be able to self-nominate
* Members shall be able to nominate themselves for positions by defining the position and indicating their interest and qualifications through the planning forum before the beginning of the AGM
* If the positions for which they have nominated themselves do not exist, a vote shall be held on whether they should be created during the appropriate time in the AGM

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:20pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

Process
* Open nominations for president
* Have people nominate themselves or be nominated
* Vote between candidates (simple majority of members present)
* Open nominations for treasurer
* Have people nominate themselves or be nominated
* Vote between candidates (simple majority of members present)
* We have an executive!

[VOTING] -See 'agenda' section below

What positions might we want?
* Fundraising, membership, recruitment, media relations, secretary (would have to be at every meeting), campus representatives for other schools, event planner / coordinator, data monkey, webmaster, greeter for new members, police liaison, record keeper, badgerer / taskmaster, campaign managers
* Some of these could be combined

People nominating or self-nominating shall be required to define the basic duties of the proposed executive position at the Annual General Meeting prior to voting for that position
* Before voting begins on a new executive position, there shall be a vote among the general membership about whether the position should be created. If a simple majority vote in favour of creating the position, the voting shall begin. If a simple majority oppose the creation of the position, the position shall not be created.
* In the matter of whether a new position shall be created, the vote of a simple majority of members voting shall be considered binding upon the executive

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:24pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

Should we allow people who aren't present at the AGM to be nominated?
* People can indicate electronically in advance of the meeting that they want to be considered for an executive position
* They can then be elected by simple majority or by acclamation

[VOTING] - Covered by previous section on nominations

Proxy voting
* Anyone who is a member of the club can submit their proxy votes electronically to toron...@gmail.com up until the beginning of the AGM
* Anyone voting by proxy shall indicate that they wish to vote for a particular person for a particular position, provided that person is nominated for the position in question
* In the event that the person is nominated for that position, the proxy shall be counted as one vote during each round of voting in which the candidate remains in the running
* Members voting by proxy may indicate their second and subsequent preferences for each position. In the event that their first choice is eliminated, their proxy vote will be applied to the most highly ranked of their preferred candidates still in the running
* The chairperson shall appoint a member to be responsible for managing proxy votes during the AGM

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:26pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

General principal: "Decisions are made by the people who show up."

Second general principal: "People choose their own level of involvement."

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:27pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously with one abstention

Electoral college
* "In the event that a majority of members of Toronto 350.org vote in favour of a motion, it shall be deemed equivalent to a majority of members who are students at the University of Toronto voting in favour of the motion."
* "In the event that a majority of members of Toronto 350.org vote against a motion, it shall be deemed equivalent to a majority of members who are students at the University of Toronto voting against the motion."

To aid interpretation of the electoral college system
* In short, the club members who are U of T students are bound by the will of the majority of members
* Practically, this would mean everyone at our AGM who is a club member can vote for executives

Alternative formulation:
* "In the event that a majority of members of Toronto 350.org vote in favour of a motion, all members of Toronto 350.org who are students at the University of Toronto shall be bound to vote in favour of the motion in a subsequent formal vote."
* "In the event that a majority of members of Toronto 350.org vote against a motion, all members of Toronto 350.org who are students at the University of Toronto shall be bound to vote against the motion in a subsequent formal vote."

Alternative alternative: count the majority vote as equivalent to some arbitrarily large number of U of T students, like 10,000 or 1,000,000

[VOTING] - Milan proposes that the process described under 'electoral college' be adopted - 8:32pm
[VOTING] - Approved unanimously

Do we want to have a general membership vote first, then have a formal vote conducted by U of T students?
* One risk, only 1-2 U of T students could conceivably show up

Voting process
* In the event that more than two people are nominated for a position, a vote will be held in which each member present casts one vote for one of the nominees
* In the event that no candidate receives 50% +1 of the vote (not counting abstentions), the nominee with the least votes will be dropped from the running
* Another vote will then be held for remaining nominees, until one candidate receives 50% +1 of the vote (not counting abstentions)
* That candidate shall then be duly elected to the position for which they have been nominated

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:34pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

Should the electoral college be used to elect all executives, or only those aside from the president and treasurer?
* Our U of T constitution makes 'the executive' rather powerful
* Given that they are the most important positions, we should use our 'electoral college' to allow all members present to vote for president and treasurer

Defining 'membership'
* Anyone who turns up?
* Anyone who has attended a meeting?
* Anyone who has participated in an event?
* Anyone who attended more than 2 meetings in the previous year?
* Anyone who has attended a meeting within the last 2 months?

Membership
* For this year, we will use a definition that if you have attended 2 planning meetings since the group formed, you are considered a member and are entitled to vote in the Annual General Meeting
* Members who indicate their preferences electronically before the AGM begins shall be entitled to vote in the manner defined above
* This will be re-evaluated for the purposes of the second AGM
* Before making nominations or voting - either in person or by proxy - members shall make themselves familiar with the principles of Toronto 350.org as described in our constitution, shadow constitution, and the 350.org website

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:35pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously
[VOTING] -Final bullet added as amendment: 8:45pm
[VOTING] -Approved as amended unanimously

Role of the chairperson
* The chairperson shall be permitted to run for executive positions
* During the period when the chairperson has been nominated for a position and while the election remains open, they shall appoint a member present at the meeting to act as interim chairperson
* The chair of the meeting shall assign a member to be responsible to vote on behalf of proxies that have been submitted
* In the event of an ambiguity in the agreed electoral process, the chairperson shall use their judgment to resolve it equitably and in keeping with the principles of Toronto 350.org
* Only the chairperson shall be permitted to call votes on any subject
* The chairperson shall determine the result of votes, to be recorded in the minutes

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:37pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

* Neal will go through the minutes of all meetings before the meeting and identify everyone who is a member of the group and entitled to vote

Agenda for the AGM
* Assemble
* Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an appointed person)
* Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such as a coloured sticker
* Election of a chairperson for the meeting
* Election of president
* Election of treasurer
* Nomination and election of other executive members
* Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution (hopefully none)
* Merriment

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:39pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

Amendments to agenda
* If necessary, the chairperson may alter the agenda for the AGM in keeping with the principles of Toronto 350.org

[VOTING] -Milan calls vote on this section: 8:40pm
[VOTING] -Approved unanimously

Who should chair the meeting?
* To be elected, according to the agenda above
* In the event of an ambiguity in the rules listed above, the chairperson shall use their discretion in determining how the meeting shall proceed

What positions do we really want?
* Director of operations (primary responsibility for logistics of all events, with the expectation that the role can be delegated for specific events)
* Director of fundraising
* Director of recruitment
* Media director (communication with journalists)
* Director of communication (communication with our membership)
* Art director
* Campus representatives: Ryerson, York, etc

Note: we can merge some of these positions if people want to cover multiple responsibilities

Milan will pull together a formal Record of Decision from this meeting, containing only text voted upon and approved
* This Record of Decision shall be the shadow constitution of Toronto 350.org

Milan will send minutes from all meetings to Neal to determine who is a member

5) Meeting locations

Should we always meet in the same place?
* As much as possible, should be near subway stops

Milan will look into booking a room at U of T
* Possibly through the department of political science
* He can book rooms in Massey periodically, but probably not every night

Monica will look into OISE

[Milan]

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org 2012 Annual General Meeting

9 October 2012

Present: Nath, Jessica, Monica, Tamara, Stuart, Mie, Ben, Milan

Note taker: Tamara

Agenda:

* Assemble
* Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an appointed person)
* Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such as a coloured
sticker
* Election of a chairperson for the meeting
* Election of president
* Election of treasurer
* Nomination and election of other executive members
* Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution

* Merriment


Mie nominates Milan for Chairperson.
Approved unanimously.

There are no other questions or issues to be raised at this time.

Proceed to voting.

Milan has nominated himself electronically for President.
There are no other nominations for the position of President.
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Neal has nominated Monica for Treasurer.
There are no other nominations for Treasurer.
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.
Monica receives the official 350.org receipts.

Nomination and Election
Neal proposes the creation of the position of Creative Director by proxy.
Role:
- provide graphics (posters, recruitment cards) and other creative material for current and future initiatives
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Neal has nominated himself for Creative Director by proxy.
There are no other nominations for the position.
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Creation of the role of Director of Outreach and Education
Role:
- develop educational and outreach materials for events and campaigns
- prepare and send out monthly newsletters
- establish and coordinate an outreach team

Milan calls vote to create the position as described.
6 Opposed, 1 Abstention

As the sole nominee is not currently present we will defer the vote to a later meeting pending clarification of the scope of the position. (suggestions: split the position into 2 positions - director of outreach and director of education)

Creation of the role of Director of Operations
Role:
- overall responsibility for event coordination and logistics
- can delegate tasks
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Milan nominates Stu for Director of Operations.
Stu accepts.
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Creation of the role of Director of Communications
Role:
- managing web presence
- coordinating communications to 350.org members (event promotion, working on monthly newsletter with)
- communicating with "350 mothership" about our activities and how they can support us
Tamara nominates herself for the position
There are no other nominations.
Milan opens vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Creation of the role of Media Director
Role:
- contact with local media, sending out press releases
- establishing relationships with various
- maintaining/updating our list of press contacts
Milan opens vote on this item.
Approved unanimously.

Stu nominates Yasmin for Media Director.
Yasmin accepts.
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously

Creation of Director of Fundraising
Role:
- seeking out donors and securing donations
- managing bank account
Milan calls vote on this item.
Approved unanimously

There are no nominations for this position at this time.

Director of Recruitment:
- does this fall under outreach?
- leave this pending clarification of outreach/education role(s)


Proceed to constitutional amendments

None at this time.




Planning meeting

Event idea:
"Oily Santa"
- Santa suit, reindeer out on the street somewhere busy
- Santa covered in oil
- Yonge and Dundas square on 'buy nothing day'?
- objective: draw media attention
- tie this to divestment or Line 9?

Group Objectives
- draw media attention
- political lobbying, meeting with politicians

Campaign ideas:
- fossil fuel divestment campaign at U of T (and other Toronto campuses?)
    - Milan will research U of T's investment portfolio
    - reach out to other campus groups for endorsement
- Enbridge's Line 9
    - partnering with Anthony Peruzza
- TDSB eco schools (talking at schools, video of us talking to kids?)

Milan - Low fee, low carbon

Funding
- Monica will look into sources at U of T (Student Initiatives Fund, Good Ideas Fund, UTERN)

Club Status
- Milan will check on this, possibility of getting a bank account

Priorities
- Stu proposes that we focus on the Divestment and Line 9 campaigns for the next 6 months
- Mie suggests that we set specific objectives for these campaigns at the next planning meeting
- If anyone disagrees, bring ideas to next meeting (or post on the google group)

Weekly meetings
- Round Room is very nice but a bit formal for planning meetings
- OISE library conference rooms?
- study rooms at Robarts?
- 7 to 830 (book rooms til 9 to give us some leeway)


ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
- clarification of director of outreach/education/recruitment position(s)
- formal decision on campaigns for the next 6 months (suggestions are Divestment and Line 9, bring other ideas to next meeting)

Next meeting:
7pm @ Stu's (Dupont and Ossington)

[Milan]

[thugsb]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Present: Stuart, Tamara, Milan, Jess

Note taker: Stu

Agenda:
* toronto350.org
* U of T divestment
* U of T club status and booking rooms
* Line 9

1) toronto350.org
Milan registered toronto350.org and set up a basic homepage.

Could someone design a super-basic page linking to our Facebook, Twitter, email-signup (iframe), GGroups, donate button, etc? (Anything else?)
- Milan will ask Neal to create the homepage.

Do we want Google Analytics on the site? Yes

During the meeting we set up the toronto350.org site to use GMail and Google Apps.
What system do we want to use for email? execpo...@toronto350.org forwarding to newly created GMail accounts? That way, people can pass along correspondence related to their position. e.g. operations@, media@, treasurer@
- Stu to create the rest and send out passwords as appropriate.


2) UofT divestment
Milan emailed 'investing with integrity' (IWI) about meeting with them.
Some further research can be done on www.finance.utoronto.ca, but we decided it was best to wait to hear back from IWI, given they have potentially done all the research necessary. The IWI may be connected with the successful campaign that divested UofT from tobacco in 2007. Article2.
- Milan will delegate research as appropriate.

3) U of T club status and booking rooms
Milan checked on club status: we’re still waiting for approval.
We can book rooms at UofT as long as there are no problems with our UofT constitution. If a problem comes up, this will be revoked until the constitution is approved. But for now, we’re good.
Milan booked a room at Hart House for Oct. 23: the 2nd floor board room.
- Milan to ask whether we can get the same room every week.

4) Line 9
Looking through various websites, we were trying to find other groups doing things in TO.
There was a discussion about what we would consider success: raising awareness to the point of getting passive-allies (students, others concerned about climate change) to act in some way (public comments etc.) seemed fairly popular. But how to achieve this?
We encountered https://hamiltonline9.wordpress.com
We have to consider messaging - what to say to people who are just hearing about Line9 - as well what would be convincing for the National Energy Board.
- Tamara volunteered to find closer-to-home groups in TO itself.
- Jess will research more around the issue.

[Milan]

In case anyone is curious, this shows the number of attendees for our meetings so far.

It would be great if we could think up ways to attract some new volunteers, as well as encourage people to participate more often.

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

23 October 2012

Present: Yasmin, Chris, Miriam, Jessica, Stuart, Monica, Tamara, Neal, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Student leaders reception on Thursday
* New website and executive email addresses
* Defend Our Coast rally
* Divestment
* Line 9
* 'Oily Santa' idea
* Rooms for meetings
* Fundraising
* Tools for Change workshops
* Regular MailChimp emails

There are some new people here, so we will do some introductions


1) Student leaders reception on Thursday

Noon, Great Hall, Hart House

* "This annual event is to welcome student executives from St. George campus student unions, student societies and recognized campus groups. The reception is an excellent opportunity to meet with your fellow student leaders and members of the University of Toronto administration."

* Please RSVP online before 5:00 p.m. Thursday, October 18, 2012 at: http://www.viceprovoststudents.utoronto.ca/recognition.htm

It may still be possible to register

Milan is going, in any case


2) New website and executive email addresses

We now own Toronto350.org
* It would be great if someone could spruce it up a bit, though all it really needs to include is links to our social media channels

New exec emails - all are @toronto350.org
* Tamara communications@
* Neal creative@
* Yasmin media@
* Stuart operations@
* Milan president@
* Monica treasurer@
* Milan fundraising@ (note: interim! We want someone to do this exclusively)

The 350 mothership is meant to send us a vector graphic Toronto 350.org logo



3) Defend Our Coast rally

Successful event
* About 3,500 participants
* Fairly widespread media coverage
* Good to promote via social media


4) Divestment

No word back from Investing with Integrity

Does anyone want to help out with divestment research?
* Working out what U of T's holdings are
* Working out the process for changing their procedure
* Identifying contacts, both at the university and with potential ally groups
* Try to meet with the responsible U of T staff
* Find out about the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation

See what materials are available from the 350 mothership

Which other 350.org groups are working on this?
* Any in Canada?
* We could coordinate to produce materials

Related possibilities
* Encourage people to close accounts at banks particularly implicated in oil sands extraction

Strategies?
* Which tactics were used in successful anti-tobacco and anti-apartheid campaigns?
* Approach civically-minded alumni
* Tufts University has materials online about divestment
* Try to participate in important meetings and/or protest outside?
* Proposal is likely to be for them to divest in tranches: 5-10% at a time
* Get the student union to pass a motion
* Identify and approach other student groups that might be supportive - Students for Peace, Zeitgeist movement
* Seek other endorsements

Likely to be a fair amount of resistance
* Strategy to respond necessary
* Have positive proposals for alternative investments?
* A significant number of U of T students are probably preparing for jobs in the oil, gas, and coal industries
* Important to be able to respond to concerns about jobs
* Likewise, be able to make the case that the non-fossil parts of the economy are the smart places to invest
* The university still expects to be here in 2100, and 2250, and 2500, etc.
* They will still be here after the transition to zero-carbon energy

What do do now? Research
* How can we find out about the structure of U of T's investments? Freedom of information laws? Public documents?
* Miriam will see what she can find for next week's meeting
* Tamara will find more information about Tufts
* Milan will look into what other 350.org groups are doing
* We want to be able to make a convincing argument before we start approaching other groups

Publicity
* Mechanisms for raising awareness in the university community: giving presentations, using our web channels
* Explain the various types of harm done by fossil fuels, also why a transition beyond them is possible and desirable
* Milan can work on starting to develop a presentation on what this campaign is trying to do and why


5) Line 9

What should we try to find out?

What other Toronto groups are involved?
* Tamara has looked into it
* Toronto-Bolivia Solidarity (involved with She Speaks indigenous women oil sands event), with another event planned for November 7th
* Climate Justice Collective
* Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG)
* Environmental Defense (door knocking in the Rouge, encouraging people to attend National Energy Board hearings)

National energy board hearing dates have not yet been announced
* There is likely to be a meeting in Toronto
* We should think about participating, by making statements to the board, etc

Line 9 has been used recently to ship imported oil into Canada through Montreal
* The aim is to reverse it to carry oil sands crude in the other direction
* Stopping the reversal has potential for slowing the rate of growth of the oil sands

Environmental Defence has materials available on this
* Tamara will locate these and put links on the planning forum

Route through GTA?
* Between the 401 and Steeles Ave. in the east end of the city
* Exploit the anxieties of rich NIMBYs concerned about property
* Increased risk and severity of spills due to oil sands synthetic crude - "hot liquid sandpaper"
* Point out recent spills in similar pipes
* We could try to identify which water bodies the pipeline crosses, or which could be contaminated from a spill
* Yasmin will do some research on this, including into which journalists have been looking into this
* Neal will try to find high-quality photos of a pipeline in Burnaby B.C. that burst recently

Is any modification of the pipe required in order to carry diluted bitumen in place of what it was carrying before?
* Tamara will look into this as well, and into whether any such requirements are in place for the portion that has already been approved for reversing

6) 'Oily Santa' idea

Response to melting arctic ice and the advent of oil drilling in the arctic

Public performance / media event?
* Invite people to sit on oily Santa's lap

Magazine ad?

Photo shoot?

Video?
* Could work as some sort of animation

Interactive flash game
* Santa on a shrinking icecap, facing starving polar bears, exploding oil wells, etc - trying to keep making presents for children

Shell is probably more involved in arctic drilling at this stage than any company
* We should try to find out whether U of T has any Shell stock

Logistics
* Where to do it?
* How to get a Santa costume (especially one we can get 'oily')?
* Yasmin has recipes for faux-oil
* Antlers on black labs for oily reindeer
* Oily helper elves - possibly trying to cap a blown out well

Might such stunts impede our ability to negotiate seriously with U of T staff?
* If there isn't a growing student movement calling for divestment, it is unlikely our campaign will succeed
* Probably best to prepare, with the knowledge that we may want to call it off later

Can we coordinate with the larger 350.org organization?
* They may be willing to help, provide funding, etc
* Stuart will look into who at 350.org might be the appropriate contact

Hamilton 350.org
* No love for Harper's $1.4 Billion in oil subsidies
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tal-iC6diaQ

Can anyone make a Santa costume?
* Director of Haberdashery?

Could we come up with one print ad, showing oily Santa, and calling for divestment from fossil fuel
* If so, it could end up being fairly widely circulated for free

Oily Santa Action Team - Miriam, Stuart, Yasmin


7) Rooms for meetings

Milan sent an email asking if a room can be booked on a weekly basis
* No response yet
* Will check in person tomorrow and let everyone know by email

How do people feel about always meeting in Hart House?
* General sense that the room is acceptable and conveniently located


8) Fundraising

Application to Student Initiative Fund
* "up to $5000 and award funds for projects, events or activities that will benefit students at the U of T St. George campus"

Requirements:
* contribute positively to the University of Toronto student experience
* reach a broad student community
* add value to the University of Toronto community
* broadly align with the University of Toronto's mission, vision and values as outlined in the University's Statement of Institutional Purpose http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/mission.htm

* "You may apply at any time. Apply as far in advance of your project as possible to allow the Committee adequate time to consider your proposal. The SIF committee will meet monthly and hear all proposals submitted at least one week prior to the meeting date. Proposals received after this date will be carried forward to the following meeting and applicants will be notified."

More info: http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/Student-Initiative-Fund.htm/?utm_source=bulletin&utm_medium=email&utm_content=student

What exactly should we propose?
* Could hold a workshop or conference on climate
* Bringing in guest speakers (Bill McKibben?)
* Grants to travel to events like Power Shift


9) Tools for Change workshops

Many upcoming: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/j7_uI_xGtMU/RNwVpc9d48MJ

Go!

Stuart will pay your fee! (Note: it's free for U of T students and members of some other groups)


10) Regular MailChimp emails

Newsletter every 2 weeks?
* Listing events from the planning forum

Better to focus on just a few key events?

Possible example to follow: Dig In Campus Agriculture
* Miriam will send one as an example

Milan will create an 'items for newsletter' thread on the planning forum
* Everyone who sees relevant events that are not already listed can add them here
* One volunteer could then assemble these into an email every two weeks

Any volunteers?
* Tamara is willing to assemble the messages
* Start and Tamara will develop a template that we can use every two weeks
* Milan will show her how to use MailChimp
* Neal can help with graphics

Hopefully, we will have a nice vector Toronto 350.org logo soon

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

30 October 2012

Present: Monica, Neal, Nathalie, Tamara, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Line 9

* U of T divestment campaign

* Logo

* Regular MailChimp emails

* Next meeting

1) Line 9

Neal has found some photos of the Burnaby Kinder-Morgan pipeline rupture

* These could be used in an awareness campaign - make people more emotionally concerned about the risks of pipelines

There are CP wire service photos showing the whole area of destruction

* Unlikely that we will be able to use their images without permission

* Perhaps for satirical purposes

Potentially, we could use an access to information request to get high resolution images from the B.C. or federal government

* Environment Canada is one organization we could try with

* Oil leaked into Burrard Inlet, so the Navigable Waters Act may be relevant

Has the Hamilton 350 group done any work on this? The Green Party? Other organizations?

Some of the material from the Kalamazoo event should be applicable to the Line 9 campaign

Still no information on when hearings on the reversal will be conducted

* Probably after February 2013

Event on Saturday November 17th, as part of the ReBuilding Bridges conference: https://www.facebook.com/events/293407270768607

2) U of T divestment campaign

No word from 'Investing with Integrity'

Schools with divestment campaigns in the U.S.

* Ithaca College (President expressed personal support)

* Hampshire College has successfully divested (38 faculty supporters, many student signatures)

* Monica has contacted them to talk about tips they may have

* Over 30 schools in the U.S. are trying some sort of campaign

* Amherst considering it, but only in collaboration with another school

One site with info: http://divestforourfuture.org/about-3/

Miriam got some good information on Freedom of Information requests, which apparently can be used on U of T

Also, Monica found lists of securities on the U of T website 

* The school has nearly $10 million invested in Shell, 7.8M in British Petroleum, 4 M in Petroleo Brasileiro, 3.2M in Chevron, 2.5M in Suncor (included in both their Canadian and international lists of securities), 2.3M in Cenovus Energy Inc, 2.3M in Conocophillips, 1.6M in ExxonMobil, 1.5M in Painted Pony Petroleum (really), 1.3M in Enbridge, 1.1M in Talisman Energy, and 96M in the Blackrock CDN MSCI EAFE Index Fund, which almost certainly includes investments in fossil fuel stocks. 

* The school also has 175M in Blackrock Canadian Equity Index Fund, 153M in Picton Mahoney 130/30 Canadian Equity, and 120M in the GMO Quality Fund. All of those likely incorporate fossil fuel stocks. 

* In short, there are many substantial fossil fuel holdings

Corporate bonds are also part of the U of T portfolio

* According to the school's annual financial report, roughly 60% of the endowment is in equities

* The remaining portion includes hedge fund, private equity, real estate

* (How much of that real estate is vulnerable to sea level rise and other climatic effects?)

The actual asset mix for the U of T endowment currently contains more Canadian equities than their policy mix calls for

Neal can look into the index trackers the school has invested in

U of T is a client to an investment board that makes decisions on its behalf

* Management team list available online

The school does have an ethical investment policy that involves environmental considerations

* Strategy focused on 'engagement' rather than boycotts

* But our objective here is to deprive the fossil fuel industry of capital

* The engagement strategy doesn't really make sense if there is a whole industry that needs to be phased out

What other 350 groups are doing on divestment

* Milan emailed UBC 350, but hasn't yet heard back

Starting to develop a presentation explaining the rationale for the campaign

* Milan has a presentation on 'the business of climate change' which may be useful

* The basic message is: fossil fuels are a dead-end industry that is destroying the ability of the planet to sustain human life, therefore U of T should not invest in the industry

We can argue that there is considerable risk in fossil fuel investments

* As the severity of climate change becomes more obvious, governments may finally move to seriously restrict fossil fuel production

* This could harm the value of fossil fuel stocks

* Fossil fuel reserves currently valued at trillions of dollars may prove worthless

* Particularly for an organization with a long investment timeline (like universities), there is a case to be made for shifting investment away early

Are other U of T clubs involved?

* It's hard to know which clubs are even active

* Environmental groups, social justice groups, faith-based organizations, student union

* Individual faculty member endorsements

Are there students at U of T doing research that is relevant to this area?

External organizations can also express support

* Environmental NGOs, etc

We should try to recruit supporters before approaching the U of T staff

How to respond to the argument that fossil fuel companies remain a good investment, from a purely financial perspective?

* There are two possible futures: one with unconstrained fossil fuel use and a high probability of catastrophic climate change, another where fossil fuels are phased out

* Stock value of fossil fuel companies assumes they will be able to burn their reserves, but this isn't compatible with avoiding dangerous climate change

* Do the math - the value of these companies depends on being able to turn fossil fuel reserves into profits

Some huge fossil fuel development efforts have had their profitability undermined by the fracking boom

* For instance, the Shtokman gas field

* Unconventional oil production could harm the profitability of the oil sands

Another criticism: won't there be a few more years of good times for the fossil fuel industry?

* One response is the ethical argument

* Isn't this a 'greater fool' argument - the belief that someone later will be willing to pay more for fossil fuel stocks, as the impacts of climate change become more obvious

* Also, we are calling for a gradual process of divestment

What exactly should we ask for?

* Divestment from fossil fuel investments, at a rate of 5% - 10% per year?

How do we go about building a student constituency calling for such a change?

* Students, faculty, alumni

* Could alumni threaten to withhold donations from U of T until they change their investment policy

* Promising prominent alumni: Naomi Klein, Margaret Atwood, Malcolm Gladwell

* Approach U of T student newspaper(s)

* Approach journalists more broadly, for instance Tyler Hamilton at the Toronto Star

Products to produce

* Press release

* Powerpoint presentation, which can also be distributed as a PDF

We should be able to adapt some of the broader 350.org organization's products

* Worth watching: Bill McKibben on Bill Maher: http://grist.org/climate-energy/bill-mckibben-nails-it-on-bill-maher-show-plus-tuesday-afternoon-quarterbacking/

Next steps?

* Continue with research

* Reach out to people and groups

* Approach the university's asset management people

Milan will create a presentation laying out our general argument

* To be populated with new information as we collect it

* Neal can produce graphics for it

3) Logo

Neal has cooked up a number of useful graphics: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/V5sN1sBQzlc/fE351ZqZGNoJ

One is now being used at http://Toronto350.org

4) Regular MailChimp emails

Stuart and Tamara have gotten started with MailChimp for the bi-weekly update

5) Next meeting

At Hart House

* Second floor boardroom

* 7pm - 8:30pm

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

6 November 2012

Present: Miriam, Neal, Tamara, Mie, Yasmin, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* McKibben clip

* Sharing files from the Toronto350.org Google Drive

* Line 9

* U of T divestment campaign

* Debrief on Power Shift from Yasmin

* Regular MailChimp emails

* Next meeting

1) McKibben clip

Bill McKibben on Bill Maher: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ce7_1349566635

Perhaps a useful primer in how to argue effectively with conservatives who deny that action on climate change is wise or necessary

* Necessary to find examples that conjure a sense of urgency and concern

* Making effective use of figures and statistics

IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation

* Summary for Policymakers: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1gFp6Ioo3akYklZcWkwWHJud00

* Full report: http://www.ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-All_FINAL.pdf

* Slides: https://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/docs/srex/SREX_slide_deck.pdf

2) Sharing files from the Toronto350.org Google Drive

Milan enabled the option to share files with anyone on the internet who has the link, but it doesn't work

Can Stuart fix this?

3) Line 9

Any progress finding photos?

* No responses yet to requests for permission

* Should be possible to use some photos without permission under fair dealing exemptions

What about getting in touch with other active groups?

* Environmental Defence has a forthcoming event on Line 9

* Still no announced date for National Energy Board hearings

Hopefully, Stuart will be able to give us an update on this campaign at next week's meeting

Yasmin has a copy of an information package that Environmental Defence has been distributing

* Also has materials that Enbridge has produced

4) U of T divestment campaign

Milan is working on a Powerpoint deck that will lay out the major points in our argument

* This can also form the basis of a later press release

Milan also put two previous climate-related Powerpoint presentations on the Toronto350.org Google Drive

* These should be accessible to everyone with an @Toronto350.org email account

Request:

* That the University of Toronto gradually divest from stock in fossil fuel companies

* Potentially focus on particular companies (especially Shell, given that they are single biggest holding and that they are involved in arctic drilling)

* Ask for 5-10% divestment per year?

* Could also ask for a pledge not to buy any more stock in fossil fuel companies

Focusing on Shell

* 9.814 million invested

* Source: http://www.utam.utoronto.ca/Assets/UTAM+Digital+Assets/reports/International+Q1+2012.pdf

* Arguments include arctic drilling, poor human rights record (i.e. Nigeria), largest single holding of the school

* It would be useful if people could collect more information on Shell specifically

* Shell has holding of 14.11 gigatonnes of CO2 in oil and 2.09 GT in gas

* Source: Carbon Bubble Spreadsheets - https://docs.google.com/a/toronto350.org/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At87xTTQ9DSHdFVPNUpUSmRtd2ZWMnZLUXJuakxfM3c#gid=3

* "Scientists estimate that humans can pour roughly 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by midcentury and still have some reasonable hope of staying below two degrees. ("Reasonable," in this case, means four chances in five, or somewhat worse odds than playing Russian roulette with a six-shooter.)

* http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719?page=2

Major points

* The fossil fuel industry is destroying the planet

* Eventually, humanity must either endure catastrophic climate change or turn away from fossil fuels

* The value of fossil fuel stocks reflects the assumption that all fossil fuels will be burn - if humanity turns away from that course, their value may crash

* McKibben's numbers - how much we can burn under 2˚C versus how much fossil fuel companies are planning to burn

* Wastefulness of making large investments in alternative fossil fuels - if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, we will need to phase out such projects before the economic end of their lives, plus we will need to invest in renewables later and at a higher total cost

* In addition to climate change, fossil fuels cause many other types of damage

* Serious assessments have shown that the whole world can be powered using renewable and zero-carbon forms of energy

* Social mission of the University of Toronto - we should be smart enough to look forward and see the direction the world is going

Milan should be able to send out a draft presentation for comments before the next meeting

* Once we are basically happy with the content, we can work on making it pretty and adding illuminating graphics

Mie may be able to learn more about the divestment campaign at Tufts

* Fairly likely they will have useful materials for us

Once we have some materials that make our case convincingly, we can devote ourselves more seriously to recruiting allies

* We could have some sort of information session for interested campus groups

* Few of the campus environmental groups seem overly active (Science for Peace is active)

* We should reach out to the Citizens Climate Lobby - attend one of their meetings? - run a draft version of the presentation by them?

Divestment info from the 350.org mothership

* https://docs.google.com/a/toronto350.org/document/d/1bKOcqvKo0CPtCtwXmQcHhY62riGLDJNPy3zVGA1UPJE/mobilebasic?pli=1

* Responsible Endowments Coalition: http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.endowmentethics.org&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEGH2A0olflGROv-nApmhS7x9mG2Q

* Sustainable Endowments Institute: http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.endowmentinstitute.org&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNH-Q43szQtdxN0t0lusV7VFnlJyhA

See also: http://divestforourfuture.org/university-campaigns/

* We may be able to get listed on this page

* Recommended steps: http://divestforourfuture.org/how-do-we-divest/

* One page fact sheet we could adapt: http://divestforourfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DivestFossilFuels_1PageFactSheet3.jpg

We could start a public petition for students, faculty members, alumni, etc

* Where do we want to put it?

* What sort of verification do we want to use?

* We could require a message from a U of T email address, or have people show their student card and give their student number

* We could collect just part of their student number, for privacy reasons

Financial situation of the university

* Pain from the financial crisis

* Cutbacks in funding from federal and provincial governments

* We will need to develop responses to this

* For one thing, we can expect an increasing amount of disruption from climate change

5) Debrief on Power Shift from Yasmin

Only there for Sunday and Monday, so missed most of the speakers

* Links to videos are online

* Yasmin will email links from Facebook to Milan

Participated on a workshop on indigenous knowledge in Canada

March on Monday to Parliament Hill

6) Next meeting

The Hart House room booking service was closed today, but Milan will go tomorrow and send out an email about where the meeting will be

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

13 November 2012

Present: Neal, Monica, Yasmin, Stuart, Taiwo, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Divestment conference call

* Dirty Santa

* November 17th Line 9 conference

* Line 9

* Divestment

* Next meeting

1) Divestment conference call

Mie provided us with information on a conference call on divestment

* Being organized out of Unity College, Maine

Agenda

- National conference at Swarthmore in February

- 350 website

- Ideas for days of action

- Solidarity opportunities

Convergence - weekend of February 22nd

* At Swarthmore College

* All students welcome

* 100-150 students expected, from 30-50 schools

* People at all stages in divestment campaigns welcome

See also, Swarthmore Mountain Justice: https://swatmountainjustice.wordpress.com/

How people can get involved

* Email Hannah at hjon...@gmail.com for information

Six different working groups: communication, training, outreach, fundraising, logistics, one more

* Working groups have calls about once per week

* Spokescouncil has weekly calls, acts as a coordinating body

Some financial assistance for attendees may be available

* Now is a good time to start applying for school funding

Check-in from schools

* Cornell - pursuing resolution at student assembly, being considered by environmental working group - saw full divestment by 2020 as too aggressive

* U of T - looking for information on overcoming objections, engaging effectively with the administration, building a coalition of support

* Swarthmore - article forthcoming in the NY Times - action this week - working on organizing the convergence - engaged in a conversation with the administration

* [incomprehensible] - trying to put a resolution to the student board - putting together a rally for December 7th with various speakers and community members affected by coal mining

* [incomprehensible] - 2nd meeting with socially responsible investment advisory committee - 

* Other active schools include Columbia, Middlebury, Barnard

There are socially responsible funds that have outperformed the S&P 500 over the last few decades

* More information will be provided through the listserv

* orga...@endowmentethics.org

* http://www.endowmentethics.org/

There is also a Google Group at: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/students-divest

What sort of arguments have been effective with school administrations?

* Several groups have been able to build cooperative relationships with the boards of trustees for their schools

* How to effectively respond to administration claims that examples of divestment are not applicable to their case?

* Find examples among peer institutions, build dialogue between campuses

* One idea: develop a speakers' bureau of board of trustee members from various schools that are supportive of divestment - provide administrator-to-administrator facetime

350 website

* gofossilfree.org

* Several features are still being developed, including a mapping tool

* McGill has a divestment campaign: https://www.facebook.com/groups/471360302908959/

* University of Ottawa: http://coalitionjuste.com/

Thinking ahead to the holidays

* Possibility of a day of action - Thanksgiving?

* Twelve days of action leading up to a holiday?

* Thanksgiving parlour party - write letters to alumni

* Campus sit-ins? Obstructive or non-obstructive?

Washington D.C. 'Do the Math' rally will be live-streamed

* Happening in five days - November 18th

* "On Nov. 18th, Bill will be in Washington DC to lay out the terrifying new math of climate change, explaining the incredible odds we  face, and the difficult path we must walk in the coming years to create a livable future for our planet."

* "Bill will be joined by friends from across the climate movement and beyond to explain how together we can confront the fossil fuel industry, using lessons from the most successful movements of the past century and the past year of dramatic new actions against the industry across the country."

* "In partnership with Chesapeake Climate Action Network"

Solidarity action opportunities

* Earth Quaker Action Team holding an action at branches of a bank in the U.S. Northeast

* Many branches are located on college campuses

* Swarthmore's campus quaker group is working with them

* Students can be encouraged to change banks, or to switch to a credit union

* Walmart Black Friday action, November 2rd - at distribution centres and branches

* Could be an opportunity to meet members of like-minded groups

* Supplies for Hurricane Sandy victims being dropped off at the White House - being organized in collaboration with Occupy Sandy

* People in other communities can send supplies to the organizers there

A wiki is being developed to store documents that have been presented to the administrations elsewhere

* Information on this will be emailed to Toronto 350.org

Next steps

* Another call in two weeks

* To be discussed via the listserv

Post-call discussion

2) Dirty Santa

Yasmin, Stuart, and Miriam met on this

Possible approaches

* Angry Santa, annoyed at melting ice and arctic drilling - a fairly negative campaign

* Humorous campaign could be more effective, like the Hamilton 'donate to Shell' event

Stoic Santa? Not complaining, trying to function as usual?

Santa retiring? Melting ice, newly valuable oil and gas reserves

* Shell to take over all Christmas related duties?

* Big 'no more gifts' banner

* If so, why would he be out approaching people?

* Could this be some sort of public consultation?

Could Santa just be expressing concern about climate change and arctic drilling, asking people to support the divestment campaign?

* "HO HO HO" to "HOt HOt HOt"

* IPCC sea ice projection: http://www.sindark.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/arctic2100.PNG

* Now looks optimistic

Hard to express a straightforward, positive message

Easy for this campaign to appear crass or convoluted

Do we want to go forward with this idea?

* What would the deliverable be?

* Santa and a bunch of elves on the sidewalk? Handing out flyers?

We may not need hugely much of a premise - just being there in costume might attract people to be given information

Location?

* On campus on a Friday, perhaps, followed potentially by Dundas Square on a Saturday

* Friday, November 30th - two and a half weeks from now

What specific objective would we want to advance?

* Collect petition signatures for divestment from Shell

* Social media campaign? Ask people to post their support for Santa / the North Pole status quo via Twitter or Facebook - "U of T, stop destroying the North Pole"

* Take a photo with Santa, wearing a "Save the North Pole" sign - post on Twitter, Instagram, etc

* Just have Santa and the elves protest somewhere visible?

Santa needs to relocate

* North Pole flooded

* Could come up with various images showing alternative workshop locations: Dubai, palm tree island, etc - take advantage of reduced property prices in Greece?

* What would be the 'ask' in this case?

* Ask for signatures on a petition to divest from Shell specifically, or from fossil fuels generally

* Petition "We call on the University of Toronto to stop destroying the Arctic, starting with divestment from Shell"

Stuart has bid on a Santa costume on eBay

Elf costumes?

* Green clothes and elf hats?

* Yasmin will look into it

Do we want to try to do something before December 4th?

* Stuart will put something together during the next day

* People will need to put in time doing costumes, signs, etc

* We should try and get media attention

Other groups we should get in touch with?

* Science for Peace

* Campus Quaker groups?

3) November 17th Line 9 conference

Yasmin first spotted this event

* The counsellor she works with is going

10a.m. to 5p.m. at Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George St.

Featured guests

* Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians)

* Art Sterritt, (Executive Director, B.C. Coastal First Nations)

* Wes Elliott (Haudenosaunee land defender)

* Vanessa Gray (Aamjiwnaang First Nation)

More information: http://rabble.ca/news/2012/11/toronto-conference-takes-aim-local-tar-sands-pipeline

It would be great to have as many Toronto 350.org people turn out as possible, ideally in 350 t-shirts

Stuart suggested via email that business cards would be useful

4) Line 9

Go to the conference on the 17th!

5) Divestment

Milan has prepared the rudiments of a Powerpoint deck

* At this point, we want to refine the content

* Then we can make it pretty and seek supporters

* Also, approach heavy-hitting alumni like Margaret Atwood

Please send suggestions to Milan

Do we want to describe all the issues with fossil fuels, or concentrate on the climate issues?

International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook 2012

* https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/name,33339,en.html

* "No more than one-third of proven reserves of fossil fuels can be consumed prior to 2050 if the world is to achieve the 2 °C goal, unless carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is widely deployed"

One objective could be to have some materials ready for public distribution by the time U of T comes back from the winter break in January

Ask Macleans to rank the most ethical investments among Canadian schools, alongside their other rankings

* Yasmin met some young women working on this from Hamilton and B.C.

* Opportunities for collaboration seem to exist

6) Next meeting

Same as in recent weeks, Milan needs to check with Hart House tomorrow

* If the boardroom is unavailable, he can book a room at Robarts

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

20 November 2012

Present: Monica, Tamara, Stuart, Neal, Maya, Mie, Yasmin, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda

* November 17 2012 Conference: "The Tar Sands Come to Ontario: No Line 9!"

* Tools for Change campaign planning workshop

* U of T divestment

* Santa event - November 30th

* Next meeting(s)

1) November 17 2012 Conference: "The Tar Sands Come to Ontario: No Line 9!"

Milan attended, as did Yasmin, Tamara, Nathalie, and several people from Hamilton 350

* Detailed notes from the sessions Milan attended are at: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/toronto-350/0KGiHMLlD6o/discussion

* If other people have their own notes from different sessions, it would be great if they could put them on the forum.

Art Sterritt very impressive

2) Tools for Change campaign planning workshop

Useful in terms of planning strategies

PowerPoint from the event will be circulated

Three especially useful pieces

* Articulate objective, for instance divestment of 5-10% per year - should be measurable and time bound

* Strategy: Long-term plan for achieving objective 

* Tactics: For instance, Santa event - how does it fit into our strategy?

Also some useful information on divvying up tasks

Could be helpful to have a whiteboard for meetings

3) U of T divestment

President of U of T is also on the asset management board

* Also, Sheila Brown, the CEO of Finance

Monica has produced a draft petition

* Do we want to call for divestment in just Shell, or all fossil fuel companies?

Do we want to really focus on Shell to start with?

* It's the school's single biggest holding

* They are drilling in the Arctic

* Human rights problems within Canada, in Nigeria, etc

* Concrete request: divest from Shell by the end of 2013?

* Just stocks, or bonds as well?

* Simplifies the media message

How can we get information on the content of the school's index investments?

* A simple list gets published yearly

* Doesn't decompose the composition of the index assets

* 40% of the portfolio is in fixed-income assets (bonds)

* Likely this includes Shell and other fossil fuel bonds

Do we want to propose specific alternative investments?

* Could make the campaign more coherent

* Does create the risk of making our demands too wide-ranging, increase difficulty of arguing that we are not meddling in financial decisions

* Has the 350.org mothership taken a position on this?

* 350.org has a fossil fuel divestment toolkit at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.350.org/images/350_FossilFreeBooklet_LO4.pdf

Seeking faculty support

* SAIA precedent: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/phCc7EFdh3M/v4K7ijWam0QJ

* The UBC 350 group is basically run by a few professors

Harvard students recently voted in favour of divestment: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/phCc7EFdh3M/u1eZ_dNnP20J

4) Santa event - November 30th

Hats and booties are in hand, acquired via dollar store

* Four at this point

* Others can wear 'elf like clothing'

Stuart won the eBay auction for the santa suit, and it was shipped on Wednesday

Not planning to have a big banner, so as to remain mobile

* The elves can have smaller signs

Non-confrontational language

* This is an opportunity for U of T to be forward-looking in its investment strategy

* Big organizations are helping to make our case

* International Energy Agency - we can only burn 1/3 of fossil fuels: http://www.sindark.com/2012/11/13/iea-we-can-only-burn-13-of-the-remaining-fossil-fuel/

* World Bank highlighting risks of 4˚C of warming

* Important to try and make this non-depressing - Santa in Bermuda shorts

Monica and Stuart developing a flier

* It would be great to have cookies and things too, in order to attract people

Neal and Stuart to prepare the photos

Plan for November 30th

* Noon to 4pm

* Stuart will be there in a santa suit, with pictures of himself in various locations

* 'Done with the arctic - where should I relocate?'

* We want something that people can understand right away - signs being held by elves, explanation from the petition people

* "Save the arctic" "Save santa's workshop" "U of T - Divest from Shell"

* Brief point: "Fossil fuels are destroying the arctic, we should divest"

Neal has found pictures of the locations already

* Visible at: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/98399468@N00/galleries/72157632056505529/

Media release

* Ideally, one before and one after with our best photo

Advertising beforehand

* We should let people know via MailChimp, Twitter, Facebook

* Let other groups know in advance: Citizens' Climate Lobby, Students for Peace, etc

* Environmental Defence - has already sent out a message to their people

Pre-event for Friday, November 23rd

* 'Library cookie event'

* Meeting at the gate of Massey College at 2pm

* Dress like an elf!

* If it's raining, we can stick to places like the ground floor area of Sidney Smith

What do we need for this event?

* Mini information flier (Neal can do layout and design)

* Encourage people to 'like' us on Facebook, follow on Twitter

* Provide basic details on divestment campaign

* Cookies (Yasmin will provide) and candy canes

* Petition with finalized wording (Milan will finalize and print)

5) Next meeting(s)

Stuart is organizing another Santa prep / sign-making session next Tuesday at 6pm in the Hart House pub

We don't have a room booked yet for our ordinary planning meeting

* Should Milan book another room at Robarts?

* Hart House not available until the next week, though something in Massey could be possible

Milan will try to book a room at Massey for next week; failing that, at Robarts again

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

27 November 2012

Present: Stuart, Neal, Ben, Nath, Tamara, Monica, Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:
* Update on divestment
* New Toronto350.org website
* Line 9
* GTA Climate Action Summit - 19 January
* Electronic petition
* Update on U of T Governing Council
* Santa event - 30 November
* Majority Report podcast with Bill McKibben


1) Update on divestment

Nath spoke with a neighbour who is a professor of forestry
* He is aware of a large number of people associated with U of T and working on environmental protection: Tzeporah Berman has a U of T connection
* The forestry faculty provided funding for ten students to attend the latest UNFCCC Conference of Parties
* Monty Hummel (president emeritus of the WWF), David Powell (forestry prof), Margaret Atwood
* Activist former graduate students: Joanna Defoe, Lauren Drainie (spelling uncertain)

Naomi Klein is a U of T alumna, and has been taking part in the 350.org divestment campaign

We should be assembling a list of prominent people connected with U of T who are likely to be supportive of our campaign

Best avenues of approach?
* Personal email?
* Seek signatures for a letter to send to a larger group

We need to know exactly which petition or campaign we want them to endorse


2) New Toronto350.org website

Stuart made a new site - thank you very much to him

Neal will produce some graphics, including badges to put on other websites


3) Line 9

Yasmin will provide more information soon on the motion being brought forward by the city counsellor she works with, related to Line 9

Liason with Tom McCarthy and the University of Toronto Environmental Action (UTEA)
* https://ulife.utoronto.ca/organizations/view/id/16488
* http://utea.sa.utoronto.ca/2012/11/07/u-of-t-environmental-action/
* We may have opportunities to collaborate, and are corresponding now

Neal sent information on grades of oil and diluted bitumen to Yasmin
* Good product for general reference
* Neal is re-writing it to be useful for a general audience
* We can share it with allied groups: environmental NGOs, sympathetic politicians, etc
* Will be posted on the discussion forum for comment
* Includes information on a number of risks, and rebuttals to many of the points made by Enbridge representatives


4) GTA Climate Action Summit

Saturday, January 19, 2013
* At Metro Hall, 2pm
* Follow-up to the summit held in August
* "We look forward to the opportunity to share with you what our sub-committee has learned about carbon pricing, and we'd like to discuss the idea of a Toronto Climate Network. We propose that this network act as the vehicle to enable all our groups to co-ordinate our actions to ensure that Climate Change is high on the agenda of the Ontario Provincial and Federal Governments. Although we understand that the last thing we need is another environmental group we are also cognizant of the fact that we will need to work together to create the political will needed for real action on Climate Change. Thoughts on how to maximize our impact whilst minimizing overhead are sought!"
* sum...@dosomethingaboutit.ca


5) Electronic petition

Three draft e-petitions
* One set up through change.org
* Another through Google Docs - bit.ly/SellShell
* Direct link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFI3UGl2OG4tZzhUY01MeUdFY2o5WGc6MQ
* Also, one through 350.org - http://act.350.org/sign/Fossil_Free_Toronto

The 350.org petition system is still evolving
* Can't yet select U of T as a school
* Phone mandatory
* 'Thank you' page includes an exhortation to share on Facebook, etc
* We don't currently have any access to the back end of this site
* We can add prominent supporters and allied groups to the bottom of the text

* We will use the petition at: http://act.350.org/sign/Fossil_Free_Toronto
* Not really usable until U of T is an option on the drop-down list

Stuart is in touch with the divestment expert at 350.org and with the people developing this petition site


6) Update on U of T Governing Council

Milan provided additional information to Asim Ashraf as requested
* Hasn't heard back yet, but things still seem to be on track


7) Santa event - 30 November

Hours: noon - 4pm
* Meeting place: the gate of Massey College
* Locations where we plan to operate: Sidney Smith hall, Robarts library, etc

Stuart has the santa suit

Elf costumes
* We have five elf hats, including those Neal and Yasmin already have
* Also, some reindeer antlers and booties

Signs for elves
* We have one from the elf event - https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sindark/8211235391/
* Anyone planning to come, it would be great if you could make a creative and visually interesting sign that will be on message for the event

We still have ginger cookies to hand out
* We can get some candy canes too

Flyer to be distributed
* How simple or complex ought it to be?
* Probably best to keep it short and point to more fulsome information online
* There will be people who know very little about Shell's activity
* We can direct people to our own petition, and to general information about divestment on the 350.org site
* Neal will prepare the flyer - Milan willing to help print if needed

Once we have a good number of in-person signatures, we can create a custom cover letter and give the originals to the president of the university along with an information package
* We probably want 200+ signatures before we pass them along
* Also, at least a few big endorsements
* Endorsements from student clubs, student government bodies, etc
* Friday's event will give us some idea of how long and how much effort this might take

It probably makes sense to prioritize signatures from people with a U of T connection
* The university administration may care a lot more about demands from members of the U of T community
* We can tell people who aren't affiliated with the university that they can just leave the 'student number' box blank
* Stuart will make a second set of signature sheets for non-students ("Community Support")

We have an early draft media release
* And Yasmin has a list of media contacts
* We should make sure this includes student newspapers
* One media release the day before, another after the event with a photo and information on the number of signatures

Neal, Stuart, and Milan will get santa photos tonight to edit into the alternative workshop location photos
* Felt for use as a chroma key
* How do we want to print these?
* We could have a big board, or perhaps some kind of flipbook

Should we notify other groups about what we're planning to?
* Environmental Defence, Citizens Climate Lobby, University of Toronto Environmental Action (UTEA)?
* Send out an email to our MailChimp list? (Could include a photo from our elf pre-event)
* We can get more hats if needed - best to ask interested people to RSVP
* The dollar store is at Bloor and Bathurst, so we can even pick up more on the day of the event
* Tamara will do write and send out a MailChimp email

We could do some postering on Friday morning, letting people know where we will be
* Stuart will do this, and request help from others if needed


8) Majority Report podcast with Bill McKibben

Will go up around noon tomorrow
* http://majority.fm/
* http://majority.fm/2012/11/28/bill-mckibben-do-the-math/

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

4 December 2012

Present: Ben, Jon (*), Stuart, Monica, Neal

Note-taking: Milan

Agenda

* Santa event debrief and lessons learned

* Forward planning for the year ahead

* Tides Canada - "A New Energy Vision for Canada" and "Towards a Clean Energy Accord"

* Chasing Ice

* Tools for Change Campaign Planning Powerpoint

* Christmas party

* Next meeting

1) Santa event debrief and lessons learned

268 signatures

* 38 from elf event

It would be great if someone can copy email addresses from those who want to be added to the list from the petitions to MailChimp

Elf event versus Santa event - Stuart's stats

- 38 sigs in 1.5hr  * 4 people = 6.3/person/hr

- 220 sigs in 3.75hr * 7 people = 8.4/person/hr (200 would be 7.6)

It would not be especially plausible to collect thousands of signatures in this way

* Would take more than 500 person-hours to collect 5000 signatures

* Disjoint between when volunteers are free and when students are around

* Friday may not be the best way for students

It would be great if we could collect 1,000 in-person signatures

* Would require about another three big events

* There is an event at OISE on January 22nd (Ben was contacted about this)

Target date: perhaps the end of March

* We're asking for the Shell stake to be sold by the end of 2013

Do we have the stats from the online petition?

* No big counter or anything yet

How can we collect signatures efficiently?

* Go to classes and ask for signatures?

* Send people to events, or continue to walk around on campus

* Effective use of social networking?

How do we target organizational supporters and prominent alumni?

Groups

* Monica contacted several student groups today

* Hasn't yet heard back

* It would be great if other groups endorsed, as well as if any other groups contributed volunteers to collect signatures

* Other groups could put their own headers at the top of the petition pages (Students for Peace, etc)

* We can also ask them to send the link to their mailing lists

* Social justice groups, faith-based groups

Alumni

* Tweet to Margaret Atwood, see if she will re-tweet the electronic petition

* Naomi Klein is actively involved with the Do The Math tour

Tweet at Margaret Atwood

* Ask to retweet link to our e-petition?

* Delay until later in the process?

* This may be the wrong time to try to get momentum going

* We could also ask for a more prominent kind of endorsement later, like participation in an actual event

Someone should contact Naomi Klein

* Neal will draft an email for her that we can send from pres...@toronto350.org

* We don't want to miss her if she comes through town

Faculty

* Contact professors who you know!

* Each one who signs will make it easier for others to do so

* It would be good if professors with lecture classes would let us come in, give a presentation, and collect petition signatures

Powerpoint presentation in progress

* Draft already

* Aiming to have a better draft by the time classes resume

Package for David Naylor

* Petition signatures, letter, 2007 decision to divest from tobacco, statements on climate change from medical organizations

Do we want to do another Santa event during the next week or two?

* We could get signatures at the Chasing Ice screening

2) Forward planning for the year ahead

(a) U of T divestment

Strategy for maximizing endorsements?

* We should send out a bunch of requests by the end of January

* To alumni, groups, etc

We can also ask other groups to collect signatures themselves

We can seek classroom signatures in February

Information we should have

* Information on the decision-making processes and meetings of the U of T investment body

* Monica put a document on the Google Drive with key people who we should know

* https://docs.google.com/a/toronto350.org/open?id=0B_j1VLcoN7imTHdpS081Wl9IbkE

* Information on getting an endorsement from the student union, or holding a referendum

We are aiming to have a decent version of the PowerPoint presentation done by early January

Contacts with Invesco

* https://www.invesco.ca/

* What do we want to ask for from them?

* They could provide some advice on how to make the case for alternative investments?

* They may administer alternative investment options that could appeal to the school

(b) Line9

Neal's primer on technical dilbit-related issues

* Being revised into a form that can be released more publicly

Environmental Defence is active on this

Further work with the counsellor Yasmin works with?

* Anthony Perruzza, Ward 8

3) Tides Canada - "A New Energy Vision for Canada" and "Towards a Clean Energy Accord"

Milan spoke with Scott Baker about possibilities for collaboration between Tides Canada and Toronto 350.org

He asked if we would be willing to endorse two documents of theirs

Both documents have already been widely endorsed

"A New Energy Vision for Canada"

* Municipalities including North Vancouver, and Burnaby

* NGOs including the WWF, Environmental Defence, the Pembina Institute, etc

* http://tidescanada.org/energy/newenergy/new-energy-vision-endorsers/

"Towards a Clean Energy Accord"

* NGOs including the David Suzuki Foundation, WWF, Citizens Climate Lobby, etc

* http://tidescanada.org/energy/accord/statement-of-support-endorsers/

Two options: agree to endorse now, or give people another week to look the documents over

* Vote between options

Stuart moves that we vote on endorsing the documents now

* Neal seconds

* All in favour - carries unanimously

* Toronto 350.org endorses both documents

Tides Canada is also preparing for an upcoming First Ministers meeting

* Next Council of the Federation, July 2013, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario.

4) Chasing Ice

Shows

* Wednesday: 5:50pm, 9:30pm

* Thursday: 5:50pm, 9:30pm

* http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiffbelllightbox/2012/2330007380

Stuart will go Thursday at 5:50, in a 350.org shirt

Milan and Neal will go at 9:30pm

We will bring petition pages for signature (probably mostly the non-student sheets)

5) Tools for Change Campaign Planning Powerpoint

Could Monica take us through it during an upcoming meeting? She could chair the meeting if she wishes

Short presentation at an exec meeting? Afternoon workshop during a weekend?

* Seems like it could justify a half-day weekend workshop

* Perhaps in mid-January, on a Saturday afternoon

* Monica can send a Doodle around

6) Christmas party

At the same time as a normal weekly meeting?

Next week - Tuesday, December 11th 7pm

* Free Times Cafe

* 320 College Street

* https://maps.google.com/maps?q=free+times+cafe&hl=en&ll=43.659552,-79.402485&spn=0.034649,0.054846&sll=43.656877,-79.32085&sspn=0.554405,0.877533&hq=free+times+cafe&t=m&z=14

* Feel free to invite curious friends, family members, etc

7) Next meeting

It would be good to alternate with who chairs

* Stuart can chair on the 18th

* Do we want to meet on the 18th?

* We can check next week

Notification of meeting locations?

* So far, has just been going to the minutes email list

* Also, on Twitter

[Milan]

These are the two documents discussed at the meeting

[Milan]

Amendment:

There is an error in the minutes above.

Wherever they refer to 'Tides Canada' they should actually refer to 'Clean Energy Canada at Tides Canada'.

[thugsb]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

18 December 2012

Present: Monica, Stuart, Neal, Yasmin, Milan, Miriam, John

Minute-taker: Stuart

Agenda

1. Constitution changes
2. Line 9 Protest
3. Divestment Strategy phone call
4. Global Power Shift
5. Fundraising ideas
6. Macleans petition
7. President's Day

1. Constitution Changes

UofT requested changes. Milan has made some changes, which should be more-or-less ready for resubmission. The biggest thing still needed is a blurb about each of the exec positions, which should be written by each exec member and submitted to the group for review by the next meeting (Jan 8th). It will be sent around to members when all the blurbs are in.

Another significant change was that the AGM actually has to be a Termly General Meeting (not Annual).

2. Line 9 Protest

Monica was contacted by someone on facebook stating they were planning a Line 9 rally on either Jan 19th or 26th. We need more info before we make any commitments, but are potentially interested.

3. Divestment Strategy

Milan received some divestment advice from Jonathan Glencross from McGill. He suggested divestment is best approached behind the scenes, talking with the investors, rather than a public campaign (as we have already embarked on to some degree). He also recommended we get a financial expert on our side, which didn't seem very likely (but you never know). 350.org itself seems to have made it very public, but it will be worth getting more advice from them. Stu made a contact at 350.org, so will follow up on that. We should also try to consolidate our contacts with 350.org, so we know who to reach out to for what.

Monica warned against us providing too much advice regarding reinvestment or what would make a good investment, as that would potentially open us up to negative repercussions. Generally people seemed to think we should provide some suggestions of alternative uses of the divested money, but do it softly. Non-stock-investments might be better, such as investing in building insulation and bonds. Tim Nash and Environlytics were mentioned.

4. Global Power Shift

Milan has applied. John might. If they get in, we should try to find them funding via fundraising...

5. Fundraising

Miriam would like to run some fundraising events to get us some money. Several ideas were presented, the most promising being a house party at an International House near Queen-Bathurst, that Monica has contacts with. Miriam and Monica will connect with them. Other venues suggested include Bike Pirates and Zero Gravity. We could probably make most money from beer sales (rather than cover), but most venues will want to sell the beer themselves.

February break could be a good time for this, as could April.

We should also remember and apply for Student Group funding, which is given to events that improve campus life. Maybe running a workshop or some such.

6. Macleans petition

This petition should be highlighted: http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/maclean-s-magazine-add-an-ethical-investment-ranking-in-your-next-annual-universities-report

7. Pres Day

A minibus could have a lot of problems, including being completely turned back at the border. A minivan may be a better option, as might megabus. Stu will look into comparative prices. Miriam has contact with a housing co-op, which may be willing to house us. Three of us seemed very likely to go, and everyone else seemed to be very interested.

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

Present: Ian, Miriam, Stuart, Monica, Milan

Minute-taker: Milan

Agenda

* Donation and fundraising

* Constitutional amendments

* Presidents' Day trip to Washington D.C.

* Divestment

* Climate Action Summit - Jan. 19th

* OISE event - Jan. 22nd

* Rising Tide day of action on Line 9 - Jan. 26th

* Idle No More

* Pathways to Transformation: Moving Forward on Decarbonization

1) Donation and fundraising

$200 from Alena and Katerina Prazak

* Handed over to the treasurer

* Can't be deposited until our constitution is totally approved and we have a bank account

Stuart attended Rock Against Line 9 at Tranzac

* Ten hours of music

* $500 to rent the venue (discount because it was a fundraiser)

* Bar at the venue, but revenues go to the club

* Sliding scale donations: $10-20

* Total funds raised $1500, so $1000 raised

* Money split between three groups, each of which provided speakers

* They had a raffle, using donated merchandise

We could make more in a place that would give us a cut of liquor sales

Monica waiting to hear back from Fred, regarding a house where we could have a party / fundraiser

Miriam is thinking about how to put on a fundraiser at a plausible scale

* She will have more time after the U of T winter session ends

Stuart is now in contact with Rising Tide

2) Constitutional amendments

Process

* Go through version 1-2 of the constitution with track changes

* Discuss changes one by one

* Vote at the end on whether to submit the revised constitution to U of T

Milan moves that this constitution be submitted

* Stuart seconds

* Motion passes unanimously

3) Presidents' Day trip to Washington D.C.

February 17th

Transportation

* Stuart is looking into it

* Possibilities include bus or renting a van

Accommodation

* Miriam will look into it

* Quaker house one possibility: William Penn House (515 East Capitol St SE, Washington DC, USA)

* There is also a Hosteling International in DC

* Milan will check on hostel prices

Information on transport and accommodation should be collected by next week's meeting

* Send out mass email within 10 days to see who is interested

* Get started on booking transport and accommodation by early February

4) Divestment

U of T is seeking a new president

* There was an advertisement in The Economist

4 December 2012 minutes include some target dates

January

* Finish PowerPoint presentation

* Contact campus groups for endorsements

February

* Seek classroom signatures

* Start approaching prominent alumni

Milan will work on the PowerPoint

Monica will take the lead on approaching campus groups and seeking their support

* If other groups want to put their own masthead on the top of the petition, that would be great

Does the university publish a list of major donors somewhere?

* Ian will see if he can find one

Wikipedia has a list of prominent people associated with U of T

How should we contact alumni?

* Should probably be tailored to the individual

Should we change the column headers for future petitions, specifically to have people opt out of our MailChimp list rather than opt in

* Ask for physical address

* No need to both print and sign name

Stuart will produce new versions of the Excel files for printing

* He is also going through the scanned petition pages and adding people to the MailChimp list

We could consider encouraging the university to take advantage of the feed-in tariffs available through Ontario's Green Energy Act

* We should work on building a relationship with whatever sustainability bureaucracy exists at U of T

5) Climate Action Summit - Jan. 19th

Groups involved include: Zero Carbon Ontario, Green Neighbours 21, Council of Canadians, Citizens Climate Lobby

Room 304, Metro Hall, 55 John Street (South-east corner of King and John, two blocks east of Spadina)

* 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Last time, they wanted all the groups present to support a pre-prepared statement

6) OISE event - Jan. 22nd

From Ben:

* "As far as the OISE Ecofair on Jan. 22nd is concerned, the event runs from 11-2, and is advertising "featuring over 30 organizations devoted to Environmental and Sustainability Education, resources, internship ideas, and snacks". While the 350 group is not so much aligned with education at this point I think there's a lot of people who would be very interested in the divestment campaign, and many interesting points of conversation on sustainability and environmental protection."

At the very least, we should have a couple of people there to collect petition signatures

Ben will be coordinating it

* He is also meeting with his contact at Investeco on January 18th

Stuart intends to attend

7) Rising Tide day of action on Line 9 - Jan. 26th

Stuart spoke with Dave Vasey

* Dave is meant to get back to us with details on what he is planning

* Ideally, this should be in a form we can email to members directly

Groups in Kingston and Burlington are taking action

Equiterre is organizing an event in Montreal

Some actions are linked with the Idle No More movement

8) Idle No More

There is a round dance on Friday, January 11th at 1:00pm at Dundas Square

This is the date Stephen Harper is meeting with the Association of First Nations

The First Nations provide Canada's best chance of stopping the tar sands

Stuart has already been to five actions or events in Toronto

* Number of participants has ranged from ~100 to about 800-1000 dancing with 500 watching

Possibility of backlash against tactics like highway and railroad blockades

Media coverage to date

9) Pathways to Transformation: Moving Forward on Decarbonization

Workshop at the Monk Centre that Milan was invited to and will be attending

* January 10-11

* "The goal for the workshop is to develop concrete ideas about pathways to move societies and economies toward decarbonization.  Our starting point is that there is much knowledge about what decarbonization requires and about the technology to achieve it.  Many also argue that this technology is already available.  However, research and prescriptions on what decarbonization technically requires (end points) have not been matched by an understanding of the pathways of social and economic change required to get there, or on the process of changing policies to support such change.  Such an understanding is fundamental to decarbonization since our carbon-centred energy systems and economies, as well as the policies that have supported their development, are strongly path dependent with many reinforcing features and appear resistant to change.  Thus, the goal of our workshop is not to determine what is required – on which the climate change research community largely agrees – but on what is needed to get there.  To that end, we very consciously wish to move beyond the incremental versus radical change debate that has side-tracked the pragmatic question of how to overcome the stubborn resistance of our political, economic and social systems to the change we fundamentally agree is required."

Milan will report back on the workshop at next week's meeting

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Here is our amended constitution. It will be submitted to U of T for approval later tonight.

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

15 January 2013

Present: Ben, Monica, Miriam, Mie, Tamara, Neal, Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:
* Constitutional amendments

* Pathways to Transformation: Moving Forward on Decarbonization

* Presidents' Day trip to Washington D.C.

* Climate Action Summit - Jan. 19th
* OISE event - Jan. 22nd
* Rising Tide day of action on Line 9 - Jan. 26th

* Environmental Defence event at City Hall - Jan. 26
* Action at Yonge and Finch - Jan. 26
* Proposal to bring out Bill McKibben
* Divestment
* Campaign Planning Workshop
* Discussion on strategy and coordination on Line 9 - January 17th
* Event at McMaster on the 31st
* Next meeting


1) Constitutional amendments

The officer at U of T decided that additional changes must be made

One idea: it would be great to have a City Director on the executive to focus on Toronto-specific happenings like motions at city counsel

Stuart has looked over the changes and has no issues

Item-by-item review of amendments
* Vote on amended constitution
* Six in favour, one abstention

Milan will send it on to U of T - hopefully for approval


2) Pathways to Transformation: Moving Forward on Decarbonization

Workshop was interesting, but highlighted lack of agreement within the academic community on how to move forward
* Which are of government to target / whether to focus on awareness-raising / the benefits of efficiency improvements

More info - including a short paper Milan wrote encouraging divestment - at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/Q8gRvqmEX-g/wB-oyKqAj48J

3) Presidents' Day trip to Washington D.C.

Who is thinking about going
* Miriam, Tamara, maybe Mie
* Also, Stuart and a friend of Miriam's

More info: http://act.350.org/signup/presidentsday

Transport
* Renting a car may be the easiest option
* Stuart sent out an email to members with more information

Accommodation
* There may be space in a house with people Miriam knows
* Miriam will get the final details and send them
* Hostels are filling up, so people should book ASAP

Plan would be to drive down on Friday and return on Monday


4) Climate Action Summit - Jan. 19th

Saturday, January 19, 2:00 - 4:00 pm, Metro Hall, Room 304.

55 John Street (South-east corner of King and John, two blocks east of Spadina)

Everyone is encouraged to go - good opportunity to meet other Toronto people working on climate

Milan will bring divestment petitions to sign


5)  OISE event - Jan. 22nd

OISE EcoFair: Tuesday 11:00am to 2:00pm
* People are meant to show up between 10:00am and 11:00am for setup
* Ben is free for only part of it
* We have a booth lined up
* Miriam and Tamara can both attend part - Miriam after 1pm
* Stuart also plans to attend - ideally, for first hour
* Tamara could also cover that -

If people planning to volunteer don't have 350.org t-shirts, they should get in touch with Milan and pick one up at Massey College

What materials should we have there?
* Copies of our divestment petition

It would be good to eventually have a banner or something for these events
* Neal can cook up a file to print as a banner
* Neal will look into how much it would cost to have printed on canvas, plastic, or something of the sort
* When Miriam looked into it before, it was about $150

We can tell people about Tuesday meetings, websites, campaigns, etc


6) Rising Tide day of action on Line 9 - Jan. 26th

Stuart received an email from Sonia Grant asking if we endorse their event
* "350.org and environmental justice groups in the States have called for a day of cross-border action against Eastern tar sands pipelines.  You may have heard that Rising Tide Toronto was planning a "No Line 9" rally in the Yonge and Finch area.  However, due to capacity issues and a large labour rally on the same day, we are instead focusing efforts on mobilizing a "No Line 9" block at the OFL Rally for Rights and Democracy (1pm, Allan Gardens, https://www.facebook.com/events/489963847693178/).  If your organization is interested in supporting a No Line 9 and Indigenous Rights block at the OFL rally, please let us know and we'll list your group as an endorser on our Facebook event page (coming soon).  Please also let us know of other groups that we should do outreach to.  We will also be hosting a teach-in following the rally to train and mobilize people to canvass against Line 9.  More information on that to come.  Thank you in advance for your support."

1:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
* Rally at Allan Gardens in Toronto (Jarvis & Carleton), followed by march to the Ontario Liberal Convention at Maple Leaf Gardens

Seems in keeping with our Line 9 campaign
* Milan moves that we endorse
* Neal seconds
* Approved unanimously

Milan will let Sonia know and CC Stuart


7) Environmental Defence event at City Hall - Jan. 26

Ian Carey contacted Milan

Starts at 10:30am

Sabrina Bowman contacted Monica
* Big pipeline being designed and built by OCAD students
* Kalamazoo photos
* Photos of exposed Line 9 pipeline
* Demonstration to focus on Enbridge

Tamara and Monica likely to attend this event


8) Action at Yonge and Hendon- Jan. 26

Starts at 1pm.

Gerry invited a Toronto 350 person to speak at this event
* Would anyone like to speak at this? Stuart?
* What sort of contribution are they looking for?
* Monica will look into it further

Environmental Defence people are going, after their event and have offered rides to a few of us from 350 who wants to attend both.

Non-violent demonstration at 1pm
* Goal: inform residents about the dangers of Line 9
* Encourage city council to pass a resolution banning the transport of diluted bitumen (dilbit) through Toronto

Generally speaking, it would be good if people went to any/all of these

Multiplicity of events could be confusing, though could potentially contribute to media coverage

Up-to-date information is at: www.stopline9-toronto.ca

Invited Speakers: John Filion (Councillor, Ward 23), David Shiner (Councillor, Ward 24), 350.org, (others TBA)

"Stop Line 9"
"No Tar Sands in Toronto"
"No DilBit in My Backyard"
"Enbridge – 1%"


9) Proposal to bring out Bill McKibben

Monica got a phone call from Roger Martin - who found us through the 350 local page
* He is on the board of directors of Comart - a private charitable foundation, is interested in trying to bring McKibben to the University of Toronto
* Also knows people involved in the U of T administration
* They would be willing to provide resources for an event like this

We are definitely interested
* Monica will try to get more information
* Monica will contact Justin at 350.org to ask about how this might be arranged
* Perhaps McKibben will come out for some other event (like a writers' festival and can speak at U of T as well)
* Wouldn't need to be McKibben, potentially Naomi Klein or someone else

Roger would like to eventually attend one of our Tuesday meetings
* He has been added to the mem...@toronto350.org mailing list


10) Divestment

We discussed a timeline during last week's meeting: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/l6IPl8B_DYAJ

Some tasks we should definitely complete, courtesy of Stuart:
* Ask Atwood + Klein + McKibben to tweet out petition
* Make contacts with the investors / Bullfrog
* Plan a few more in-person signature collection events (such as at OISE next week)
* Finalize the PowerPoint
* Work on how the petition will be presented, along with what we'll say when we do

Regarding the presentation of the petition, some ideas
* Emphasize health impacts of climate change, and statements made by medical organizations - given that President David Naylor is a doctor
* Attach a letter to the original handwritten pages, making our case
* Note prominent endorsements

This is a very busy time for Milan, and he would appreciate if anyone could help with further fleshing out the PowerPoint presentation where we make the case for divestment.

Next week, Ben is having a telephone meeting with Investeco
* Happening next Friday
* Purpose: get their perspective on the divestment campaign, potentially on non-fossil investments
* Has some knowledge about a previous divestment campaign at U of T
* How to encourage the university to sell investments that comprise a large part of their portfolio - practical case / timeline for divestment
* Perhaps have them look over the arguments in the memo Milan wrote for the recent decarbonization workshop
* In particular: how best to make the case about divestment as a risk-management option


11) Campaign planning workshop

Half day? Full day?
* Half day may be more accessible
* Maybe 1-5 on a Saturday, or on a Friday evening

Monica will send out another Doodle with half-day blocks


12) Discussion on strategy and coordination on Line 9 - January 17th

Happening at OISE
* Thursday at 7pm
* Room 5260

"We will meet Thurs., Jan 17th, from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. We hope to have organizations working on Line 9 in Toronto share their visions and strategies so that we can best coordinate all of our efforts.

The meeting will be facilitated by the organizing committee for Nov. 17th. We hope this will be the first of many meetings in the city on Line 9, until we have defeated the reversal proposal.

If there are any organizations you feel should be included in the conversation, please email Boliviaclimatejustice@gmail.com"

13) Event at McMaster on the 31st

Corporatization of universities

Looking for potential speakers
* The Canadian Federation of Students, Ontario could help with transportation expenses

Tamara will be getting more information from one of the organizers


14) Next meeting

Normal time, probably in Robarts

Monica will chair it

Milan will book a room and send around the information

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

22 January 2013

Present: Neal, Stuart, Monica, Tamara, Mie, Milan

Chairperson: Monica

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Debrief on Comart Foundation meeting, Toronto Climate Summit, and OISE EcoFair

* Toronto 350.org banner

* Trip to Washington D.C. for February 17th

* January 26th events

* Possible McMaster event on January 31st

* Campaign planning workshop

* Fundraising

* Divestment

* Next meeting

1) Debrief on Comart Foundation meeting, Toronto Climate Summit, and OISE EcoFair

Notes on Comart meeting: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/CLjjHrYwMRA/U1mWURzCSNwJ

Regarding plans to bring in a big speaker, we need to find a reliable contact at the 350 mothership

* Monica tried contacting Justin, but hasn't heard back

Milan is planning to meet with Peter Martin, the Comart board member who is also a Massey College Senior Fellow

* Professor and Acting Director of the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics

There may be three different people with the family name 'Martin' involved

* Roger Martin - who initially approached Tamara

* Peter Martin - Senior Fellow at Massey College

* [UNKNOWN FIRST NAME] Martin - physicist who supports carbon pricing

Notes on Climate Action Summit: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/CLjjHrYwMRA/Hmq0EQxHoLcJ

Three 'asks'

* Among them, carbon pricing - lobbying

* Should 350 expand into lobbying MPs / MPPs / city counsellors?

* Are we planning to do anything in the expected provincial election?

Would we be lobbying principally about Line 9?

* We could also lobby on carbon pricing

Developing relationships with counsellors

We could talk to Peter Tabuns again

We do already have two campaigns, and other organizations are already working on lobbying

* An alternative would be to focus on supporting other groups

* A big part of what the Citizens Climate Lobby does is work on building relationships with elected officials - focused on becoming a trusted source of information, and encouraging support for fee-and-dividend carbon pricing

OISE EcoFair

45 signatures collected from U of T people

* A few more on the non-student petition

* Using the new petition sheets

The U of T Sustainability Office is apparently doing some thinking about divestment as well

* "Afraid of looking stupid if they don't move forward on it"

2) Toronto 350.org banner

Neal has looked into some Toronto printing companies

* 4" by 2" banner likely to cost around $100

* About $6-10 per square foot, with a ready-to-print file

* Possible to join in on a bulk order, maybe with referral cards too

Weatherproof vinyl

Neal should know by next Tuesday - firm estimate on a couple of different sizes

3) Trip to Washington D.C. for February 17th

Cheryl MacNamara doesn't know of anyone from CCL who is going

Currently planning to go: Stuart, Miriam, Jess, Jo, Tamara

* Maybe going: Mie, Milan

Transport plan at this stage is to drive

* One car per five participants

* Likely to be two cars, or perhaps one van

Estimated cost: $100 - $250 for the weekend

* About $100 / person for transport

Accommodation

* Miriam is looking into free places in co-op housing

* Otherwise, likely to be about $120 / person for three nights

People should sign up to go by this weekend

* There is a bursary for one person who cannot otherwise afford to go

4) January 26th events

Environmental Defence event in the morning

* City Hall - 10:30am - 1:00pm

* Tamara, Monica planning to attend

They would appreciate if people could go at 10am to help set up

Rally at Yonge and Finch (specifically anti-Line 9)

* Begins at 1pm

* Several people from the city hall event are heading up

* Stuart will be speaking (it would be good if someone can get a video)

* We included the event in our recent newsletter

Ontario Federation of Labour rally (anti-Line 9  block within a larger rally)

* Carlton and Jarvis

* Also at 1pm

* Rising Tide is associated with this event

5) Possible McMaster event on January 31st

Tamara got emailed and told she would get more information, but hasn't received it yet

6) Campaign planning workshop

People have submitted information to the Doodle

* Friday February 8th in the evening seems to work for most people

* Likely to be 6 - 10pm

Venue?

* Could be at Stuart's

Monica will send out another email, asking people to indicate when they are free

7)  Fundraising

Some thinking ongoing on this

House party idea

* Monica's friend Fred is running it by his roommates

8) Divestment

Stuart got about 50 more petition signatures at two Idle No More events

Monica contacted all the U of T student groups listed as 'environmental'

* Also, the Graduate Student Union

* Still waiting to hear back from Science for Peace

* Has a spreadsheet describing who she has approached

* Offer to let them brand petition pages with their own logo

Possible alumni

* People can go through this list for people they know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Toronto_people

* Should they just sign the online petition?

* It would be great if they would more prominently endorse it: give us permission to list them more prominently as a supporter, ask them to share via Facebook and Twitter

* We could list some major supporters right on the petition website

* They could also sign the cover letter to the U of T president

We should start drafting the cover letter to accompany the petition

* Milan will start with a preliminary draft for next week

Mie is working on filling out the PowerPoint deck

* It would be good to have a solid draft before the Campaign Planning Workshop on the 8th

9) Next meeting

Normal time, probably in Robarts

* Milan will book a room and send an email

Mie will chair

[pres...@toronto350.org]

We must do right by future generations!

[Mie]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

29 January 2013

Present: Miriam, Monica, Mie, Milan

Chairperson: Mie

Note-taker: Mie

 

 

Agenda

* Wrap-up of 26 Jan Line 9 events

* Responsible investing committee - 30 JAN 2013

* Ongoing constitution headaches

* Trip to Washington D.C. for February 17th

* Liaison with mothership

* Divestment generally

* U of T radio show

* Campaign planning workshop - 8 February

* Next meeting

 

 

1) Wrap-up of 26 Jan Line 9 events

 

Photos already online, along with a video of Stuart speaking

* Photos: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sindark/sets/72157632615925623/

* Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RppgujZiok

* We can continue to share these via social media

 

 

2) Responsible investing committee - 30 JAN 2013

 

Responsible Investing Committee Information Session

* This Wednesday evening, the 30th of January at 6:00PM

* The location of the information session is the Board Room at Hart House.

*Milan and Mie will attend.

*We will listen and see what the group is about and report back next week.

 

3) Ongoing constitution headaches

*Milan will keep working on it and report back.

 

4) Trip to Washington D.C. for February 17th

*There is a training on Saturday for people who want to volunteer on Sunday – Stuart will send an email with the link so people can sign up independently.

*7-9 people are planning on going.

*We have one car through auto-share and need to either rent a second car or have someone else sign up for auto-share or Zip Car. 

*Stuart will drive one car and we’ll need one other driver.

*Mie will see if she can find some more housing spots.

*Mie will confirm housing for 3-6 people with her friend.

*Miriam will look into couch-surfing options – two spots for 2-3 people.

 

5) Liaison with mothership

 

New primary contact (via Janina Klimas): Cameron Fenton

*They will be posting resources like PowerPoint presentations

*Mie will be the official point person for contact with the Mothership in her capacity as International Coordinator

*If people want to communicate with the Mothership they will first check in with Mie

*Mie will charm Cameron Fenton and appropriate paraphernalia

 

6) Divestment generally

 

Partial draft of letter to David Naylor

*Milan sent it around to the Exec Board

*Monica will add health consequences of climate change to the letter

 

SRI Policy

*Mie found UofT’s 1978 SRI Policy – posted to planning forum along with a history of SRI

*The policy specifies the requirements for getting the University to change its investment portfolio

*We should focus on writing a brief that makes the case for Shell meeting the criterion of “social injury”

 

Tufts Presentation

*Mie got a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and proposal that Tufts University’s 350.org group used to present divestment to the Tufts Administration

*Dan Jubelirer (President) is willing to speak with us on the phone

 

Rally for Climate Justice on Friday February 1, 11 AM -1 PM @ Convocation Hall

*We should go and get signatures and talk to University of Toronto Environmental Action people

*Tamara will go from 11-12

*Miriam will be there from 12

 

Support from other groups

*Monica has heard from:

Ontario Public Research Interest Group

Victoria College Sustainability Commission

UT Missisauga Student Council President

Friends of Wisdom

Science for Peace

UN Global Contact

*Milan will think about who we would seek endorsement from at Massey College

 

Contacting Alums

*Monica will draft template for next week

*Monica will look for a list of big donors

 

Petitions in classrooms

*We will focus on getting petitions signed in classrooms during February

 

7) U of T radio show

*Next Friday, February 8 most likely from 11-12

*Monica is organizing and will confirm time

*Milan and Monica will go

 

8) Campaign planning workshop - 8 February

*The workshop will take place on Friday, February 8th, from 6-10 pm.

*Tamara will host @ Bathurst and Dupont

*Monica will organize a potluck via email

*RSVP to trea...@toronto350.org

 

9) Lapsed members

*Stuart talked to Jess and she is coming to DC

*Monica has not contacted them yet but will contact them this week

 

10) Petitions

*Stuart will ask the Mothership if there’s a problem with making a web page so that you can sign all the 200+ petitions for schools with divestment campaigns

 

11) Changing Meeting to Wednesdays, 7-8:30

*Stuart will send an email query

*We will aim for February 20 as the first Wednesday meeting

 

12) Next meeting

*Milan will book a room and send an email around

*Milan will chair

On Thursday, June 28, 2012 10:21:44 AM UTC-4, Milan wrote:

We had our first planning meeting last night - 27 June 2012.

We have another planned for Tuesday July 3rd, from 7:00pm until about 9:00pm. The aim of the meeting will be to discuss recruitment and possible actions the group could undertake.

If you want to attend, please contact milan.i...@gmail.com

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

5 February 2013

Present: Amil, Mie, Amelia Rose, Tamara, Jessica, Monica, Yasmin, Neal, Stuart, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Science for Peace

* Washington D.C. trip - 15FEB to 18FEB

* Campaign Planning Workshop - 8FEB

* Divestment petition

* Divestment generally

* Responsible Investment Committee meeting - 30JAN

* Constitutional amendments

* Line 9 meeting

* Toronto Climate Action Network meeting - 9FEB, Saturday

* Changing meeting day of the week

* "Practicing Decolonial Love" -9FEB

* U of T radio interview - Friday 8 FEB

* Next meeting

Introductions

1) Science for Peace

Amil is with this group

* Largely composed of retired profs and other academics

* Started a student arm last year

Recently started to work on climate change - more generally concerned with militarism and other social justice issues

Working on establishing a climate justice research group

2) Washington D.C. trip - 15FEB to 18FEB

Planning forum thread: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/toronto-350/kstBWNxd8Tw

Transport

* Friday departure time

* Most people are OK with noon, latest seems to be 2pm (could take the bus)

* Stuart is looking into renting a 6-7 seat car

* Vehicles (second car lined up, probably)

* At this stage, the plan is to rent 1-2 cars

Accommodation

* Miriam found a place for six people (with cats) near a subway stop

* Mie's friend can take 3-6

3) Campaign Planning Workshop - 8FEB

Happening at Tamara's - 1047 Bathurst St., just south of Dupont

* 6-10pm

* Potluck, so please bring food and drink

* Remember to ring the upper bell

Topics: Tools for Change campaign planning presentation (general recommendations and strategies for long-term campaigns)

* Materials at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/j7_uI_xGtMU/ZuLwJU7bq_IJ

* Applying these tools to divestment and Line 9

Goals: Do some more strategic thinking on divestment and our other campaigns

* Discuss these topics in a different forum from our planning meetings

Tools for Change has an ongoing series of workshops: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/j7_uI_xGtMU/5U2EDoKTX0wJ

4) Divestment petition

Stuart reports that a lot of spam signatures have been added

He has been communicating with the people running the site about how to address that

Stuart has been exporting the petitions weekly, so we will have a reasonably good copy if someone absolutely bombards the site with spam

One possibility might be to introduce a CAPTCHA

We are sending petition files to Friends of Wisdom (another U of T group)

* Will from the Victoria College Sustainability Commission also has some copies

* We should forward it to Science for Peace and University of Toronto Environmental Action

We have email addresses from recent petition signatures to add to MailChimp

* Any volunteers?

* Tamara will do the sheets now in hand

5) Divestment generally

Useful article: Climate action could halve energy firms' worth - bank - http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2013/02/energy-reserve-economics

* Report prepared by HSBC Global Research

Sterling College, a small school up in Vermont, committed to divestment today. That's number 3 in the US

News articles about the announcement: 

* http://7d.blogs.com/offmessage/2013/02/sterling-college-pledges-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels.html

* http://blogs.burlingtonfreepress.com/politics/2013/02/05/sterling-college-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels/

* http://www.boston.com/news/education/2013/02/05/tiny-college-divest-fossil-fuel-stocks/DvWULNfrGXUGSlJujkjIWP/story.html

Sterling's own announcement: 

* http://www.sterlingcollege.edu/divestment.html

Good group to follow for information on the overall divestment campaign: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/students-divest

City of Seattle is also divesting with its two chief pension funds: http://www.350.org/en/node/28949

U of T divestment policy from 1978 has been updated (2008)

* Preamble added about the university's core academic values of freedoms of speech

* Is climate change "still the subject of academic debate"?

* When members of the university community bring a petition to the President, the President will create an ad hoc committee of individuals to consider the claims being made

Updated policy: http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/Issues_With_Respect_to_University_Divestment.htm

Monica working on a template for alumni

* Tufts has an open letter to alumni and an alumni petition

* Offers different levels of engagement: sign petition, make comment public, etc

* http://tuftsdivestalumni.blogspot.ca/

* We can create something similar to send to alumni

* Would it be excessively time consuming to set up a site of our own like this?

6) Responsible Investment Committee meeting - 30JAN

Documents from this meeting are attached to the minutes

Strategy is to turn the university into a progressive shareholder

* Not to do divestment

* See this as just selling your shares to a less responsible investor

RIC:

* Main project is encouraging the university to adopt UN’s principles for responsible investment

* General strategy seems consistent but there doesn’t seem to be much hope for encouraging Shell and Exxon to be more socially responsible.  Divestment seems to be the most viable strategy for climate change.

* We might want to support their efforts.  Their approach might be compatible with ours, especially given that there are some companies that do both renewable energy and fossil fuels.

They have seen past divestment campaigns to be a very hard sell, with few successes

* University wants to see "total consensus that it meets the standards for social injury"

* Climate change is one of the most researched problems ever - it is probably very fair to say that there is no longer uncertainty that climate change is happening, caused by people, and harmful

We need to make special consideration of pension issues

They are willing to answer other questions of ours in the future

Responsible Investor Interview: 350.org’s Bill McKibben on why engagement isn’t an option: http://gofossilfree.org/qa-with-bill-mckibben-on-corporate-engagement/

7) Constitutional amendments

There is yet another demand from the clubs officer at U of T, though he is finally happy with our text on termly general meetings

Milan moves that amended text be adopted

* Seconded by Tamara

* 8 in favour

* 1 abstention

* None opposed

Updated text will be sent to U of T for approval

Once we finally have an approved constitution, we can amend the shadow constitution to align with its contents

We could get U of T office space by attending a bunch of ULife events: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/rJghAbURaGg/Y6XjNEfyznoJ

8) Line 9 meeting

Forthcoming public open house (National Energy Board)

* Toronto, ON 

* 6:00-9:00pm, 20 February 2013 (Wednesday)

* Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, 33 Carlson Court

Yasmin, Neal, and Milan are planning to go

To request information about the hearing process or the Participant Funding Program, please contact Michael Benson using the toll-free number at 1-800-899-1265, extension 1992.

Please see: http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/nwsrls/2013/nwsrls03-eng.html

There is also a No Line 9 strategy meeting happening next Wednesday, February 13th

* Stuart and Tamara are planning to attend

Canvassing of the neighbourhood is also being planned

* Good for 350.org people to participate

* Training workshop has already happened

They are looking for final approval of the reversal, volume, and changed tariff by 2014

* Yasmin will get more information on this

Encouraging involvement by provincial government

* Possible means for encouraging the provincial government to conduct their own environmental assessment

* Environmental Defence may have more information on this

* A petition about this was circulating at the 26JAN event

9) Toronto Climate Action Network meeting - 9FEB, Saturday

2:00-4:00 pm

* Metro Hall, Room 303

Agenda:

- presentation on carbon pricing and discussion

- report from transitional team

- opportunity to set up working groups

Also note

- Our website (tcan.ca) and calendar are up and running. If you have an event you’d like to add to the calendar, submit it to us at cale...@tcan.ca.

- The minutes of our Jan. 19th meeting are on the website.

Since room space is limited, please RSVP to mee...@tcan.ca

We have asked them to add our meetings to their calendar, but have not yet heard back

* Stuart will set up a Toronto 350 - specific calendar

* The TCAN site is using Drupal, and Stuart knows how to make our calendar feed directly into theirs

10) Changing meeting day of the week

There has been some consideration of changing to a different night of the week

Miriam can only come Wednesdays after 7:30

Stuart would prefer Wednesdays

Preferred days for those currently present:

* Tuesday: 0 

* Wednesday: 2

* Indifferent: 7 

Momentum prevails, we will stick to Tuesday for now

11) "Practicing Decolonial Love" -9FEB, Saturday

Presented by the U of T Equity Studies Student Union

Two discussion panels

10:30am - 5:00pm

* William Doo auditorium

* 45 Willcocks Street

uoft...@gmail.com

12) U of T radio interview - Friday 8FEB

11am

* Show: "The Green Majority"

* http://www.ciut.fm/shows/spoken-word/the-green-majority/

* Host: Daryn Caister

Monica cannot go

* Milan and Stuart will go

* There is a pre-discussion on Thursday

We should try and get a recording

We should promote it via social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc)

13) Next meeting

Next Tuesday, February 12th

* 7-9pm

Milan will book a room and send around the information

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Amended constitution

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Policy on Social and Political Issues With Respect to University Divestment

[pres...@toronto350.org]

For some reason, Google Groups refuses to let me post the documents from the Responsible Investment Committee meeting (it deletes any post that includes them)

They are available at:

http://toronto350.org/files/RIC-FEB2013.zip

[Milan]

Perhaps this is what happens when you make fun of eastern Poland...

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

12 February 2013

Present: Mie, Stuart, Neal, Monica, Amil, Miriam, Jessica, Tamara, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda

* Debrief on campaign planning workshop

* Green Majority radio broadcast

* Line 9 meeting - 13FEB

* Toronto CAN calendar

* Termly general meeting

* Washington D.C. trip - 15FEB - 18FEB

* Divestment campaign generally

* Subgroup work on divestment: brief group and outreach group

* Next meeting

1) Donation

Milan's extended family has made another donation - $100

* He will pass it on to Monica as soon as he can cash the cheque

2) Debrief on campaign planning workshop

Neal declares it a success

How to make divestment easier than keeping investments:

* Provide alternatives (do we want to do this?)

* Publicity

* Go for positive at first (promises of, and highlight that divesting is positive—Maine got higher admissions and higher alum donations)

* Resort to negative if we get rejected

Alum pressure (largely donations, either being withheld or promised)

Show how their own investment ethics are currently being violated (publicity)

Petition and student support

Faculty support, esp in specific ares, and esp for younger faculty (do you want your pension to mean something?)

Highlight grim predictions from (esp) economic and energy reports

Show the uncertainty of fossil-fuel investments (can you really jump out of the way of the bulldozer at the last second, given market instability)

... and research other ways, esp from other divestment campaigns

3) Green Majority radio broadcast

Available at: 

* http://www.radio4all.net/files/thegreen...@gmail.com/4636-2-TGM_Milan_Ilnyckyj_020813.mp3

* http://toronto350.org/files/Green_Majority.CIUT.Radio.020813.mp3

4) Line 9 meeting - 13FEB

Follow-up to a meeting from a month ago

* Tamara, Yasmin, and Stuart were at this meeting

* Happening at 7pm at OISE

About 15 different groups will be represented

Documents on Line 9: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/zXvT_vKQGJo/Xlf4o4-2ncYJ

* Includes the National Transportation Safety Board's scathing final accident report on the Kalamazoo Line 6b spill

* Report includes the term 'Keystone Cops'

* The Line 9 pipeline has basically the same construction as this pipe

5) Toronto CAN calendar

Stuart has set up two calendars for Toronto 350:

* https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=opera...@toronto350.org&ctz=America/Toronto

* https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=toronto350.org_7gq3h...@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Toronto

* Anyone with an @toronto350.org can add things to the calendars, and they can be viewed publicly

They have opted not to allow automatic feed-in into their calendar

* We will have to ask them to put things on manually

* Our weekly meetings are already listed on there in perpetuity (should include contact information, especially given that our meetings move around)

Do we want our own 'events' page on Toronto350.org, based on these calendars?

* Will we keep updating it? Particularly, if it is only being used for our site?

* Perhaps if the Toronto CAN calendar proves problematic? We will see how actively other groups feed them information

Is this an alternative to our bi-weekly mailing list? A complement to it?

We could have someone update the calendar after each weekly meeting

* Falls pretty clearly under the director of communications' responsibilities in the constitution

6) Termly general meeting (TGM)

Constitutional requirements:

* Once each academic semester, soon after the semester begins, a termly general meeting (TGM) shall be held. At this meeting, elections shall be held for all existing executive positions. The TGM for the fall session shall be held in September; the winter session TGM shall be held in January; and the summer session TGM shall be held in May.

* Minutes shall be kept of all termly general meetings, recording topics of discussion, decisions, and the results of votes. These minutes shall be made available to the club membership electronically, for instance via email or through the club website.

* Notice of the time and location of the termly general meeting shall be provided at least 14 days before the appointed time. Notice shall be provided to the club membership electronically, for instance via email or through the club website.

Milan moves that the TGM be held two weeks from now, on February 26th

* Neal seconds

* Approved unanimously

Who can vote?

Current constitutional text:

* "Anyone who has attended two or more planning meetings shall be considered a member and shall be entitled to vote at each termly general meeting (TGM)."

Can someone compile a list of eligible voters?

* Everyone from the previous general meeting, plus those who have attended enough meetings since

* Neal has kindly agreed to compile an updated list

The shadow constitution needs to be updated

* Milan will update for next week's meeting

* We can vote on it then

7) Washington D.C. trip - 15FEB - 18FEB

Assuming Yasmin comes, 10 of us will be going

When are the two vehicles leaving on Friday?

Three people are going out to Hamilton to meet Gurpreet (one of our drivers)

* They are going by bus from Union Station

* They are aiming to get to Hamilton around 3pm

7 people will be going in a minivan, leaving from Toronto

* The two vehicles will meet in Hamilton

The U of T group will be meeting in the parking lot north of Soldiers' Tower and Hart House at U of T

* We are meeting at 2pm

On this timeline, we will get to Washington very late - perhaps after 3am

* Google Maps estimates the drive from Hamilton to Washington as 8.5 hours

* That assumes smooth passage across the border

* Crossing on the Friday of a long weekend, around 5pm

* We could be delayed, and one or more people could even possibly be turned back

* We will probably also want to make at least one food stop

Accommodations

* Six of us are staying with one woman, who is also hosting others related to the event

* Bedding - several people have air mattresses they could bring

* Four people are likely to end up on the floor

Where are we leaving the vehicles?

* We should ask if the hosts can accommodate vehicles

* Probably best for everyone to head into the middle of town by transit

Make sure you bring

* Your passport (check that it is valid and current)

* Food for the journey

* A sleeping bag

* Adequate clothes to be out in freezing weather all day

A guy from southwestern Ontario (Kai) wants to meet up with us in Washington and come back with us

* Also would like us to find accommodation for him if possible

Did we hear anything from the 350 mothership about events they are hosting?

* "Women of the Land Speak" event at Busboys and Poets on Saturday, 7-10pm

Stuart has paint, market pens, cardboard, etc for making signs

8) Divestment campaign generally

Amil has a list of donors to U of T

* 3200 donors - 'Boundless'

* Only lists the names and how much was donated

* Some are very prominent

This will go onto the planning forum

9) Subgroup work on divestment: brief group and outreach group

Broke out into outreach and brief groups

Brief group

* Timeline agreed at Campaign Planning Workshop

* 12FEB - assign brief sections

* 19FEB - outlines for section contents

* 21FEB - provide feedback to other brief group members

* 26FEB - first full draft

* 28FEB - review and comments on first draft

* 5MAR - second full draft

* 7MAR - feedback on second draft

* 10MAR - final text to Neal

* 12MAR - first draft of completed brief

Assignment of the sections in Neal's draft outline:

* Milan will do section 2

* Mie will do section 3, in collaboration with Tamara

* Neal will do section 4

* Milan will do section 5

* Monica will do section 6

Everyone, please look over the McGill brief for next week's meeting, if only to identify problems we could avoid

Neal will cross-reference this list with the list of U of T investments: TOP 200 FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES - http://gofossilfree.org/companies/

Use APA citations?

* In-text citations to hyperlink to end notes

10) Next meeting

To be held on the 19th, after we get back from Washington

In the Board Room at Hart House

Neal to chair

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

19 February 2013

Present: Yasmin, Monica, Stuart, Neal, Milan

Chair: Neal

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda

* Showing of "Island Nation"

* Media messaging

* Local group contact

* Debrief on Washington trip

* Fossil "Fools" Day of Action

* Line 9 NEB hearing order and generally

* Weather Network interview

* Showing of "Island Nation"

* Next meeting - termly general meeting

* Divestment campaign generally

* Shadow constitution

* Subgroup work on divestment: brief group and outreach group

1) Showing of "The Island President"

Information posted on Facebook by Jess

* http://blogs.bard.edu/theislandpresident/general-information/

Sponsored by The C2C Fellows Network and the The Bard Center for Environmental Policy

"After bringing democracy to his country, President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the lowest-lying country in the world, takes up the fight to keep his homeland from disappearing under the sea."

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1990352/

Being screened on Wednesday April 17th

This might be something we could apply to get funding from U of T for

* Student Initiative Fund

Could be double-billed with Chasing Ice: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1579361/

Stuart will look into getting further information, or will delegate to Jess

2) Media messaging

Yasmin did a workshop with Tools for Change on media campaign strategies

* Involved exercises like being drilled by a friend

* Staying focused on your key message and points

We could host our own mini-workshop on this

* The campaign planning workshop was very productive and a big success

* We could try to have similar events every few months

* This would be a good follow-up

We have started getting semi-regular press requests

Yasmin will try to get the PowerPoint from the event

We could use another Doodle to solicit for possible dates

3) Local group contact

Several group leaders were contacted by 'Todd D.' regarding thorium and molten salt reactors

* So far, Toronto 350.org hasn't taken a stance on nuclear power

* Divisive issue among environmentalist in general

* No need to take a stance at this point

4) Debrief on Washington trip

It was an amazing event

* Based on overhead photography, the organizers think over 50,000 people participated

* The Forward on Climate page says "nearly 50,000"

* They are using the figure 40,000 + for media reports

There was an especially bad article in the Globe and Mail which was focused on the claim that fewer people than expected attended the protest

* Letter to the Editor drafted and sent

Many thanks to all the organizers and drivers

* Special thanks to Stuart for putting so much of the trip together

We should put out a press release

* Useful text for inclusion: http://act.350.org/signup/presidentsday

* Also: http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=forwardonclimate

* Yasmin will draft it and send it around to the executive for review

Also, we should keep an eye on our email addresses for interview requests and other requests for information

Photos are online at: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sindark/sets/72157632797381801/

* Please share them via social media

Interesting idea from DeSmogBlog: http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/02/18/keystone-principle

* "The Keystone Principle"

* "We must cease making large, long-term capital investments in new fossil fuel infrastructure that “locks in” dangerous emission levels for many decades."

Risks associated with building a petrostate economy

* Destructive influence in politics, and on non-fossil industries

Stuart is tallying up how much participants owe for car rental, gas, etc

* He will send around the information early next week

Main couch-surfing host says we are welcome back any time

* Hosted eight people this time

5) Fossil "Fools" Day of Action

Suggestion from Cameron Fenton (with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition and 350.org)

* The CYCC used to coordinate something called Fossil Fools Day in Canada, it was a day of action across the country that targeted fossil fuel companies and projects with creative action.

* With the growing divestment campaign, we wanted to float the idea of bringing it back this year.

* April 1st is on a Monday, and the timeline would give a date for a lot of divestment campaigns to use this as a date for a launch action, and for existing campaigns to use this as a moment when we may be able to garner more media attention as it connects to other actions across the country.

* He wants interested people to fill in a Doodle at: http://www.doodle.com/m8ef4rn4uwgns5t5

Last year: http://www.wearepowershift.org/fossilfools

What could we do that would be funny and that would drive our divestment campaign?

* Planning meeting likely to happen late next week

* People can bring ideas to next week's 350 meeting

CYCC is changing

* "The CYCC is undergoing some big changes right now. We have left charitable status and are working on launching Fossil Free Canada, a new national divestment campaign."

* They set up: http://gofossilfree.ca/

* Divestment guide at: http://gofossilfree.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CYCC_FossilFreeBooklet_LO3-1.pdf

We could also consider doing something for Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May (May 12th)

6) Line 9 NEB hearing order and generally

The Hearing Order from the National Energy Board has just been released (https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/fetch_e.asp?filingid=A50521). 

What does that mean? Well, we now know several important dates, though the actual hearing (or hearings) location(s) has yet to be established.  We will send out more info on all of this as it comes but in the meantime, here are some dates to take notice of:

* The Board may hold additional information sessions throughout the hearing process if there is sufficient interest. These sessions are intended to assist people to better understand and participate in a Board hearing process, but are not a forum for discussing the merits or substance of the application. Persons interested in future sessions should contact the Process Advisor (paragraph 21).The deadline is 21 March 2013 for requesting an information session in April 2013 in relation to this hearing.

* Any person who wishes to suggest an amendment to the List of Issues must file their suggestion with the Board and serve a copy on Enbridge by noon, Calgary time, on 21 March 2013. You must include a clear explanation of the relevance of the suggestion to the hearing. Filings are only considered to meet the deadline when the intended party receives them by the deadline.

* You must apply for and be granted participation rights by the Board in order for your views to be considered in this hearing

* The deadline for the Application to Participate is 11 April 2013 - When completing your Application to Participate you must demonstrate that your interest in this proceeding, or the information or expertise you wish to contribute, is relevant to the List of Issues (attached as Appendix I) as revised if warranted.

* The deadline for filing a Letter of Comment is 9 July 2013.

* If Intervenors entitled to ask questions have any information requests for Enbridge on the evidence provided to-date in these proceedings, they must serve them on Enbridge, file a copy with the Board and serve a copy on all Intervenors by 14 May 2013.

* Enbridge must file its responses to the second round of information requests received by the deadline set out in paragraph 50 with the Board and serve a copy on all Intervenors by 25 June 2013.

* Intervenors who are permitted by the Board to provide evidence must file their written evidence with the Board and serve a copy on all parties by 9 July 2013.

* Enbridge may file any reply evidence with the Board and serve a copy on all Intervenors by 6 August 2013.

* Written final argument must be submitted to the Board by 20 August 2013

* Oral final argument will be conducted the week of 26-30 August 2013. Details regarding the oral final argument portion of the hearing (e.g., locations, timing, order of presentations) will be issued closer to this date

Should we suggest an amendment to the List of Issues?

* Would it make sense for Toronto350.org to file an Application to Participate?

* The Kalamazoo spill should be on the list

* Also, the recommendations of the Alberta Research Council on bitumen pipelines

Tomorrow night (Wednesday the 20th) there is an NEB info session on hearings

* Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, 33 Carlson Court

* 6pm to 9pm

* Stuart will be going and will take notes

* He should try to learn more about the List of Issues and Applications to Participate

West End Community Committee is planning an initial organizing meeting February 25th at 7pm

* 1014 Bloor Street West (at Ossington)

* If anyone could attend, that would be wonderful

The Toronto Region Conservation Authority is releasing their own report on Line 9 and how it would affect the city

* http://trca.on.ca/

In Washington, Stuart met someone from Friends of the Earth USA

* They are planning to review Canada in a number of different categories within the next year or so

7) Weather Network interview

Request sent to the general Toronto 350 GMail address

* (We should keep checking it)

May have been prompted by the campus radio interview, or perhaps by the Washington rally

Stuart and Monica gave the interview in Hart House

* Got very general questions beforehand

* Asked more specific questions during the interview

It would be useful to come up with key talking points for our campaigns

* This is something that could be done at a media messaging workshop

To be aired during Earth Action Week

They will provide us with a recording of the interview

They want materials to be sent

8) Next meeting - termly general meeting

The shadow constitution still needs to be updated

* Also, a room needs to be booked

* Milan will do both and send emails when done

There will be elections for executive positions

Neal has compiled a tentative list of who is eligible to vote

* He will share the file via a Google drive

Current voting qualification: "Anyone who has attended two or more planning meetings shall be considered a member and shall be entitled to vote at each termly general meeting (TGM)."

* Milan moves to retain this definition for future general meetings

* Stuart seconds

* Approved unanimously

"This definition of membership shall be re-evaluated prior to the second TGM, in January 2013. The constitution shall then be amended as required."

* Unanimous consent that we have re-evaluated the definition

* We can move to remove this clause during the TGM next week

9) Divestment campaign generally

Neal has cross-referenced the 350.org list of 200 fossil fuel companies with the lists of U of T investments

* This document is on the Google drive and attached to the minutes

Companies where the university has an investment under $1M still need to be listed

There is some risk of errors in the cross-indexing because the names of companies may not be written in exactly the same way

Fossil Fools Day of Action being organized by CYCC

* They may be a Canadian divestment resource in the future

10) Shadow constitution

Changes:

* Sections shifted into the main constitution removed

* Preamble added

* Section nullifying article 9 of the main constitution added

Milan moves that these changes be adopted

* Neal seconds

* Approved unanimously

11) Subgroup work on divestment: brief group and outreach group

Brief group:

* Mie and Tamara don't have draft sections yet, but will submit them soon

* Milan still needs to fill his out

* Everyone could benefit from a couple more days to work on this

We need resources to help make the financial case

* Specifically, information on alternative investments that would play a similar role in the portfolio to what fossil fuel stocks do now

Brief group members, GET YOUR DRAFT SECTIONS TO NEAL BY FRIDAY at the latest

* We should send one another feedback by Monday

* That way, we will have a first full draft for Tuesday

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org termly general meeting

26 February 2013

Present: Yasmin, Mie, Miriam, Amelia Rose, Tabitha, Stuart, Tamara, Monica, Neal

Chair: Stuart

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Assemble

* Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an

appointed person)

* Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such

as a coloured sticker

* Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting

* Election of president

* Election of treasurer

* Creation of elimination of executive positions

* Nomination and election of other executive members

* Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution (hopefully none)

* Financial statement from treasurer

* Upcoming events

* Toronto 350.org banner

* Strategic planning

Thanks to Stuart for doing so much to put the Washington D.C. trip together

1) Determine who is eligible to vote

Neal has composed a list of all those who have attended at least two meetings

Present and voting: all but Tabitha (who is at her first meeting)

Members entitled to vote given a token to indicate their status, such as a coloured sticker

2) Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting

Milan nominates Stuart for chairperson

* Monica seconds

* Approved unanimously

Mie nominates Monica for interim chairperson

* Stuart seconds

* Approved unanimously

3) Election of president

Yasmin nominates Milan

* Neal seconds

* Milan elected unanimously

4) Election of treasurer

Milan nominates Monica

* Neal seconds

Stuart nominates Mie, who declines the nomination

Monica elected unanimously

5) Creation of elimination of executive positions

Miriam moves to create a director of outreach position

* Visibility on campus, table at Sidney Smith periodically

* Collecting petition signatures

* Attending on-campus events

* Responsible for outreach-related events and welcoming new people to the group

To be added to the constitution:

"The director of outreach shall have primary responsibility for Toronto 350.org's visibility on campus at U of T. They shall undertake activities including staffing an information table, collecting petition signatures, attending on-campus events, and welcoming new people to the group."

Motion to create position approved unanimously

6) Nomination and election of other executive members

> Director of outreach

Miriam nominated and elected unanimously

> Director of communications

Miriam nominates Tamara

* Milan seconds

* Elected unanimously

> Creative director

Milan nominates Neal

* Miriam seconds

* Elected unanimously

> Media director

Mie nominates Yasmin

* Yasmin declines the nomination

Stuart nominates Monica

* Neal seconds

* Elected unanimously

> International coordinator

Neal nominates Mie

* Seconded by Tamara

* Elected unanimously

> Director of fundraising

Mie nominates Amelia Rose

* Neal seconds

Yasmin nominated

* Seconded by Miriam

Voting for Amelia Rose

* Five votes in favour

Voting for Yasmin

* Two votes in favour

One abstention

Amelia Rose duly elected director of fundraising

Note: Amelia Rose campaigned on raising more than $300

> Director of operations

Monica takes over as interim chairperson

Miriam nominates Stuart

* Tamara seconds

* Elected unanimously

Stuart resumes status as chairperson

Executive email addresses

* Those who are taking on executive positions should get the email password from the people who held the position before

* Milan will create an email for the director of outreach

7) Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution

> Housekeeping amendments

"and preparing a termly report on the financial health of the group for the termly

general meeting"

Various amendments made in track changes in MS Word

All housekeeping amendments approved unanimously

> Removal of passage on amending membership definition

"This definition of membership shall be re-evaluated prior to the second TGM, in January 2013. The constitution shall then be amended as required."

Approved unanimously

> The simple majority and 2/3 majority aspects of the constitution are a contradictory mess

Milan proposes that he revise the constitution in this regard, to be voted on at the next TGM

* Approved unanimously, except for an abstention from Yasmin

8) Financial statement from treasurer

The group has $300

In order to open a bank account, the treasurer needs to select a bank and fill out a simple form

Treasurer will choose a bank, ideally with no fees

9) Strategic planning

Previous general meeting - 9 October 2012

* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/UJSDELVL9q8J

* Stuart proposes that we focus on the divestment and Line 9 campaigns for the next 6 months

* Now about 2 months left

General sense that it has been going well to focus on these two campaigns

* These seem to mesh well with the current strategy of the broader 350 organization

General sense that we should stay with the same two campaigns until the next TGM in May

Fundraising

* House party idea - cleanup could be an issue, Monica is looking into it - between donations and drink sales potential funds raised could be significant - she will follow up further

* The people with the house know the process for licensing

* We should get an estimate on what the total costs going into it would be, and what revenues from past gatherings have been

Divestment brief

* Neal is coordinating it

* It is a lot of work, and additional volunteers would be much appreciated

* It would be great if we could track down alumni, faculty, etc that want to contribute

* Neal is formatting it in LaTeX, so people can just send him plain text (not formatted)

* Mie has a friend who could contribute a bit to the legal argument

Should we stick with a Shell-focused petition, or start one calling for divestment from all fossil fuels, starting with Shell?

* We can produce a new hard copy petition to use from now on

* We could explain the two petitions in the accompanying letter to the president

* Neal has produces a cross-indexed list of U of T's holdings versus the list of the 200 biggest fossil fuel companies produced by the 350 mothership

Neal will add the information for stocks where the university has less than a million dollars in holdings

Stuart will update the petition and bring it to the next meeting to review

On Line 9, there was a city council motion recently

* Motion adopted expressing the city's desire to be involved in the National Energy Board process

* The city is considering getting their own pipeline expert

* The city has been receiving petitions

* Letters get more attention, receive responses - they can be hand-delivered - do not need to be mailed

* Stuart could create an online system that generates letters

Members of the larger 'Stop Line 9' group went to the NEB info session

* A group in Montreal got some good video of challenging questions being asked of the board members there

Do we want to try to get an info session downtown, hosted by the NEB?

* Requires an application by March 21st

* Would require a show of support

* Would likely be better attended than the one out at the airport

Process describing how to do this is online

* Yasmin will look into it

* Stuart will email the larger Line 9 group to see what they are doing on this

If it happens, we should prepare difficult questions, film them, and get it on YouTube

* Neal has done research on the Kalamazoo spill and the resulting recommendations from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board

* This is a very highly regarded group, and they savaged Enbridge

* External corrosion issue could be good fodder for a difficult question

Neal can put together some good questions to put to the board, for next week

Also due for March 21st - adding things to the list of issues to be considered at the hearing

* We don't know what items are on the list already

* People wishing to add an issue to the list must show that they are 'directly affected'

* It's up to the NEB to determine who is 'directly affected'

* Stuart will try to track down this list

* Also, work on strategy on how to add issues to the list

Someone who lives right beside the pipeline route might have a good chance of getting themselves considered 'directly affected'

There are also places where community farming takes place on the hydro corridor

* Snap / Black Creek community

* There are also recreation trails and a community centre next to the corridor

* Also, waterways - does anyone legally fish in them, who could claim to be directly affected?

* Miriam will look into urban fishing

* http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_165640.html

Button-makers are about $200-250

* We can keep an eye on Craigslist, freecycle-type websites

We could think about making our own t-shirts

The divestment brief is a high priority

10) Upcoming events

Upcoming events from the planning forum should be added to the calendar

* We should also send out an email update soon - can include info on this TGM

* There is an 'Upcoming events for bi-weekly email' thread on the planning forum: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/toronto-350/kcjujWKMdtg

Showing 'The Island President'

* http://blogs.bard.edu/theislandpresident/

* There is a $125 fee

* Jess expressed interest in organizing it

* We could apply for funding from U of T: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/zKmJonVL92Y/DNY1Hfdv_7sJ

We have touched on the Maldives before: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/98399468@N00/8227908384/in/photostream/lightbox/

* Featuring Stuart as Santa

Tabitha suggests that a movie in the park during the summer could be another fundraising idea

This Thursday at 6pm, there is a discussion with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition

* Fossil Fools Day

* They are leading divestment organization in Canada for the 350 mothership

* By next Tuesday, we will get a report back about activities happening on April 1st

Mie is communicating with Hamilton 350

11) Toronto 350.org banner

Neal has contact info for the people who made the banners for Environmental Defence, which were good and reasonably priced

* He can follow up on it further

Should it say anything beyond 'Toronto 350.org' ?

* That would probably be the most flexible

"We're building a global movement to solve the climate crisis"

Neal will do some mock-ups

12) Next meeting

Next Tuesday, March 5th - 7pm

* In the Board Room at Hart House

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting minutes

5 MAR 2013

Present: Amil, Amelia Rose, Monica, Miriam, Kai, Mie, Stuart, Neal

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* University of Toronto Environmental Action conference - March 20

* CBC Books Open House Festival - May 4

* Snow art

* Fundraising

* Updated petition text

* Line 9 and the National Energy Board

* People directly affected by Line 9

* Chasing Ice screening - March 19

* Fourth Revolution film - re: solar energy

* Our Horizon exhibit - warning labels on gasoline pumps

* Fossil Fools Day

* Next meeting

* Split into divestment sub-groups

1) University of Toronto Environmental Action conference - March 20

Planning a conference during the U of T Environment Week - March 16 to 23

* Happening Wednesday March 20

* Either at Hart House or at the Earth Science Centre on Bancroft

They recently had a rally and sent an open letter to the provincial and federal governments, asking what their plans are for meeting their emission reduction targets

* No response received to date

Conference on how people can participate within democracy to produce change - exercising democratic rights to bring about change on climate policy

They are still working on hashing out the details

Would Toronto 350.org be interested in providing a panelist for the discussion?

* Yes

* Milan is willing if nobody else wants to

* Douglas MacDonald (sp?) at the Centre for the Environment may be directing the panel

* Matthew Hoffman and Steven Bernstein would also be good panelists

2) CBC Books Open House Festival - May 4

Via Mie and Elysia at McMaster - http://act.gofossilfree.org/act/mcmaster-university

* Something like the eastern field coordinator for CYCC - Canadian Youth Climate Coalition

GET UP! STAND UP!

* Join us for an extraordinary day that explores the importance of our democratic voice.

* Saturday, May 4, 2013

* 9:30am – 5:30pm

* Convocation Hall, 31 King’s College Circle

* Toronto, Ontario

Tickets are $30

http://www.openhousefestival.ca/

Margaret Atwood will be at the event

We might try having a table, or just going to ask people to endorse our divestment campaign

* Mie will look into whether getting a table would be possible

3) Snow art

https://twitter.com/Toronto350/status/308585456721879040

Done on Sunday by Stuart, Miriam, Monica, et al

There is a draft video - do we want to put it on our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/Toronto350org

Video is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ideYQ7X7c

Yes, we want to put it on the channel

* Also, send it to the GoFossilFree people who originally requested it

* They may incorporate it into their international video

University of Toronto - Divest from Fossil Fuels

4) Fundraising

It would be good if people would list expenses on the planning forum at: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/toronto-350/Ny82wkg9Vho/discussion

Alternatively, provide receipts to Monica

Even if you don't want to be reimbursed, it is useful for us to know how much things cost, for instance the total cost of the Washington trip

We could potentially have a table selling cakes and things in Sidney Smith Hall?

* Miriam has the necessary paperwork

* Could be done something like 11am - 2pm

* Miriam, Stuart, Mie, Amelia Rose, potentially interested in taking part

We can do fundraising and collection of petition signatures at the same time

* We could incentivize additional signatures with some sort of discount

Miriam will ask some existing sellers of baked goods whether they make any money from this

* Also, how much they charge

There are very specific requirements about what sort of food can be sold

* Pastry specifically excluded

5) Updated petition text

Stuart has produced new text for our petition to the University of Toronto, broadening the focus from Shell to all fossil fuel companies

* "We, the undersigned, as students and workers at the University of Toronto, call on the school to recognize the seriousness of climate change by selling its holdings in fossil fuel companies by 2020. To demonstrate good faith, we also call on the University of Toronto to divest from Shell by the end of 2013."

Do we want to say "To demonstrate good faith"?

* Perhaps not, implies that we would be quick to see the university as being in bad faith

Do we want to say "as students and workers at the University of Toronto"

* Alumni, donors, etc

Is 2020 OK? We could say 5 years? Or leave off the date?

* 2020 'seems far off'

* 'Within the next five years' may be better

Middlebury College is being asked to:

* Make a statement of principle now

* Stop investing new money in the area

* Spend five years winding down current holdings

See: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/phCc7EFdh3M/nLpIv_rbjN8J

Neal moves that we adopt these objectives, plus Shell by the end of the year

* Seconded by Miriam

* Motion carries

New text:

* We, the undersigned - as students, workers, and alumni at the University of Toronto - call upon the university to respond to the seriousness of climate change by making a statement of principle immediately affirming their intention to divest from fossil fuel companies, to immediately stop investing new money in the industry, and to spend the next five years winding down existing holdings. We also call on the university to divest from Shell by the end of 2013.

Is it worth having a sub-campaign directed toward Shell

* Selling Shell would help demonstrate the ease of divestment generally

* Shell provides a strong moral case and concrete example

* Concrete example of social injury

* There is a lot of material for the brief in this area

* Also, they are immediately involved in arctic drilling

* Also, it's symbolic because it's the university's single biggest holding

* Shell does seem to especially rally people

* Also, gives us a target that isn't immediate but which is closer out than five years

* May also help us secure endorsements from other individuals and groups

Is there a risk that they would divest from Shell and then refuse to move any further?

* It would be a demonstration that they see their divestment policy applying to fossil fuel companies

Would specifically listing Shell create a burden of proof issue?

* Not if the university is willing to issue a general statement of principle

* Might we be called upon to make the same case for every single fossil fuel company?

It would be worth looking more closely at the precedents: South Africa, tobacco

* Did it happen all at once, or in multiple waves?

Another potential future problem: university might object to the inclusion of mining companies that have a heavy involvement in coal - Rio Tinto, XStrata

* These might be the hardest to convince the university to divest from

* Would still be worthwhile to sell other stock first

* Could also ask the university to use shareholder activism to try to encourage companies to discontinue these activities

New U of T President appointed: Meric Gertler

* http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/03/04/toronto-university-president-meric-gertler.html

Could U of T students take copies of the petition to their classes to get signatures?

* It would be good if people did this

* Stuart will print new copies soon

One notable related event:

* With 2 Ships Damaged, Shell Suspends Arctic Drilling

* "After a series of costly and embarrassing accidents in its efforts to drill exploratory wells off the north coast of Alaska last year, Royal Dutch Shell announced on Wednesday that it would not return to the Arctic in 2013."

* "The company’s two drill ships suffered serious accidents as they were leaving drilling sites in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas last fall and winter and are being sent to Asia for repairs. Shell acknowledged in a statement that the ships would not be repaired in time to drill during the short summer window this year."

* "Marvin E. Odum, president of Shell Oil Company... said Arctic offshore drilling was a long-term project that the company would continue to pursue."

* https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/business/energy-environment/shell-suspends-arctic-drilling-for-2013.html?_r=0

Should we submit the petition again in September, with more signatures?

6) Line 9 and the National Energy Board

See: "6) Line 9 NEB hearing order and generally" in 19 February 2013 minutes

* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/QLH31zYx2EEJ

NEB has restricted consideration to oil spill risks only - not upstream or downstream risks like damage at the oil sands or climate change

The Board will consider the following issues in this hearing:

1. The need for the proposed Project.

2. The potential commercial impacts of the proposed Project.

3. The appropriateness of the tolling methodology.

4. The potential environmental and socio-economic effects of the proposed Project, including the potential effects of malfunctions or accidents that may occur, and any cumulative environmental effects that are likely to result from the proposed Project. 

5. The engineering design and integrity of the proposed Project.

6. The safety, security, and contingency planning associated with the construction and operation of the proposed Project, including emergency response planning and third party damage prevention.

7. Consultation with Aboriginal groups and the potential impacts of the proposed Project on Aboriginal interests.

8. Consultation with affected landowners and the potential impacts of the proposed Project on affected landowners and land use.

9. The terms and conditions, related to the above issues, to be included in any approval the Board may issue for the proposed Project.

Is participating in this outside our core purpose?

* We could support Environmental Defence

* Lots of people are concerned about spills, the people who live near the pipeline, etc

If we wanted to get climate change added to their issues list, what would the process be?

* "Any person who wishes to suggest an amendment to the List of Issues must file their suggestion with the Board and serve a copy on Enbridge by noon, Calgary time, on 21 March 2013. You must include a clear explanation of the relevance of the suggestion to the hearing. Filings are only considered to meet the deadline when the intended party receives them by the deadline."

* Would it be as simple as sending two registered delivery letters - please add climate change to your list of issues

* Kai will put a draft letter together, will bring a draft to next week's meeting

7) People directly affected by Line 9

Position of 'intervenor' is like making a legal case against Enbridge

* You need a lawyer, it's costly and complex

* Environmental Defence and Greenpeace are participating

* Sabrina from Environmental Defence recommended leaving it to them

We could encourage other groups to participate

* Leslie Spit wildlife sanctuary? 

* http://www.tommythompsonpark.ca/home/geninfo.dot

* Angler associations?

Fishers downstream

We don't actually expect the NEB to say no to Enbridge

* Does provide an opportunity to delay the process and attract media attention

8) Other NEB issues

A number of Toronto environmental groups are working on this

We could try to get an information session

* Go in with tough questions and a camera, make them squirm, get them to refuse to answer questions on climate

* "The Board may hold additional information sessions throughout the hearing process if there is sufficient interest. These sessions are intended to assist people to better understand and participate in a Board hearing process, but are not a forum for discussing the merits or substance of the application. Persons interested in future sessions should contact the Process Advisor (paragraph 21).The deadline is 21 March 2013 for requesting an information session in April 2013 in relation to this hearing."

* Is any other group already trying to do this?

* Stuart will look into it - is anyone already doing this? would anyone be willing to support it?

We might be able to submit some sort of written statement

* Stuart is looking into it

It's possible to petition the city government and take action through other channels

Plan going forward?

* Stuart will contact Sabrina and otherwise investigate

9) Chasing Ice screening - March 19

http://bloorcinema.com/2013/03/04/chasing-ice-free-members-screening/

Free for Bloor Cinema members

We could ask the Bloor Cinema if we could a quick announcement at the end, then pass around petitions

* Monica will ask them about this

10) Fourth Revolution film - re: solar energy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1619022/

Is hosting such films something we want to do regularly?

* Would be good if it wouldn't be too expensive and time consuming

* It would be ideal to book a room already fully equipped for the showing

We could sell snacks at such an event

See also: "1) Showing of "The Island President" in the 19 February 2013 minutes

* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/QLH31zYx2EEJ

11) Our Horizon exhibit - warning labels on gasoline pumps

http://ourhorizon.org/

http://www.cleanbreak.ca/tag/our-horizon/

Toronto Free Gallery

* 1277 Bloor St. West

* (beside Lansdowne subway station)

* Toronto, Ontario

March 1 – March 17, 2013

* Weds – Sat: noon to 8 p.m.

* Sun: noon to 6 p.m.

Do we want to have some collective group trip?

12) Richard Heinberg coming to Toronto

Previously at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/kcjujWKMdtg/a5gPLEJBbfsJ

March 21 - Richard Heinberg in Toronto!

* Thursday, March 21, 7:15 – 9:30 p.m.

* Earth Sciences Building, room 1050, 22 Willcocks Street, University of Toronto

* "I’m sure we’re all ready to welcome Spring on March 20th, but I'm even more excited to welcome Richard Heinberg on the 21st!  Heinberg is the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute and I don’t know if there would even be a Transition Towns movement if not for his work.  As far as Peak Oil thinkers and speakers, he’s not a big deal; he’s THE big deal.  Come and see his talk "SNAKE OIL: How the Petroleum Industry’s Misleading Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future" on March 21st!"

Info: Transition Toronto - http://transitiontoronto.ning.com/events/richard-heinberg-live-snake-oil-how-the-petroleum-industry-s-misl?xg_source=msg_mes_network

13) Fossil Fools Day

See: "5) Fossil "Fools" Day of Action" in the 19 February 2013

* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/QLH31zYx2EEJ

Date has been switched away from April 1st

* Conflicted with Easter Monday

* Now the 27th of March

Can we come up with a creative action?

* What could we do that would be fun

* Collect money for fossil fuel subsidies

There may be a coordinated video involved

Could we deliver the brief on the same day?

* Not by then

14) Next meeting

Tuesday at seven, Milan will send email with location

15) Split into divestment sub-groups

Kai is joining the briefing group

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

12 March 2013

Present: Miriam, Amelia Rose, Patricia, Jon, Neal, Stuart, Monica, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan


Agenda

* Donation and spending
* Recruitment
* Discussion on strategy and coordination against Line 9 - March 14
* Walter Gordon Symposium - March 19
* Bank account and other administrative matters
* Media messaging
* Next meeting
* Petition signatures

* Split into divestment sub-groups

1) Donation and spending

Another $200 donation from Milan's extended family
* Milan spent $20 printing petitions
* Gave $180 to Monica

We now have $500 and should perhaps spend some

Did Neal get an estimate on the cost of a banner?

We could make some of our own t-shirts

Business cards / recruitment cards
* Neal has vector files ready to print on this
* Could somebody look into getting them printed somewhere
* Miriam will look into it
* The cards are meant to be split into two pieces, so they should be two-colour double-sided die-cut
* About how many do we want? Perhaps 1,000 - 2,000
* Neal was previously quoted $350 for 1,000 and $450 for 2,000

We might also want to get a copy of Bill McKibben's "Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community" - about $11 on Amazon
* http://www.amazon.ca/Fight-Global-Warming-Now-Community/dp/0805087044/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363130129&sr=8-2


2) Recruitment

Both for fundraising and for adding to our strength

We don't actually have a record of which people on our mailing lists are U of T students

Who do we consider a 'member'
* Everyone who has attended a planning meeting
* All on the mem...@toronto350.org list - 27 people currently

How could we get some more people, both for purposes of applying for funding and for getting people to work on various projects and campaigns

Table in Sidney Smith
* Bake sale / petition signatures / recruitment

Upcoming events - Fossil Fools Day, Island President screening

Once we have a draft of the divestment brief, we can share it for comment with 350 mothership people, other divestment campaigns

Post-exam recruitment drive, for people in Toronto over the summer?

Definitely a recruitment push in September


3) Discussion on strategy and coordination against Line 9 - March 14

Thursday, March 14, 7 p.m.
OISE, 252 Bloor Street West (at St. George TTC)
Room 5250

The following three agenda points have been suggested:

1. Strategy against Line 9. Proposals and discussions of ideas.

2. Follow-up on City Council decision.

3. The National Energy Board (NEB) hearings to be held later this year on Enbridge's application to reverse the flow of its Line 9. Discussion on how to intervene. All groups concerned with the Line 9 issue have the right to apply for intervenor status and make a submission.

Other points can be raised.

We may as well bring some petition sheets

Sabrina from Environmental Defence will be at this
* She has a lot of background information on what is happening and how we might participate in the process
* She wants to attend one of our meetings


4) Walter Gordon Symposium - March 19

Agenda:  https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/kcjujWKMdtg/F_lLfu55TzwJ

Daytime events, 9:30-4:30
* Requires RSVP

Evening event
* 8pm
* Isabel Bader Theatre
* 93 Charles Street West.
* No RSVP required but we expect a full house.

Speakers:

-- Scott Vaughan, federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
-- David Manning, Alberta government envoy to Washington
-- Plus stunning onstage choreography (we expect nothing less) by the Master of Massey.

Next Tuesday night, several competing events
* Possible date for UTEA panel
* Members only Chasing Ice documentary at Bloor Cinema
* Our normal planning meeting
* The evening session of the Walter Gordon Symposium

Stuart will be going to Walter Gordon event
* Milan too, unless he will be on the UTEA panel then

Should we have a meeting next week?
* On Monday, March 18th
* Milan will book a room and send around an email to members


5) Bank account and other administrative matters

Monica has the paperwork for getting a bank account with PC Financial
* No fees
* Form has been submitted to U of T
* Once they get back to her, she can open an account

Donations
* What sort of system would we want to use? PayPal? (they charge a percent)
* Stuart will look into options

What is our legal status as a U of T club?
* Monica asked a ULife representative about it, but he didn't seem to understand the question

We don't have any formal relationship with the 350.org mothership
* They may be a 501(c)(3) charitable trust


6) Media messaging

Adria Vasil is planning to write a column on divestment
* She has been in touch with Monica

It would be useful to have an FAQ on our two campaigns (divestment and line 9)
* Could include connections to the most relevant and up-to-date sources

Articles and videos from Bill McKibben are especially useful
* http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOOjbTaqVC0

Lots of resources at: http://gofossilfree.org/resources/
* Also: http://gofossilfree.org/faq/

We should have our own documents that add in local context
* Produce a package of materials for people to review before panels, interviews, etc
* Avoid duplication of effort already made elsewhere
* Talking points for our major campaigns?

Could take the form of a 1-page backgrounder for each campaign

Interview on U of T campus radio: http://toronto350.org/files/Green_Majority.CIUT.Radio.020813.mp3
* We don't have a copy of the Weather Network TV interview yet

Who wants to work on this? What system should we use for storing the information?
* Monica will produce an initial draft

Database of questions?
* Listing of all questions asked during interviews, panels, etc?
* Located where?

Should we have a meeting specifically on developing this?
* Or set aside time specifically to discuss it
* Perhaps at the meeting after next

What products do we want?
* Talking points and backgrounder for each campaign
* Backgrounders can be included with press releases

When should we work on them?
* We will discuss this during the meeting on the 26th


7) Next meeting

Next Monday - March 18th
* 7pm
* Probably at Robarts


8) Petition signatures

Circulate in classes
* Miriam has been

Miriam will email the members list, encouraging people to collect signatures:
* Latest petition text: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/phCc7EFdh3M/hB2N2bkvLKEJ

Milan will circulate petitions at the Walter Gordon Symposium

Jon can petition at the Centre for Social Innovation

All events in the 'Upcoming events for bi-weekly email' thread are possible places to get petition signatures: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/kcjujWKMdtg/8seRnvOIUc0J

Anyone who wants to collect signatures can get a couple of clipboards from us, one for students and one for non-students
* Milan will also keep a larger set to use for our bigger events
* Miriam will check what they cost at the U of T bookstore


9) Next Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN) meeting - March 16

Saturday, March 16
* 2:00-4:00 pm
* Metro Hall, Room 314

The transitional team will present a proposal for TCAN’s organizational structure, e.g. how do groups become members, what does membership mean, how are decisions made, how can projects come about etc.
* Although this may not sound super exciting, it is a critical step in getting TCAN set up so that we can quickly move on to some good collaborative work. We hope to have as many groups as possible represented at the meeting.

Can we send a representative?
* Monica will send out an email, and attend if nobody else can


10) Break into divestment sub-groups

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

18 March 2013

Present: Jon, Miriam, Milan, Kai, Stuart, Yasmin, Mie

Chair: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Walter Gordon symposium tomorrow

* Film screening - April 17th

* Card to thank D.C. trip sponsor

* Earth Hour - March 23rd

* Line 9 meeting

* Kai's movie idea

* Divestment brief bibliography party

* Joining Climate Action Network Canada or CYCC

* Letter to David Naylor

* Fossil Fools Day - March 27

* Next meeting

1) Walter Gordon symposium tomorrow

There will be lots of people there who are pro-pipeline or on the fence

* So this is an unusually good opportunity to speak to people who don't already agree with us

Daytime schedule (RSVP required, to: rsvpWalt...@gmail.com )

* 9:30 am Registration, snack, and coffee

* 10 am Welcome remarks

* 10:15 am Morning keynote - Professor Bernard

* 11 am Panel 1 - Barriers to national energy strategy (Daniel Drache, David McLaughlin)

* 12:30 pm Lunch

* 1:15 pm Panel 2 - Visions of a national energy strategy (Madelaine Drohan, Ellis Ross, Mark Winfield)

* 2:45 pm Coffee

* 3 pm Panel 3 - Influence of foreign investment in energy policy making (Jim Stanford, Daniel Schwanen, Stephen Azzi)

* 4:30 pm Closing remarks

Panelists:

1. Barriers to a National Energy Strategy:

-- York political scientist Daniel Drache, expert on Harold Innis's staples theory

-- David McLaughlin, former chief of staff to Jim Flaherty and former chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy

2. Visions of a National Energy Strategy:

-- Ellis Ross, chief councillor of B.C.'s Haisla First Nation

-- Madelaine Drohan, Canadian correspondent for the Economist and author of ?The 9 Habits of Highly Successful Resource Economies: Lessons for Canada?

-- Prof. Mark Winfield, chair of the sustainable energy initiative at York?s Faculty of Environmental Studies.

3. Influence of foreign investment in energy policy making

-- Jim Stanford, chief economist, CAW

-- Daniel Schwanen, economist and assistant vice-president research, C.D. Howe Institute.

-- Prof. Stephen Azzi, Carleton Faculty of Management, author of "Walter Gordon and the Rise of Canadian Nationalism"

We should circulate petitions

* Milan will during the day, before the needs to go to class

Evening event:

* 8 p.m. at Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles Street West. No RSVP required but we anticipate a full house.

Speakers:

-- Scott Vaughan, federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

-- David Manning, Alberta government envoy to Washington

-- "Plus stunning onstage choreography (we expect nothing less) by the Master of Massey."

Miriam will be there, and will try to ask a tough and useful question

* Stuart is also going - will get clipboards and petitions from Milan

* Milan cannot attend because he has the University of Toronto Environmental Action panel

* If you don't want to go to the Walter Gordon evening event - of you can't get in - you're welcome to come to the UTEA panel

* It starts at 7pm

* Speakers: MPP Peter Tabuns, environmental activist Angela Bischoff, and School of the Environment and Munk Centre Professor Erich Vogt

* Location: Hart House, Music Room

2) Film screening - April 17th

Film: "The Island President" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1990352/

Developing story:

* "Police in the Maldives arrested Mohamed Nasheed, a former president, for alleged abuse of office. Mr Nasheed is accused of illegally ordering the arrest of a senior judge. That incident had sparked unrest, which led to Mr Nasheed’s forced resignation in 2012."

* Mar 9th 2013

* http://www.economist.com/news/world-week/21573164-politics-week

Room booked

* South Sitting Room at Hart House

* 6:30pm - 10:30pm

Miriam has a copy of the film, and will check that it works

The plan is to have the screening be free, but sell snacks as a fundraiser

Promotion strategy?

* We should send out a MailChimp message

* Ideal timing? Perhaps two weeks before

* Also, Facebook and Twitter

* Notify other U of T clubs and Toronto environment groups

3) Card to thank D.C. trip sponsor

Stuart got one, and we all signed it

4) Earth Hour - March 23rd

This Saturday

Info: http://earthhour.org/page/get-involved/how-organisations-can-help

Should we participate somehow?

* There are other groups doing things already

There is a community celebration at Roncesvalles

* Hosted by WWF Canada

* http://roncesvallesrenewed.org/2013/03/08/wwf-canada-to-host-toronto-earth-hour-event-on-roncy/

* 8-9:30 pm

* BRING YOUR OWN CANDLE OR LANTERN AND YOUR MUG OR CARAFE FOR HOT CHOCOLATE

There are Idle No More and Lead Now daylong conferences that day

5) Line 9 meeting

Kai wrote a potential letter to the NEB

What approach do we want to take here?

Stuart and Kai attended a recent meeting of Toronto groups working on the issue

* The group decided to draft a statement that various groups can endorse

* Stuart is on the email list for this - draft expected tonight

NEB process

* Will almost certainly say yes

* Group plans to show how the NEB process is illegitimate

* Hamilton 350 wrote a good letter about this (attached to the minutes)

Lots of people could apply to become intervenors

* Could be a means of highlighting the flaws with the process

* Could apply and then walk away in protest in the event of acceptance

Related: http://bsnorrell.blogspot.ca/2012/05/native-protesters-shut-down-enbridge.html

The timeline for the NEB process is strict and short

* Submission of items for the list of issues by this Wednesday night

* Needs to be submitted to Enbridge, probably by registered mail

* Kai and Stuart are working on this

* 350 is planning to submit something - calling on them to consider the upstream and downstream impacts

* Will be based on the Hamilton 350 letter

Hamilton 350 also put out a press release

* We can do the same, once we have submitted our letter

The next deadline is to apply to have a written statement

* Form only available after the list of issues is finalized

* As soon as the form is up, Environmental Defence will be working on this

* They want to get as many people as possible to submit statements

* There is a two-week window to submit written statements

There is then a two-week window to apply to be an intervenor

* Rising Tide is putting on a workshop on April 2nd to help as many people become intervenors

All these actions go on the public record

* Shows that we tried, which could have some legal importance later

6) Kai's movie idea

After seeing "Greedy Lying Bastards", thought about what sort of spoof we could make in response

* Response to climate change denial

Called "Tell the Truth"

* Would feature a climate change denier in a CNN-newsroom-type setting, with text scrolling at the bottom

* A bit like 'The Word' on the Colbert Report, with the text contradicting the spoken claims

* 'Denial industry' could be in the background, possibly dressed as Darth Vader or similar

Idea is to 'deflate the power' through humour 

Kai will produce a script

Needs

* Video equipment

* Actors

We have a standing offer from Mark Cutforth to help with film-related stuff

* Kai will get in touch with him

If you are interested, contact Kai at: writeben...@gmail.com

7) Divestment brief bibliography party

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed sections to the document

We need to transfer all the sources cited in the various documents people submitted into LaTeX

This is tedious - especially to do alone

We should bring a bunch of people and computers together and get the job done

* Work for a couple of hours, get pizza, work a couple more hours, get beer

* We can get pizza for while we are working, and Milan will provide beer after

Milan moves that the pizza be provided via 350 funds

* Mie seconds

* Approved unanimously

Venue

* Could potentially be at Kai's apartment

* Miriam will ask her housemates about their common room

Kai could be free this Saturday, but otherwise no

* Stuart is free after 6 - 7pm

* Perhaps on the 30th?

Given that Neal isn't here, we can try and coordinate it via email / Doodle

8) Joining Climate Action Network Canada or CYCC

Recommended by Rita Bijons

Could someone look into what would be involved? Costs, obligations, etc

* Mie will look into this

350's divestment campaign in Canada is being coordinated by the CYCC

9) Toronto Climate Action Network

http://tcan.ca/

Has decided on an annual membership fee of $20

* To fund web hosting, etc

Milan moves that we join, if doing so costs $20

* Stuart seconds

* 6 in favour, one abstention

Rob from Our Horizon was at their meeting on Saturday

* Mostly working on a draft proposed constitution

* He will be at next Tuesday's meeting, so he may be able to tell us more then

10) Letter to David Naylor

This will be part of our divestment package, along with the petition and the brief

Elizabeth May strongly endorsed the Concordia divestment campaign

* I sent her an email asking her to endorse ours, and maybe sign the letter to David Naylor

People to write to seeking endorsements:

* Richard Peltier - Professor of Physics

* Margaret Atwood - Author and alumna

* Tzeporah Berman - Former co-director Climate Unit Greenpeace International. Co-founder ForestEthics

* Naomi Klein - Activist and alumna

* Peter Tabuns - MPP

* Mark Jaccard - Academic economist

This is really part of the remit of the divestment outreach group

We can give FIRS...@toronto350.org email addresses to those who want to participate

* We can only have ten of these total for free

* One temporarily granted to Kai, but we might need to turn it into a general member email account (like toronto350 [at] gmail.com)

Volunteers to contact them?

* Yasmin will contact Peter Tabuns

* Kai will contact Margaret Atwood

* Miriam is willing to take part as part of the divestment outreach group

11) Fossil Fools Day - March 27

http://gofossilfree.ca/fossil-fools-day/

Moved from April 1st, because April 1st is a holiday (Easter Monday)

CYCC wants to make a video showing actions around the country

Ideas involving an orange cross?

We could make a big cardboard X and hold it up for a photo somewhere with downtown Toronto as the backdrop

* Near the ferry landing at Hanlan's Point would be quite a nice spot

* https://secure.flickr.com/photos/kenngc/2295759794/

To be clearer, the X could have something like "FOSSIL FUELS - SAY NO" written on it

Alternative: arrange a video, or a different picture

We could also go around campus collecting petition signatures

* Gimmick for attracting people? Would a big X work?

Stuart called and asked, and it's not essential to get a video together for the first

We could try to play really obvious pranks on people (like a hand buzzer) and then say that if people are smart enough to evade these tricks, they should be smart enough to see what the fossil fuel industry is doing

Will there be media publicity of this?

Toronto 350.org will do our event on campus at U of T on April 1st

* We could ask for donations for Exxon, Shell, etc

* Coffee cans with corporate logos on them

* Save suitable tins

* Then ask people to sign the petition

* Stuart will get a big X for us to set up too - $16

David Suzuki Foundation: "Every year, the Canadian government gives more than $1.4 billion in tax subsidies to oil, coal, and gas companies."

* http://action.davidsuzuki.org/subsidy

* On the cans, we can put something like "Taxpayer donations so far this year: $1.4 billion"

12) Next meeting

Tuesday, March 26th

* Probably in Robarts, Milan will send an email

[Milan]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

26 March 2013

Present: Stuart, Miriam, Mie, Emily, Rob, Jon, Milan

Chairperson: Stuart

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda
* Our Horizon
* Presenting to a high school Eco Club
* Divesting the City of Toronto
* Island President screening - April 17
* Riding Tide information session - April 2
* Meetings of the east and west-end Line 9 groups - April 7-8
* Rising Tide Toronto's Financial Walk of Shame - March 28
* Canvassing Day for Line 9  - April 20
* Toronto pandas
* Bank account
* Fossil Fools Day - April 1
* Divestment campaign
* NRTEE shutdown
* Toronto350.org blog


New people, so introductions

Note: [*] in the minutes hereafter notes specific action items


1) Our Horizon

http://ourhorizon.org/the-exhibit/

Rob from the group presenting some information

Idea: warning labels for gasoline pumps, akin to those on cigarettes
* Response to the tendency of people to ignore long-term consequences
* Labels taken from IPCC reports, so claims are defensible
* Climate change is also a problem of the diffusion of responsibility, which also keeps people from acting
* The labels draw attention to individual responsibility for climate change
* Externalities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality
* Labels are a qualitative (as opposed to monetary) means of signalling the presence of externalities

Many solutions to climate change available, but a signal is required to wake people up, shift collective consciousness, create political space for effective action

Municipalities have the power to require gas stations to include the labels, as part of their license to operate

Organization has been operating for two months
* Developing a mechanism to reach out to city counsellors online

Being moved at the committee level in Toronto
* The organization needs community support
* Workshops are being held in schools
* The more people willing to present at a municipal meetings, the better the odds of the proposal going forward

How could 350 help?
* He will keep us posted
* Possibly presenting at such a meeting

One suggestion - buy ourhorizons.org and set it to redirect to ourhorizon.org which is the actual address


2) Presenting to a high school Eco Club

Dhanyasri, who joined us for the Santa event, wants a guest speaker to talk for 10-15 minutes
* Thursday, April 25th
* Presentation could be on something like explaining what '350' means
* Jon interested in doing it with someone else
* Miriam also up for it

School is in Scarborough


3) Divesting the City of Toronto

350 is calling for people to get cities to divest
* Mostly pension funds

Toronto350.org is too busy to start a new campaign right now, but this is something we can think about for the future
* Could be a good campaign for the summer, when U of T is not in session


4) Island President screening - April 17

7pm

We will announce it starting at 6:45
* We can put a five minute bit of information about 350 at the start

Miriam has booked the room in Hart House
[*] We should put up some signs to direct people

As part of the nationwide screening, there is a webinar after with the director, a co-founder of 350, etc
* Posters and information are available online

Promotion
* Around 30 posters for high-visibility locations where they won't be torn down
* Milan gave a Kinko's printing card (with about $10 left after printing petitions) to Miriam for this
[*] We can send out a MailChimp message, post on Facebook, Twitter, etc
* We should use the link for the Facebook event as the main URL we circulate - should increase turnout

[*] We will be sending out a MailChimp message soon about Fossil Fools Day, so we should include a quick item on this in it as well


5) Riding Tide information session - April 2

Event next Tuesday, teaching local groups about how to become intervenors in the National Energy Board process for Line 9

At the same time as Winona Laduke, and our normal meeting


6) Meetings of the east and west-end Line 9 groups - April 7-8

Speakers, information, etc

* East end group Sunday the 7th
* West end Monday the 8th

East Side Civic Center/ Davenport-Perth Neighboughood Community Center

https://www.facebook.com/events/338961829543610/


7) Rising Tide Toronto's Financial Walk of Shame - March 28

"On Thursday March 28th we will take to the streets in the heart of Toronto’s financial district and deliver messages to the top investors of Chevron, in solidarity with worldwide actions taking place on Saturday March 30th."
* 8:30am: Gathering in front of RBC
* 9:00am The Financial Walk of Shame. Like a bad reality t.v show, come see the worst of the worst.
* risingti...@gmail.com
* https://www.facebook.com/events/103359486525338/

Likely to begin at Bay St and Front Street
* Stuart, Jon, and Amelia Rose are planning to go


8) Canvassing Day for Line 9 - April 20

Will include training, food, drink, and a couple of hours of door-knocking about Line 9
[*] 350 people could join the organizing team, or send people to participate

Monica is in touch with Sabrina at Environmental Defence re: organizing a Canvassing Day for Line 9

Stuart and Jon plan to go


9) Toronto pandas

An opportunity to send some sort of climate message to Canada and China?
* Banner drop? Media event?

Seems like a good opportunity - link to endangered species, as well as the fossil-fuel-intensive nature of the Canada-China relationship

Could we get a panda costume? From the WWF?
* Stuart will look into it
* Face paint is another option

Would be best to do it soon, while there is still media attention
* Could replace our Fossil Fools Day plan

If we showed up outside the zoo with a panda costume and some petitions, it might even get local media attention


10) Bank account

Both Milan and Monica need to be present at the creation
* They will sort out a time to do that


11) Fossil Fools Day - April 1

What sort of prep is necessary?
* We need collection jars with printed corporate logos
* Everyone bring two
* Miriam can bring some printed logos in colour
* Wear 350 shirts, or business attire, or both
* We can provide some t-shirts for volunteers
* Miriam bought five clipboards for about $3 each

Petition sheets are at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/phCc7EFdh3M/hB2N2bkvLKEJ

A media release is half-written
[*] To be released on the day itself

[*] Stuart will soon buy materials and build a big orange X

We will meet at Sidney Smith Hall at noon (East entrance, ground floor, off St. George street)

UTEA may be interested in being involved
[*] Milan will put Miriam in email contact with them

Monica may be able to do video (Milan unavailable, due to midterm invigilation)


12) Divestment campaign

Bibliography party!
* Neal could host on Friday evening, or any time Saturday
* Milan will put up a Doodle - please register ASAP

Will take about three hours
* Could be at Miriam's or at Neal's
* Miriam is at 620 Huron Street
* There will be pizza, and Milan will provide beer afterward

Jon will copyedit Monica's latest draft before Friday


13) NRTEE shutdown

Website being taken offline
* It would be a good idea to grab copies of all their reports first
* We could even host an archive of them on Toronto350.org for general reference

Stuart will use a tool to crawl their entire site


14) Toronto350.org blog

Jess no longer wants to work on it
* She has incorporated some social media channels and things into the page

Does someone want to take it on?
* Stuart can easily administer it
* Can basically mirror what we put out by MailChimp

[Stuart wraps up the meeting neatly for 8pm]

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

2 April 2013

Present: Amelia Rose, Monica, Milan

Stu, Mie, and Miriam are collecting petition signatures at Winona LaDuke's talk

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Divestment brief

* Fossil Fools Day

* Anthony Ketchum - EcoHouse invitation - April 27

* April Tools for Change workshops

* Pandas

* Global Power Shift Phase 2 video chat

* Line 9 canvassing day - April 20

* Next meeting

1) Divestment brief

Thanks to everyone who participated in the bibliography party

* We got all the sources entered into LaTeX

The brief still needs a fair bit of work before it can go to external reviewers

* The different parts must be made consistent; everything must be well referenced; we need to make sure all the claims we are making are defensible

Monica has been doing some work on section 3

* Specifically, on the bullet points near the opening

* Enlarging them into paragraphs

* Jon will be looking over this

* Will need some proof-reading

Milan will finish incorporating other text from Emily and Jon

2) Fossil Fools Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Fools_Day

Thanks to everyone who came out

* Stuart for acquiring the big orange X

* Miriam for making most of the other props

Milan put photos on Flickr: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sindark/sets/72157633143237286/

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfwuw90mAZE

Stuart added 95 names to the MailChimp list (including those collected by Milan at the recent UTEA planel)

We should make a point of having a quick debrief and thank-you for volunteers after such events

3) Anthony Ketchum - EcoHouse invitation - April 27

Anthony Ketchum, who provided the bursary for the February trip to Washington D.C., invited us to visit his EcoHouse on April 27th, from 1:30-4:30pm

* Event details: http://www.planetfriendly.net/calendar/events.php?id=17333

* Located about a 45-minute drive from the airport

#2713 Concession Rd. 3 of Adjala Township.

* The house is approx. 2 miles east of Hockley Village, 45 mins. drive from Pearson Airport via the Glore Rd. or take hwy, 400 to hwy. 9 and go west on hwy 9 to Conc. Rd. 3 of Adjala and go north on Conc. 3 for 8 1/2 kms.

* The house has exceptional thermal mass, an indoor garden, composting toilets, a small wind turbine, PV panels, rain water collection, and a masonry heater. It is set into the hillside and is underground up to the top of the second floor on the north and east sides.

RSVP

* Contact Name: Anthony Ketchum

* Phone: 416 487 2795

* E-mail: anthonyketchum (at) sympatico.ca

It would be best to send one RSVP for all of Toronto350.org, so if you are interested please let Milan know

4) April Tools for Change workshops

Three workshops are upcoming:

* Grassroots Fundraising April 7, 2013 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM 

* http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/4668223783/eorg

* Direct Action 101 April 14, 2013 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM 

* http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/4652465650/eorg

* Get on the Mic! Public Speaking Workshop April 16, 2013 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

* http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/4658876826/eorg

Stuart is planning to attend the direct action and public speaking workshops

* The speaking workshop is at our ordinary meeting time

* Would we want to move our meeting to Monday the 15th?

We can decide at next week's meeting, when more people are present

5) Pandas

Climate change could threaten the food supply of giant pandas: 

* http://video.answers.com/global-warming-a-new-threat-to-pandas-517539047

* http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2012/climate-change-threatens-giant-pandas-bamboo-buffet-and-survival/

* http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n3/full/nclimate1727.html

Could be incorporated into some sort of event involving the pandas at the Toronto Zoo

* Opportunities for humour

* Ideas? Do we need to go to the zoo and have a look?

6) Environmental Defence Line 9 conference call - April 9

Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 7-8 p.m

* Online sign-up: http://environmentaldefence.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2117f6f873721e20b14d2f4ff&id=b3c9d30d65&e=625bbd5592

* http://environmentaldefence.ca/join-our-line-9-telephone-town-hall-april-9

We could participate collectively during our meeting

* Or have one person take part and report back

7) Global Power Shift Phase 2 video chat

Neither Milan nor Monica was accepted for the event in Istanbul

* There were 5,000+ applicants for the 500 spaces

Video chat with climate leaders around the world this Wednesday, April 3

* http://act.350.org/sign/gps_conference_call?akid=2909.337856.rAPTsy&rd=1&t=1

* To accommodate timezones across the world, there will be two sessions: 8am UTC and 8pm UTC.

* Either 4am or 4pm Toronto time

* Submit questions you'd like addressed on the call by clicking here: http://act.350.org/go/2897?t=2&akid=2909.337856.rAPTsy

For those of you who can't view the video chat broadcast, here's a link to call-in numbers so you can listen: http://act.350.org/go/2899?t=5&akid=2909.337856.rAPTsy

* Just dial the number appropriate for your country, and punch in the access code, followed by the pound symbol: GPSGPS# (477477#). USA callers can find call-in numbers here: http://act.350.org/go/2900?t=6&akid=2909.337856.rAPTsy

8) Line 9 canvassing day - April 20

All-day event (approximately 11am to 4pm)

* Monica will forward the invitation to the members list

Being organized by Environmental Defence

* Monica spoke with Sabrina about it

* They will provide talking points, a meeting space for food and training at the beginning, 

* They are open to us bringing our own messaging if we wish, or to being involved in other more extensive ways

Likely that some 350 people will want to come out

* Perhaps some UTEA people too

* Monica will email Tom McCarthy suggesting they send some people out

We could also put this in a MailChimp message

9) Next meeting

Next Tuesday 7-9pm

* Possible incorporating the Line 9 call

* Location TBA, Milan will send an email

* Milan will try for Hart House, if not Robarts

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

9 April 2013

Present: Stuart, Miriam, Amelia Rose, Emily, Jess, Monica, Milan

Chairperson: Stuart

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

Line 9

* NEB press release

* Can we happily sign onto the Line9 statement by Bryan Dale?

* NoLine9 lawn signs

* Environmental Defence canvassing on Apr 20th (and Greenpeace I <3 Arctic)

* East and west end Line 9 meetings

* NEB procedural issues

Divestment

* Presentation from Fossil Free University of New Brunswick

* Email to University of Toronto alumni

* Information for CYCC

* Divestment training weekend - May 10-12, Montreal

* Divestment petition

Misc

* Ecohouse trip - Apr 27th

* NOW magazine article

* TCAN membership

* The Weather Network video

* Tools for change next Tuesday (move meeting?)

* Do we endorse Our Horizon?

* Island President screening

* Assembly at Dhanyasri's school - April 25

* Card for Dhanyasri

* Business cards

* Tools for Change fundraising workshop

1) NEB press release

We should send one, saying we don't like the process?

* Exclusionary, short timelines

* There was some coverage in the Toronto Star already

* https://mobile.twitter.com/KutchaFlor/status/321600929877082112/photos

* http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/04/09/comment_on_changes_to_enbridges_toronto_pipeline_now_requires_neb_permission.html

Greenpeace and Environmental Defence (ED) have already put one out

We issued a press release before about the List of Issues, and the exclusion of consideration of upstream and downstream issues

Stuart will write a draft and Monica will review it

How's the shape of our media outreach list?

* Monica got a bunch of additional contacts

Monica has a spreadsheet keeping track of press releases we have sent

2) Can we happily sign onto the Line9 statement by Bryan Dale?

Draft calls for oil to be refined and used in Canada

* Really, nobody should use the oil at all

Statement is long and involves many different issues

We can write back stating our objections

Emily will work on a statement in response

3) NoLine9 lawn signs

Environmental Defence has made some

They will be given out during the canvassing on the 20th

They are available if people want them

They include a space where groups can put their own branding

* We can write 'Toronto350.org' on any we distribute

We can probably get them whenever we want through Tamara

Miriam, Monica, and Emily would all like some, either for personal use or distribution

4) Environmental Defence canvassing on Apr 20th (and Greenpeace I <3 Arctic)

Lawn sides will be distributed as part of the event

* 'No Casino Toronto' lawn sides seem to be effectively, likewise those for the 'mega quarry'

Monica will send out an email looking for people to canvas

* 11am to 4pm

* Meeting at the transit-accessible North York community centre

* There is training, lunch, and then canvassing

* They will provide a list of talking points

We should bring our own divestment petitions

5) East and west end Line 9 meetings

Amelia Rose was at the west end meeting

* Two speakers: Ron Plain, native person from Sarnia who spoke about native issues and an ongoing court case

* Involved in Idle No More blockade in Sarnia before Christmas

* Also, Keith Stewart from Greenpeace, talking about Line 9, tar sands, etc

* Documentary on Line 9 shown

* Statements and questions

* Raising money for Ron Plain's defence - $800 raised

* Between 80-100 people present

Not a full documentary, 15 minute collection of videos

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tK83lr7doA

Forms provided at the end - 10 pages

* Forms to become an intervenor or participant

The Province of Ontario is going to apply for intervenor status

* http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04/09/gta_oil_pipeline_ontario_concerned_by_changes.html

6) NEB procedural issues

Commenter of Intervenor?

* Either way, the form needs to be submitted by April 19th

* You need to submit a 10-page form, resume, and reference letters

* "Applications to Participate must be served on Enbridge by the application deadline and in accordance with paragraph 4 of the Procedural Update"

Environmental Defence is providing 1-on-1 assistance to groups applying

Total time involved at least 10 hours

Being an intervenor fully would cost tens of thousands of dollars

Walkout idea may be undermined by people choosing to be commenters instead

Commenters obligated only to provide a written comment?

We could send out a press release indicating our disappointment that none of our suggestions for the List of Issues were added, and that we therefore consider the process to be illegitimate

* Could mention how the process is extremely participant-unfriendly, therefore undemocratic

NEB documentation full of sentences like:

* As directed by the National Energy Board, please find below the link to the 8 April 2013 document Enbridge filed regarding the OH-002-2013 Hearing for the Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion Project. 

* https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/ll-eng/livelink.exe?func=ll&objId=941929&objAction=browse

There will be a 'form filling' gathering on Saturday

* Possibly followed by going to a party hosted by Stuart's friend

* Meet at 4pm, then dinner

* At 620 Huron

Miriam will send an email about it to the members@toronto350 list

Stuart will look tomorrow and decide if we have any chance of being approved, and thus whether we should have the event on Saturday

7) Presentation from Fossil Free University of New Brunswick

Powerpoint included on the planning forum with the minutes

Could contain some useful information for our brief

We could also adapt or incorporate it into our own divestment Powerpoint

* We could show it at the forthcoming Island President screening

8) Email to University of Toronto alumni

Miriam wrote up an email

* Stuart is going to send it out

Two people have said they will be signatories on our letter to the President

* Mark Jaccard

* Tzeporah Berman - https://twitter.com/Tzeporah/status/317313912116748289

Naomi Klein's assistant asked for information on our divestment timeline and why we are focusing on Shell

* Miriam sent a detailed response, but hasn't heard back yet

Monica has a spreadsheet of people to contact

* Two people want to sign our letter already - one UCLA prof, one Guelph prof / former Toronto poet Laureate

* Both U of T alum

Miriam will send the emails that Stuart said he would cover earlier, using her @toronto350.org email address

9) Information for CYCC

Stuart got an email from Cameron asking about anyone who has endorsed our divestment campaign

Have any campus groups endorsed it?

* Science for Peace, perhaps 4-5 other groups

Do we want to publicize people who have just signed the petition?

* The petition is a public document, by definition

* David Miller, Winona Laduke, etc

Monica will get back to them

10) Divestment training weekend - May 10-12, Montreal

Being organized by CYCC

Objective: training people on how to set up new divestment campaigns

* Universities, cities, etc

* They are hoping for 30 participants

* No help with accommodation or travel

* Food will be provided

Friday portion optional but recommended

US event went well

Miriam interested, Emily, Stuart, maybe Milan

Stuart will send out an email to members

11) Divestment petition

Miriam and Stuart want to gather all the completed forms

Miriam has a stack of petitions, for which emails have been entered into MailChimp

* Tamara has some

* Milan has most of the older ones, from the Santa event, etc

Milan will take these from Miriam and count the total

Spam has been cleared out of the online list

* There are about 140 signatures there

12) Ecohouse trip - Apr 27th

In previous minutes: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/rQtjLWrBwnEJ

Yasmin may be able to provide some rides

#2713 Concession Rd. 3 of Adjala Township

* 1:30-4:30pm

Stuart will let him know that 5-7 people may be interested

* Maya count rent a car, if people would chip in

* Would probably cost about $20 each

13) NOW magazine article

Monica pulled it together, with input from others

Coming out on Thursday

Monica will send a link

* Hasn't seen a final version

There was previously an article on our Santa event in The Varsity: http://thevarsity.ca/2012/12/03/activists-target-u-of-t-over-shell-investment/

14) TCAN membership

Website currently down: http://tcan.ca/

We voted to join and pay the $20 on March 18th: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/o4uxsrnJvTYJ

There is a three-page form to complete

Hopefully, we will be able to get the form at a future point where the website works

* http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20AppForm%2004-06-2013.pdf

They have completed some of their organizational documents

* Rules of Governance: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20Rules%20of%20Governance%2004-06-2013.pdf

15) The Weather Network video

Videos with Stuart and perhaps Monica are on their website

* Stuart can download them

* The videos on their website change all the time and cannot be linked to directly: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/earthaction/

16) Tools for Change next Tuesday (move meeting?)

Get on the Mic! Public Speaking Workshop April 16, 2013 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

* http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/4658876826/eorg

Stuart is going, Miriam also

We are moving next week's meeting to Monday

* Milan will book a room and send an email

17) Do we endorse Our Horizon?

They would be willing to put our logo on things is we want

Any reason not to?

Stuart moves that we endorse

* Milan seconds

* Six votes in favour, one abstention, passes

Stuart will let them know

18) Island President screening - April 17th

On Facebook, five people have listed themselves attending

* Please sign up!

We decided earlier to make posters

We can no longer join the webinar, because you need to pay $125 to do so

* We can't use their posters, but they aren't very good anyway

We can do a presentation of our own after the screening

Miriam made a crude poster, which she sent to Neal

* Can anyone here make a better one?

* How many would it be worth putting up?

* Maybe just a few for prominent locations where they won't be taken down too quickly or covered over

Invite everyone you know

Groups to contact:

* Several groups signed on as official supporters of the screening

* We should send it to TCAN, Cinema Politica, Graduate Students Union, 

* Get it added to: http://harthouse.ca/whats-on/events-by-week/

* Email NOW Magazine

Hart House doesn't allow outside catering

* Should we bring some popcorn, on the sly?

* Some people might be willing to provide baking

Emily and Miriam will give a quick Powerpoint presentation at the end

* Could be adapted from the University of New Brunswick presentation

19) Assembly at Dhanyasri's school - April 25

Previously: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/tNCV2C7q0QYJ

Dhanyasri came to two of our events from Scarborough

We get $100 for participating, and could win $1,000

Miriam and Jon leading

* Possibly doing an 'Ignite' style automatic-slide-advancing presentation

20) Card for Dhanyasri

Miriam bought a card, to be delivered at the event

21) Business cards

Miriam emailed five printing companies

* Quotes: $350 for 1,000 - including custom die-cutting

Monica can look into some alternatives

Milan is looking into a possibility of doing it through the Massey print shop

22) Tools for Change fundraising workshop

Amelia Rose attended

* Delivered by Paul Tucker, six years of experience with grassroots fundraising

Usually good to have a budget, aim high when making requests, important to have a bank account

* Look into religious organizations, unions, grant-issuing bodies

* Online can be effective, including in the experience of workshop participants

* There are many websites where people can make a pitch and seek donations

* Events 'the worst way of going about it' - require many resources, raise little

* Phoning contacts directly

* Canvassing OK, but doesn't raise too much - Public Outreach works for all the major environmental organizations, except Greenpeace

About 80% of fundraising is done via direct mail

Good pitches, phone pitches

* Amelia Rose has more information

Sustainable funding

* There may be another workshop on this

* People are willing to give several times

[pres...@toronto350.org]

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

15 April 2013

Present: Miriam, Jon, Kai, Stuart, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

General

* Password changes

* Island President screening this Wednesday

* Assembly at Dhanyasri's school - April 25

* EcoHouse trip - April 27

* Panda action

* Business cards

Line 9

* NEB application

* NEB press release, re: the process

* Line 9 group meeting - April 18th

Divestment

* Endorsements for letter to David Naylor

* Status of divestment brief

* #FossilFreedom Day of Action on May 2nd

* Do The Math movie - April 21st

Strategic issues

* Are we doing too much?

* Next meeting

1) Password changes

Tamara lost her phone, so we changed some passwords

New passwords for toron...@gmail.com and @toronto350 on Twitter will be emailed around to the exec

Generally speaking, we should err on the side of caution and be quick to change passwords if it seems like it could be necessary

* Ideally, let Milan and Stuart know if you do this, so they won't be alarmed

2) Island President screening this Wednesday

We should be carrying on with promotion

* Some posters have been put up, emails have gone to various mailing lists, Twitter posts, Facebook, etc

* 13 'yes' and 13 'maybe' on Facebook

Miriam has contacted all the potential contacts people forwarded to her

Miriam has the file, Hart House will provide a connector for her laptop

* Miriam is bringing popcorn, others may be bringing baked goods

* Hart House is providing the projector

Miriam and Emily will be practicing their presentation after tomorrow's public speaking workshop (Tools for Change)

Milan will bring petitions and clipboards

3) Assembly at Dhanyasri's school - April 25

Miriam and Jon have prepared a presentation consisting of all photos, along with spoken text they will memorize

They will present it at the next planning meeting for feedback

What concrete thing(s) could we promise to do with $1,000?

* Alternatively, any discussion of the money could be omitted from the presentation

* We can highlight how we are all volunteers, with zero-overhead, etc

* It may be best to leave out the specifics, given that most of what we spend money on is fairly unexciting (printing, costumes, promotional materials)

Four groups are participating, including Our Horizon

Draft slides and speaking notes could be circulated by email

4) EcoHouse trip - April 27

Previously: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/bnURMBknzCoJ

If you want to go, contact Maya soon

* Approximate cost for car rental is $20 / person

5) Panda action

Yasmin looked into finding a panda suit

* The WWF suit is unavailable in coming months

There is a direct panda-climate connection:

* "Climate-change impacts on understorey bamboo species and giant pandas in China’s Qinling Mountains"

* Nature Climate Change 3, 249–253 (2013)

* http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n3/full/nclimate1727.html

* Also, the general projections about climate change harming biodiversity

Could potentially be tied to either big campaign

* Ideally, it could involve some sort of stunt that gets media attention

* Face-painting outside the zoo could be one possibility

Could perhaps be a good summertime event

* Panda exhibit opens May 18

* http://www.torontozoo.com/pandas/

Would it be possible to do something for the day it would open?

6) Business cards

Maya knows a company where we could get lots of colour cards for $100

* Couldn't be die-cut

* http://www.zoomprinting.ca/

* 5,000 cards for $99

We have looked into that idea extensively, and it seems it would be costly and difficult

It would be good to have a mechanism for collecting the names and emails of people who we hand them out to

* We could have 'name' and 'email' fields on each card, give one to a potential recruit with the person doing the recruiting's info, and have them write their own on another card

* They would need to be printed in a way that can be written on

We could use just the first part of the existing graphic

* We should also change the URL listed

Milan will call Neal to ask about updating the graphic, or at least getting the vector graphic file

7) NEB application

Must be submitted by a single person

* They may provide a resume and/or references

* We will use Milan's CV

* He will send it to Stuart

* Stuart will finalize the PDF

Must be faxed to Enbridge by Friday at noon

8) NEB press release, re: the process

The objective would be to put out a press release describing our objections regarding the process

Stuart will write one this week

* Monica will send it out to media contacts

9) Line 9 group meeting - April 18th

7pm at OISE

Stuart will be there

10) Endorsements for letter to David Naylor

Miriam has heard back that Naomi Klein will be a signatory on our letter to David Naylor

There is a tracking spreadsheet on the Google Drive

* If people want to contact alumni, they can see who we have already contacted

* Record responses in the spreadsheet

* Miriam is coordinating this

It would be worth doing more to identify current U of T faculty who may be supportive

* Peter Russell (political science) is one

* There is a staff directory at: http://directory.utoronto.ca/phonebook/pages/admin/main.xhtml

* Includes phone numbers and emails

11) Status of divestment brief

We need final versions of sections from people, then comprehensive editing, then final layout etc

Milan has two sets of comments on the PDF to incorporate

The whole document needs to be edited to have the right tone (and a consistent tone) and for all the citations to be right, for the text to be consistent and good, etc

Milan will provide an update next week

12) #FossilFreedom Day of Action on May 2nd

http://gofossilfree.org/doa/

Actions to be registered at: http://act.350.org/go/2972?t=1&akid=2984.807020.0DETGW

It would be good to do something, but we are pretty tied up as it is

13) Do The Math movie

350 is releasing Do the Math, the movie this weekend, and screenings are being organized in communities across the US on the evening of Sunday, April 21.

* They will also be hosting a livecast panel discussion with Bill McKibben, Dr. James Hansen and campus divestment leaders after the film. 

* "If you’re looking for a fun, easy event to get people fired up between now and May 2nd, consider hosting a Do the Math screening."

* Info on screenings: http://act.350.org/event/do_the_math_film/search/?akid=2984.807020.0DETGW&rd=1&t=4

We could have a screening at Miriam's, but it would be on a laptop

* Jon may have a friend who can provide a space and projector

14) Are we doing too much?

Should we have a deadline for the divestment brief?

* Milan has two term papers, marking, two moves, etc all before early May

Our total package is the David Naylor letter, the petition, and the brief

* There is a new president incoming, but the current letter is tailored to Naylor

* "[A]fter eight years as the University of Toronto’s president, Dr. Naylor will step down in a matter of months, and he is slowly starting to feel more freedom to speak his mind."

* http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/outgoing-university-presidents-speak-candidly-about-the-future/article10824565/

We could send the letter, along with the petition we have

* We could indicate in the letter that we will be providing a detailed brief for the consideration of the divestment committee

Could we approach David Naylor informally?

* He may well feel that it would be inappropriate to dictate policy to his successor

* Is there any way we could get a sense of whether he might be willing to create a committee?

* He has an executive assistant listed: http://www.president.utoronto.ca/contact

We could send two letters: one to Naylor earlier, and another to the incoming president

We can make this the first agenda item for next week

For May 6th, let's at least know what still needs to be done on the brief

* We can seek clear commitments from people to do the remaining work

Jon will look through the Divest Harvard materials for useful nuggets, and also look to tightening up section 3 (Social injury)

Should we have just one campaign?

* Should we merge the divestment outreach and brief groups?

* Do we need so much outreach in the next while?

15) Next meeting

Tuesday, April 23rd

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto 350.org planning meeting

23 April 2013

Present: Jess, Jon, Emily, Amelia Rose, Monica, Stuart, Miriam, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

Divestment

* Divestment campaign strategy

Line 9

* Line 9 meeting last week

* Line 9 canvassing

Other

* Debrief on Island President film screening

* Bank account

* TCAN general meeting - May 11

* Training in Montreal on May 10th-12th

* EcoHouse trip - April 27th

* Next meeting

1) Divestment campaign strategy

Please make yourself familiar with:

* "Policy on Social and Political Issues With Respect to University Divestment" (March 4, 2008)

* Procedures for Responding to Social and Political Issues with Respect to University Divestment (January 2008)

* http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/policies/Issues_With_Respect_to_University_Divestment.htm

Requirements to have a committee created:

* "When the brief has been fully prepared, the initiators of the request must secure evidence of support for their cause through the collection of at least 300 signatures endorsing the brief. Up to 200 of the signatures could come from a single constituency of the University community (for the purposes of these procedures, the constituencies are teaching staff, students, administrative staff, and alumni); the remaining 100 signatures must be from at least two other University constituencies with a minimum of 25 signatures from any individual constituency.  Each signatory must attest that he/she has read and agrees with the entire content of the brief."

How can we best get people to do this?

* Could put a PDF and a form online

* The executive summary will be important

The procedures don't define 'signature'

* Do they need to be physical? Can they be electronic?

* Milan will go ask the Governing Council staff

It may not be possible to do all this while David Naylor is still president

* If not, we will need to change the introductory letter

The priority now has be getting the brief done

* By next week, Jon will read over section 3 and provide comments

Brief status

* Executive summary must be written in full

* Section 2: "Climate Change is Settled Science" is basically done, but could use more references

* Section 3: "The activities of fossil fuel companies are socially injurious, and this social injury cannot be reasonably remedied through share- holder voice" needs the most work, especially in terms of tightening up the legal arguments

* Section 4: "Divestment Compatible with the University's Fiduciary Duty" - Neal's section, still very preliminary as far as we know

* Section 5: "Actions have been taken by the Canadian government and international bodies on this issue" - largely done

* Section 6: "Why start with Royal Dutch Shell?" Relatively complete, but does need proofreading, and editing to get the tone right and make it consistent with other versions

We need someone who is active as a brief coordinator

* Monica might be able to, but doesn't know LaTeX

Big questions:

1) Who can coordinate this?

2) Should we paste it into Word and abandon LaTeX?

3) How will we manage section 4, re: fiduciary duty?

4) Do we want to use a particular style guide?

Stuart could devote a fair bit of time during the next couple of weeks to this

* He will take on section 4 for now, and will try to get it done within two weeks

* He will start with the couple of pages we already have from Neal

Milan will do a full read-through to flag problems and inconsistencies by next week

* He will then concentrate on improving section 3

* Monica has a bunch of additional text for this section (elaboration on the eight points under 'social injury' in the current draft)

* Monica and Jon will work on this section in Word, and then send it to Milan once they are reasonably happy with it

Standards:

* Date format?

* Spell out acronyms and initialisms at the time of first use

* Provide full names at time of first use

* Use either %, or percent, or per cent in all places

* Use 'university' except when saying 'University of Toronto'

* Please use the Oxford comma: when listing facts, or figures, or anything else please put a comma before the last one.

* Please only put one space after a period

* In lists - if the items are complete sentences, put punctuation at the end. If not, do not put periods or other punctuation at the end

*Standardize abbreviation for kilowatt-hour (kWh)

Some tasks:

* Contact student representatives on the Board of Governors, let them know about the campaign, seek their support (Miriam will do this)

* Contact members of the student governments (for undergrads, grad students, etc), seek their support, learn more about holding a student referendum during elections in the fall (Miriam will do this, after next week)

* Go through divestment materials from other schools to find good applicable arguments, information, and sources - especially McGill, Harvard, UBC, and schools that have already divested (Emily will do this)

* Get in touch with the Environmental Law Club and any other group where members might be interested in helping with the writing of the brief itself - we are especially looking for people with extensive

knowledge in law and/or finance. (Miriam will do this)

* We should add a section on the tobacco divestment precedent, and how it is relevant in this case (probably for section 3)

* Material to cover this section from the divestment procedures: "the extent and significance of the University’s investment in a particular entity.  Determination of whether investments are considered significant will depend on the committee’s judgment of the relative magnitude of the University’s holdings both as a fraction of all University investments and in relation to the market capitalization of the entity under review."

* Research the new president and think of an angle for a new letter

Monica is willing to collaborate with others on contacting student government reps and going through divestment materials from other schools

* Miriam can help with some of this as of next week

Please have status updates for next week - either in person or submitted by email

Decisions for moving forward:

* We will use The Economist style guide, available free online at: http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction

* Date format: July 5th 2005

* By next week, Milan will read through the current LaTeX file and flag problems and correct inconsistencies

* Jon and Monica will get the extra text for section 3 to a point where they are happy, within two weeks

* Neal is no longer coordinating the brief, or writing the section on fiduciary duty

* Stuart will take this section over, and produce a draft within two weeks

* Milan will take over as the coordinator of the brief

* Monica and Jon will also work on a section on the tobacco precedent, to be added into section 3

Overall objective: advance the brief significantly during the next two weeks

2) Line 9 meeting last week

Various local groups participated

* Amelia Rose was there

* Environmental Defence, Rising Tide, etc

There is a big rally happening on May 1st

A statement for groups to sign is in progress

NEB process discussed

* Stuart sent in the application for Milan to serve as a commenter, on behalf of Toronto350

* Toronto350 is on the list of electronically submitted documents

* https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/ll-eng/livelink.exe?func=ll&objId=942241&objAction=browse&sort=-name&redirect=3

* Originals also need to be sent by mail, which Stuart will do

If we are given leave to comment, we have said that we will provide an academic paper on Line 9

There is going to be a native speaking tour on Line 9

Environmental Defence lawn signs

* Sabrina could drop some off at Patagonia on King St. for us

* Stuart will check if she can bring them somewhere closer

3) Line 9 canvassing

This past Saturday, hosted by Environmental Defence

* Tamara and Stuart were there

* 40-45 participants in three groups

* People mostly hadn't heard of the pipeline, were "alarmed and shocked"

* Easy to get signatures calling for the federal and provincial governments to do a proper environmental assessment on the pipeline

* Stuart got about 12 signatures in 1.5 hours, along with about 20 lawn signs put up

There may be future canvassing events

4) Debrief on Island President film screening

Full house!

* About 32 people present

* We raised nearly $30, which covered the cost of posters, etc

* Posters may be a relatively costly and ineffective form of promotion

* Email may be better

Good room for future purposes

Not a bad idea to have a donation box at future such events

5) Bank account

Monica will pass the documentation to Milan to open the account

* Better this way, as Milan will be a student for longer

6) TCAN general meeting

First General Meeting of the Toronto Climate Action Network. 

* Saturday, May 11

* 3:00-5:00 pm

* Metro Hall, Room  302

At the meeting they will elect a Chair and Treasurer and members of the Steering Committee

They want organizations to submit their application forms and $20 by April 26th

* This General Meeting  and election are open only to delegates from TCAN's member-organizations

Application form: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20AppForm%2004-06-2013.pdf

Rules of Governance: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20Rules%20of%20Governance%2004-06-2013.pdf

Their website is still currently down

Stuart will get a copy of the application form and complete it

* Hopefully we can just give them $20 cash, or an email money transfer

7) Training in Montreal on May 10th - 12th

Previously: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/bnURMBknzCoJ

Training re: divestment campaigns

Miriam, Monica, and probably Emily are going - Maybe Jon as well

If you wish to go to the training in Montreal on May 10th-12th, please fill out this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nLzpKnfubxKyaCeG7zmVUVYNpv0UaPyknTr3aLrss28/viewform

Transport

* Via Rail is $65 return for the next few days

8) EcoHouse trip - April 27th

Yasmin, Maya, Stuart planning to go

* If you want to go, let Stuart know

9) Next meeting

Tuesday April 30th, normal time

[communi...@toronto350.org]

30 April 2013

 

Present: Stuart, Tamara, Emily

 

Chairperson: Stuart

 

Note-taker: Tamara

 

Agenda:

 

Western University Contact

Brief

May Day

NEB Application

Line 9 Lawn Signs

TCAN AGM

T4T Montreal

Line 9 Organizing

Line 9 Statement

Brief Strategizing

Summer Planning Meetings

1) Western University contact

- some exec members have received an email from Stuart of Western University asking for advice on how to find out about a university’s investments

- Tamara will forward email to Emily, Emily will follow-up with Stuart

 

 

2) Brief status update

- Jon is doing section 3 for next week

- Milan is working on section 6

- Stu will work on section 4 for next week

- Emily will look into resources from other schools next week (list of noteworthy divestment campaigns)

 

 

3) May Day Rally

- Tomorrow, May 1^st, 2013

- http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/MayDay

- 1-4 pm Occupy Gardens at Queens Park

- 5:30: Rally and march from City Hall to Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking Porter workers (Queens Quay and Bathurst)

 

 

4) NEB Application

- e-application and fax sent, Stu will send snail mail version soon

 

 

5) Line 9 Lawn Signs

- Emily will collect signs from ED office before next meeting

 

 

6) TCAN general meeting

 

First General Meeting of the Toronto Climate Action Network. 

* Saturday, May 11

* 3:00-5:00 pm

* Metro Hall, Room  302

 

At the meeting they will elect a Chair and Treasurer and members of the Steering Committee

 

They want organizations to submit their application forms and $20 by April 26th

* This General Meeting  and election are open only to delegates from TCAN's member-organizations

 

Application form: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20AppForm%2004-06-2013.pdf

 

Rules of Governance: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20Rules%20of%20Governance%2004-06-2013.pdf

 

- Stuart will send in membership application form soon

 

 

7) T4T Training in Montreal on May 10th - 12th

 

Previously: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/bnURMBknzCoJ

 

Training re: divestment campaigns

 

If you wish to go to the training in Montreal on May 10th-12th, please fill out this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1nLzpKnfubxKyaCeG7zmVUVYNpv0UaPyknTr3aLrss28/viewform

 

Transport

* Via Rail is $65 return for the next few days

 

- Emily and Miriam are planning to take the same car-share

- Is Jon going? Monica?

 

8) Line 9 Toronto Organizing

- preliminary talks about a Line 9 day of action in June (”walk the line”?)

- will be discussed further at the next line 9 meeting

 

Toronto Against Tar Sands Coordinating Committee meeting

Thursday May 9^th, 2013, 7pm

OISE 252 Bloor St W, Rm. 5170

 

 

9) Line 9 statement

- Draft:

 

“We, the undersigned organizations and grassroots groups, strongly oppose the proposed Enbridge Line 9 reversal project and we stand in solidarity with indigenous communities, residents, environmental activists, labour groups and others who have spoken out against similar pipeline projects.

 

This dangerous pipeline reversal would transport heavy crude oil from Sarnia to Montreal in an aging pipe. Tar sands pipelines are known to leak—from the 2010 incident that contaminated the Kalamazoo River, to this year’s spill in Arkansas that sent oil through a residential neighbourhood and caused an evacuation. Pumping diluted tar sands bitumen through Line 9 poses a significant risk to many watersheds and to Lake Ontario itself, which provides fresh drinking water for millions of Canadians. Limiting public scrutiny, as the National Energy Board has done, will do nothing to limit the threat of a toxic oil spill from Line 9.

 

There are numerous existing and potential impacts associated with tar sands extraction and pipeline projects, from environmental degradation and climate change (including droughts, floods, and extreme weather) to oil spills, workplace hazards and community health problems. We have much to learn from the indigenous communities who are dealing first-hand with many of these impacts in their territories and are leading the opposition to pipelines. 

 

Indigenous communities, environmentalists and labour groups have united to oppose the tar sands pipelines going west and south, and we need a similarly impressive display of mass opposition to any such proposal to transport tar sands crude east. Stopping the Line 9 Pipeline reversal and moving toward a clean energy economy with green jobs would be a multiple “win”—a win for communities, jobs, farms, the environment, public health, and for our long-term energy security. 

 

We therefore call for, and will work towards, stopping the Line 9 reversal project.”

 

- Stuart motions that we endorse this statement, Tamara seconds, the motion passes unanimously

 

10) Brief Strategizing

- Is the brief not brief enough considering we need several hundred people to read it in full?

- Can we shorten the “full brief” to an executive summary and attach the detailed brief as appendices or notes, not required for petition “full reading”?

 

11) Summer planning meetings

- Now that weather is nicer and school is calming down for many people, should we have some meetings in last summer’s informal, hosted-in-someone’s-house-with-beer-and-cookies format?

- Stuart motions that this happen, Emily seconds, the motion passes unanimously

 

12) Next meeting

- The next meeting will take place at the usual time, next Tuesday May 7^th, 2013 at 7pm. Location TBA

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

7 May 2013

Present: Miriam, Tim, Mie, Stuart, Monica, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

-Divestment

* Divestment brief

* Letter to incoming president Meric Gertler

-Line 9

* NEB application

* Line 9 meeting on Thursday May 9th

* Lawn signs

-General

* Contact from musician (Adam Davidson-Harden in Kingston)

* Termly General Meeting (TGM) - May 28th

* Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN) General Meeting - May 11th

* Next meeting

Aside - the Chess Room is quite a nice space for meetings

1) Divestment brief

Status updates

* Jon is working on part 3 (social injury) but doesn't have an updated draft yet

* Likewise Milan on part 6 (why Shell)

* Milan wrote a preliminary version of the executive summary

* Stuart has updated section 4, as well as the bibliography

* Stuart has updated parts 1-3, and part 5 - not sure what to do on sub-part 4

* Emily is looking at briefs from other schools

* What to look for: 1) good sources we can use 2) any especially well-put-together text on legal or financial issues 3) any information on why schools that have already succeeded managed it

Milan will incorporate the latest changes and make a new PDF and set of .tex files, to be distributed to the brief group

Questions from last week: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/MgD9qYDgUXoJ

* Is the brief not brief enough considering we need several hundred people to read it in full?

* Can we shorten the "full brief" to an executive summary and attach the detailed brief as appendices or notes, not required for petition "full reading"?

From Procedures for Responding to Social and Political Issues with Respect to University Divestment (January 2008)

* "One or more individuals must prepare a fully documented brief identifying the social or political issue that they believe requires divestment."

* "This committee, chaired by a senior officer designated by the President, will consider the briefs. The committee may consult with investment and other experts as they deem necessary."

The brief is likely the only evidence we will be able to submit

* It is also the one thing the committee needs to consider

We need to balance the quality of the brief with the timescale we want

* We are asking for Shell by the end of the year, and climate change is urgent

* We need to get it to the administration by the end of September at the absolute latest

* That means getting the 300 signatures

* Otherwise, little hope of them acting on Shell

Will people be willing to read a document of 50+ pages?

* If we only include the executive summary, the ad hoc committee will have no obligation to read the rest of the document

* We could do a trial run, and see how willing people are to sign off on the full document

* Should we aim to have a full brief and a block of signatures by the end of July?

We will have an executive summary of a couple of pages

* This can include dynamic links to the full brief

Can we get the tobacco or South Africa briefs?

* Mie will try to track them down for next meeting

* The Office of the Governing Council might have them available

* The tobacco brief is 51 pages long, and seems to look a lot like what we've been doing?

Milan is still meant to meet with Tony Gray from the President's Office, but has not been able to schedule a meeting yet

* When they do meet, Milan will ask about:

* What is necessary for a 'signature' - can it be online? must they be physical?

* How long have successful past briefs been? Does he have advice on length?

How busy are people now?

* Miriam finished and free, Monica busy

* Milan moving for a second time on the 9th, and can then prioritize the brief for a while before really starting on comp. preparation

* Mie has five term papers, may be moving, going to Utah at the end of May for most of the summer

Let's aim to have the brief done and out to outside experts for evaluation by the end of May

* Monica has someone who can do a legal review as of around the 15th

* Major legal sections:

* "The business activities of these companies frustrate the enforcement of the rules of domestic and international law intended to protect individuals against deprivation of health,

safety, and basic freedoms"

* Divestment is compatible with the university's fiduciary duties

* Shell and legal issues

Timeline:

* Preliminary draft by the 15th for legal review

* Full draft by the end of the month for outside experts

* Final draft ready for signatures by the end of June

Other brief tasks

* Contact student government leaders (Miriam will do so)

* What is the best way to approach them?

* Perhaps send an email and suggest a brief meeting with a couple of us

* Should she contact college governments too?

* Feel them out on how possible a referendum in the fall would be

* Aims: make them aware, seek their support

Miriam already contacted the Environmental Law Club seeking help

* Milan asked Cheryl McNamara if anyone from the Citizens Climate Lobby would be able to help

* Someone could go to a CCL meeting

* CCL meets once a month, usually the first Saturday (holiday dependent) from 12:45-2:30 PM ET on an international teleconference call, which features a keynote speaker

* http://citizensclimatelobby.ca/content/join

2) Letter to incoming president Meric Gertler

We need to re-draft the letter to David Naylor to focus away from health issues and re-focus on topics of special importance to

Should we send the Naylor letter anyhow?

* We can just advise that the campaign is happening, announcing that a brief will follow

Milan will modify the Naylor letter and send it around for comment

* We can vote to approve sending it for next week

Much of the content for the Gertler letter can be the same

Could someone draft some Gertler-specific text? Re: urbanization, etc?

* Miriam could work on this after next week

* We should discuss Toronto-specific effects, sewer systems etc

* Is there anyone at the city who might be willing to endorse the letter? Some sort of civil engineer? Some sort of disaster or climate change planning office?

3) NEB application

Paper documents sent?

* Stuart has sent it

At this stage, we are waiting to see if our application to comment is approved

4) Line 9 meeting on Thursday May 9th

Happening at OISE at 7pm

* Environmental Defence, Greenpeace, Rising Tide, etc

* They would like someone from 350 to chair it, but nobody is immediately willing

Stuart is planning to go - Miriam may as well

5) Lawn signs

Monica and Miriam have acquires some, and volunteered to distribute them

* To be done next week, after the Montreal training

* Miriam can bring some by campus co-op houses

6) Contact from musician (Adam Davidson-Harden in Kingston)

His song "Highwire" is about climate change: http://adamharden.bandcamp.com/album/one-dimensional-man

* http://adamharden.bandcamp.com/track/highwire#lyrics

We can let him know if we line up a fundraising event

* Juan Pablo is also still willing to perform for us

7) Termly General Meeting (TGM) - May 28th

We need to have a TGM for the summer term in May

Preferences re: location?

* Hart House? Massey College?

* Miriam's living room?

Milan will bring some beer

* Stuart will bring food, as will Mie if she is here

* We can include in the notification email that it will be a potluck

* Miriam will send an email about who is bringing what

Do we want to have a party afterward?

Last TGM, we identified several contradictions in the constitution: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/PLL-87gvw0kJ

* Milan will produce an updated draft and distribute it in 'track changes' format well before the meeting

* We will aim to have one vote to adopt all the changes

Re: executive positions

* Milan could conceivably shift to being Brief Coordinator exclusively for the summer

Monica should prepare a financial statement (possibly along with Amelia Rose, re: any fundraising accomplished this term)

8) Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN) General Meeting - May 11th

First General Meeting of the Toronto Climate Action Network. 

* Saturday, May 11

* 3:00-5:00 pm

* Metro Hall, Room 302

Website with application form is still down: http://tcan.ca/sites/default/files/files/TCAN%20AppForm%2004-06-2013.pdf

Stuart downloaded a copy, and submitted one along with $20

* Monica will reimburse him

Stuart will try to go, as will Milan

9) Next meeting

Tuesday, May 14th

* Should Milan book a room, or do we want to do it at someone's home

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

14 May 2013

Present: Amelia Rose, Mie, Monica, Stuart, Jess, Yasmin, Tim, Miriam, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

-Panda event Saturday May 18th

-Divestment

* Letter to David Naylor

* Letter to Meric Gertler

* Divestment brief

* Divestment Train the Trainer Workshop in Montreal May 10, 11, 12

-Line 9

* Line 9 meeting on Thursday May 9th

-Other

* Speaker from the 350 mothership - May 27th

* Late July mothership actions

* TCAN General Meeting

* Termly General Meeting - May 28th

1) Panda event Saturday May 18th

Media advisory

* Monica has prepared a draft media advisory, which looks great

Where and when?

* The Main Entrance is located on Meadowvale Road, Toronto, north of Highway 401 (Exit #389 eastbound and westbound).

* "GIANT PANDAS, Opening May 18, 2013 We are expanding on our front entrance to serve you better - please expect some delays."

* Opening hours, 9am - 7pm, 8am for members

Transport

* What time do we want to be there?

* It takes about 40 minutes to drive there

* 90 minutes by transit

* Meet at 9am in the car park north of Soldiers' Tower / Hart House

* Stuart will rent and drive a minivan ($114 for the day, $69 until 1pm)

* Monica can drive another vehicle

* We will likely stay for a few hours, and be back at roughly 1pm

Numbers?

* Jess and parents, Yasmin, Jon, Milan, Monica, Mie, Stuart, Kai

* Stuart can rent one car - possibly a minivan like we used for the February DC trip

Precedent re: elephants

* http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/group-protests-treatment-of-elephants-outside-zoo-1.409606

* "About half a dozen people held signs reading "elephants suffer in zoos and handed out pamphlets to people driving into the facility as they denounced the treatment of animals in captivity."

* "Security prevented protesters from entering the grounds."

Do we want signs?

* Something like "Protect endangered species, stop climate change"

Yasmin will see if she can get a panda costume

Review of petition text

* Nothing overtly objectionable

* Milan will make a formatted version where the key parts are larger, bolder, etc

* The scientific sources cited add credibility, but could perhaps be shifted into footnotes

* Milan will also add a short 'summary' section at the top

Should the first section be so critical? Or more inclined toward encouraging cooperation?

Handout on recent science

* Stuart will be making one

* We can also print a few copies of the articles themselves

The Chinese embassy has a page on the pandas specifically: http://ca.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/cpc2013/

The zoo also has a panda website: http://www.torontozoo.com/Pandas/

* Press kit: http://www.torontozoo.com/Pandas/?pg=Press

Does everyone who is coming have a 350 t-shirt?

Milan will bring photo gear

We will send out a MailChimp with information on the panda event, including photos and any media coverage, after the panda event

Panda message: Canada sees its relationship with China as being largely about selling oil, but that perspective leaves a lot out, including pandas - this icon of biodiversity challenges us to do more about climate change

* Canada and China are contributing to climate change, which threatens species including the panda

2) Letter to David Naylor

At the last meeting, we decided that we may as well send a letter to the outgoing president, explaining our campaign and seeking his support

- Milan distributed the latest draft version of the letter via email, and has incorporated suggestions from Miriam

- Mie has also provided some comments which Milan will incorporate

Should we ask for something?

* It ends now with "Your support for this effort would be appreciated enormously."

* We could add "Representatives from Toronto350.org would be happy to meet with you at your convenience to provide further details on the campaign"

* Or: "Toronto350.org politely requests a meeting with you to describe our argument in more detail"

Milan moves that he finalize and hand-deliver the letter to the President's Office

* Stuart seconds

* Passes unanimously

Stuart will also put it up on our website

3) Letter to Meric Gertler

Bio on the incoming U of T president: http://news.utoronto.ca/world-renowned-urban-expert-to-become-next-u-t-president

Miriam to work on this next week: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/MvwVOonWlkkJ

Could someone investigate whether there is an urban expert who would be willing to contribute to the letter and help us focus it on Gertler's area of expertise?

* Threat of climate change to cities generally, Toronto specifically, etc

We could contact David Miller

* Tim will do so, with assistance from Miriam

4) Divestment brief

The Green Mountain College (Vermont) Board of Trustees has voted to divest: http://gofossilfree.org/breaking-green-mountain-college-votes-to-divest/

Milan has received input from Monica for section 3 - specifically, the part on the relevance of the tobacco divestment precedent

* Milan will incorporate this into the document

Timeline agreed last meeting:

* Preliminary draft by the 15th for legal review

* Full draft by the end of the month for outside experts

* Final draft ready for signatures by the end of June

-Milan will finish this round of changes to the 'Why Shell' section by tomorrow

* Stuart's section is more-or-less done, barring one article Neal included that isn't clear (in part 4.2)

* Mie will have a look at the article

Sections requiring legal review:

* Section 3, especially "The business activities of these companies frustrate the enforcement of the rules of domestic and international law intended to protect individuals against deprivation of health, safety,and basic freedoms"

* Section 4

* Section 6 - most important

Milan will send it to a Massey college law student who said she would have a look

* Monica also has a lawyer contact

* Milan will also ask his father if he knows anyone who might be willing to have a look

Other status updates

* Unclear what Jon has done on section 3

Adding graphics

* Jon suggested this, and it is probably a good idea and fairly straightforward

* Some plausible graphics to include are at: http://www.sindark.com/2009/11/06/one-page-climate-briefing/

Milan is still waiting to hear back from Anthony Gray - Director, Strategic Initiatives and Research

- Milan will approach the Governing Council staff directly to get information on what is necessary for a signature approving the brief to count

Other tasks - progress reports

- Contact student representatives on the Board of Governors, let them know about the campaign, seek their support

* Miriam has sent them emails, but hasn't heard back yet

- Contact members of the student governments (for undergrads, grad students, etc), seek their support, learn more about holding a student referendum during elections in the fall

* Miriam emailed the president of UTSU, hasn't yet heard back

* We may eventually want to approach people through non-email channels, like swinging by their office

- Go through divestment materials from other schools to find good applicable arguments, information, and sources - especially McGill, Harvard, UBC

* Emily said she would work on this

* Milan reviewed the McGill brief and didn't find that it included much that is lacking in our document

- Get in touch with the Environmental Law Club and any other group where members might be interested in helping with the writing of the brief itself - we are especially looking for people with extensive knowledge in law and/or finance.

* Miriam already contacted them - have we heard back? No.

- Contacting alumni

* Monica has a database

* Emails have gone out to people whose contact details we have

- Was Mie able to get the South Africa divestment brief?

* Not yet

* Tobacco brief has the same sort of structure as our brief

* There was a committee report after the fact stating the reasons why the agree and disagree with the brief

Middlebury College Professors on Divestment: http://vimeo.com/65030538

Emily is still concerned about the length of the brief

* Ease of getting signatures, versus degree to which the case is detailed and convincing

* Something more succinct may also be better received by the committee members

Once we have a further draft, we can go through it to make sure nothing is too repetitive

5) Divestment Train the Trainer Workshop in Montreal May 10, 11, 12

Monica, Miriam, and Emily were there

Overall, "incredibly useful"

* Began with a brief history of divestment - including lessons learned

* Saturday: campaigning, goals, target, strategy, tactics

* "SMART" goals - specific, measurable, etc

* Sunday: media, new and traditional

* "Negotiating with power" - simulated meeting with university administrators

Key elements

* Could be beneficial to have a "diversity welcome", acknowledging First Nations territory

* Protocol for welcoming new members - we considered this at a previous TGM

* Could improve new member retention rate

* Alternative, assign a 'buddy' to new members

* Identifying allies and opponents - one-on-one discussions

* Approaching faculty, different departments, etc

* Produce handouts to give people

* Strategy workshop to plan out divestment campaign for the summer - focus on goals, key actions

* Perhaps once we have a solid draft of the brief

* Ramp up outreach efforts, particularly toward faculty

* Thinking ahead to what we will do if the ad hoc committee rejects the brief

* Working at other Toronto schools?

* Historically, divestment campaigns have taken a long time

* Maintaining momentum, despite rejection

* "Bottom-lining" - making sure that something gets done, though not necessarily doing it yourself

* Media messaging: clear simple message that conveys a sense of urgency, tips for working with reporters and being interviewed effectively

* Don't focus on the tactic you are using - risks making the coverage focus on the appropriateness of the tactic

We should press to be able to give oral evidence, have witnesses, etc at the divestment ad hoc committee meeting

We need a response to the argument that divestment would affect scholarships, and that divestment would reduce diversity in the portfolio

Four categories of objections: political, economic, social, and moral

* The federal government eventually passed legislation to make it easier for universities to divest from South Africa

* Precedents are useful - the university has been successful in divesting before

* Unity College has seen an increase in applications and donations after divesting

* Also, a risk that getting too tied up in rebuttal will weaken your message

6) Line 9 meeting on Thursday May 9th

A door-to-door canvassing guide has been prepared by Environmental Defence, and is attached to these minutes

Stuart was at the meeting, along with Amelia Rose and Miriam

There will be monthly activities from various groups in the coalition

* June - Stop Line 9 is doing a 'walk the line' event

* August - hope that James Hansen might come out

We don't yet know the schedule for the NEB hearings

* Original schedule has already slipped

* Delays are to our advantage - time to build momentum, delay of the possible reversal itself

We can highlight action by other groups in our newsletters

7) Late July mothership actions

Stuart got an email today, listing 9-10 actions

* Including actions where people risk arrest

* Apparently quite general - 'breaking the power of the fossil fuel industry'

Stuart may have an update later

8) TCAN General Meeting

Milan attended

* Chair, treasurer, steering committee elected

Minutes: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/56S4SM0mGEU/lm_s_Dh_Z1cJ

9) Termly General Meeting - May 28th

Protocol for executive email addresses, when positions go unfilled

* In the event that an executive position is to be unfilled for a term, another member of the executive shall be assigned to monitor the email address for the position. They may do so by logging in manually, or by setting up the account of the inactive position to forward automatically to their active account.

* Should this be in the constitution? Or just a practice?

Other constitutional amendments

* Milan will produce an updated constitution that deals with the contradictions identified at the last TGM

* He will circulate it at least a week before the TGM so that people have a chance to review it

* Ideally, we will vote on all of the amendments simultaneously

Miriam to circulate email asking people to commit to bringing food and drink

The TGM will be at Miriam's

10) Next meeting

Tuesday, May 21st

* 7-9pm

* Milan will book a room at U of T

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

21 May 2013

Present: Miriam, Tim, Mie, Emily, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Panda event debrief

- Divestment

* Divestment brief updates

* Divestment at Trinity College

* Contact with student representatives

-Miscellaneous

* Toronto Botanical Garden farmers' market

* Summer Heat events

* Summer Actions / Trainings / Event Database Map

* Submit a Pitch for Action Speaks Louder: Deadline Fri May 31

* Camping trip to Cordova Mines

* Getting Bill McKibben to Toronto

* McGill prof climate videos

* Next meeting - TGM - May 28th

1) Panda event debrief

Photos are up at: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sindark/sets/72157633510661679/

See also: http://toronto350.org/pandas

Thanks to Miriam for making the signs, and to everyone who came out

Stuart:

* "The panda event was a fun one-off event, and well worth doing. However, it doesn't fit directly into either of the campaigns we're running, so my opinion is that we should just tie it up, deliver the petitions with minimal effort, and move on. If more panda stuff comes up, we have the flyers+signs, so can do more at the drop of a hat. But imho it's not worth continuing, as it doesn't fit in our campaigns, and doesn't have a SMART goal or anything."

The main objectives were to try to get media attention and try to get petition signatures

* Because security made us leave the area where people were on foot - and because the media was inside the zoo - we didn't get many signatures (30) and didn't get any on-site media attention

What should we do with the petition?

* Neither the PM nor the Chinese ambassador seems likely to be impressed with 30 signatures...

* Potentially counter-productive

Perhaps best just to let this go and focus on the tasks which we already have, which are considerable

The main aim was really to try to get media attention, so in this case it was a good effort that didn't accomplish its main goal

Should we make a formal decision on this?

* Probably better to wait for a meeting where more of the participants are present

* We can also discuss any other lessons learned then

2) Divestment brief updates

Two sections (4 and 6) have been sent to Monica's contact for legal review

* Best not to do further proofreading on these sections for right now

Section 3 should also be reviewed, but someone has to spend several hours merging it with the existing format and incorporating it into the LaTeX document

* Milan will do this as soon he can

Remaining brief tasks

* A list was sent around in the email with the latest draft of the brief

* If you want to do some proofreading or standardization, please let Milan know you are working on it

Things to standardize:

* Use 'percent' in text, and use the % sign in tables

* Remember that to put in a % sign in LaTeX, you use \% (just using % starts a comment line)

* Others, as listed in the ~tasks-0-1.txt file I sent around

Mie is willing to read through the whole document as a printout

Milan will convert the updated section 3 to LaTeX

* Mie will proofread sections 1 and 2, and send comments to Milan

* Once Milan has put section 3 into LaTeX, Mie will have a look at it

Milan will also finalize and deliver the David Naylor letter, as agreed previously

Possible urban expert to help with letter to new president

* Daniel Hoornweg, cities and sustainable development at the World Bank

* He has written: "Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda"

* http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUWM/Resources/340232-1205330656272/CitiesandClimateChange.pdf

It would be useful to have signatories who are subject matter experts, or to get input on a draft letter from them

Miriam has a draft of a letter to the new president, which she will send tomorrow

3) Divestment at Trinity College

Matt Stergiou contacted us via Facebook

* "To give you some background on my work, I have been talking with the bursar at Trinity College who helps coordinate the management of our $70M endowment fund with our investment council. At the moment, we are looking at reinvesting a pool of money ($200K) that is usually sits as cash into an environmentally sustainable index fund. I'm also good friends with one of the members of Divest McGill who circulated a fossil fuel divestment petition which I think could be a good idea to do at U of T."

Monica has been in touch with him

It's probably a good idea to encourage him to come to one of our Tuesday meetings

* Then we can work out how he might like to coordinate with our campaign

* If he can't make it out to one of our planning meetings, someone from Toronto350.org could meet with him on-on-one

There could conceivably be campaigns at each of the colleges

4) Contact with student representatives

Miriam heard back from Andrew Ursel, Vice-President External for the University of Toronto Students' Union

* Would like to meet to discuss opportunities to collaborate

* Either this Thursday or the following Monday or Tuesday

* Milan, Miriam, and Emily are all free and interested in going

Miriam will write back and ask for a meeting on Monday

5) Toronto Botanical Garden farmers' market

Milan met Julie Nowak, who is organizing this

* The market is open every Thursday (until Oct. 10) from 3 to 7pm.

* Toronto Botanical Garden, 777 Lawrence Ave. East, Toronto

* (Lawrence Ave. & Leslie St., in Edwards Gardens)

* www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/organicmarket

They are planning on having a booth available (free of charge) each week for different non-profits, activist groups, etc.

Would anyone be interested in going?

* Miriam and Emily would be, after the middle of June for Emily

6) Summer Heat events

From the 350 mothership

* "The last two weeks of July are, statistically, the hottest stretch of the year. This year we want to make them politically hot too. Which means we need you, out on the front line. We need some of you to risk going to jail, and all of you to show up and speak out."

* "Here’s how it works. This is a list of the actions planned so far. A few more may be added in the weeks ahead as we keep working with allies. Find the one nearest you. Start making plans to show up. Be there when the time comes."

* http://joinsummerheat.org/map/

No actions are listed in Canada so far

Could we do something for Line 9?

* Perhaps something will be happening during this timeframe anyhow

Also, in June:

* "In June friends are organizing “Fearless Summer” protests at mining and drilling sites around the country. In Canada, First Nations connected to the Idle No More movement are hatching plans for a "Sovereignty Summer" which could see“coordinated nonviolent direct actions” on Indigenous lands that are in the midst of fierce anti-extraction battles. meanwhile, our colleagues at CREDO continue to collect names pledged to civil disobedience should Keystone XL move forward. But Summer Heat will be a powerful focus -- a chance for thousands of us to show the courage we need to lower the temperature."

* http://wearefearlesssummer.tumblr.com/

* http://www.defendersoftheland.org/story/318

* http://act.credoaction.com/sign/kxl_pledge

7) Summer Actions / Trainings / Event Database Map

From Cameron Fenton

* "We're working with 350 this summer to launch a map of actions happening across Canada this summer in order to show a picture of the growing climate justice movement, and to provide a resource to organizations, groups and individuals in Canada to connect."

* "Basically its going to be an interactive google map that will show the when, where and how to get involved in actions/events/trainings this summer related to fossil fuels/pipelines/indigenous rights, etc..."

* "From you, I basically need a short email if you have anything that fits into this broad category coming up this summer with the NAME, DATES, LOCATION, a BLURB and a LINK to get people more plugged in. We'll be setting it up to be easy to update so you can send me things as they develop as well."

* cycc.d...@gmail.com

If we have any suitable actions, we can pass along the information

8) Submit a Pitch for Action Speaks Louder: Deadline Fri May 31

"Action Speaks Louder is the bi-annual newsletter of OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group)-Toronto. We are looking for articles for our Fall 2013 issue, and we invite you to submit a pitch on any issue of social and/or environmental justice, on a political issue on campus or about campaigns you're involved in. Pitches are 100-150 words and are meant to give us an idea of what the article will focus on and how it fits within the realm of campus or community organizing. Previous issues of Action Speaks Louder have explored such issues as indigenous solidarity, police brutality, prison expansion and anti-austerity campaigns. We work with authors through different drafts to develop the article, with input from our editorial collective."

* "The pitch submission deadline for the fall issue is Friday May 31st, 2013. Please send all pitches by e-mail

to actionspeaks...@gmail.com. More information: www.opirgtoronto.org."

Probably a good idea to submit a pitch re: our divestment campaign

* Miriam will write one

9) Camping trip to Cordova Mines

Kai has suggested that we go camping in June at his father's 60-acre 'studio' near Cordova Mines, Ontario

If you are interested, indicate your availability at: http://www.doodle.com/dszqmz42hqbrm4yp

10) Getting Bill McKibben to Toronto

Mie emailed Cameron Fenton about the possibility of getting him out in the fall

* Could help us ramp our divestment campaign up

* Someone from the Comart Foundation previously spoke with Monica about providing some funds to make this happen

Bill's schedule is really packed, partly with a new book tour

* The 350 people are organizing a tour of big-name speakers related to divestment

* Naomi Klein, Maude Barlow, front-line tar sands community members

We could collaborate with CYCC on such an event

* Could be a launch event for an Ontario tour

Mie will follow up and let us know more at a subsequent meeting

11) McGill prof climate videos

A prof Tamara knows (Catherine Potvin) "has asked for help from former students in making some short videos about climate change across Canada."

* "They will be “positive” videos showing that, if there were some political will, we could resolve climate change.  I decided to go by sectors of emissions and want to produce videos addressing ways to reduce emissions liked with: -Energy –Cities –Transport –Agriculture –Waste -Housing -Industry."

* "So if anyone of you is interested in helping filming and participating in this series of videos,  it would be a blessing.  I would love to be able to show videos from elsewhere (Toronto, Vancouver, Singapour, Copenhaguen, Ecuador).  I also need to illustrate life in a suburb... Let me know if you want to join the “production team”."

The prof will be in Toronto in early October

Tamara will provide more information at the TGM

12) Next meeting - TGM - May 28th

Tamara will not be running

* Other members, please give some thought to whether you could serve as Communications Director for the summer

The TGM will be a potluck at Miriam's - 620 Huron Street

Tasks

* We need someone to update the list of people eligible to vote

* You just need to take last term's list and update it based on who has been present at meetings this term

Perhaps at a future meeting (but perhaps not at the TGM) we should have a strategy discussion to work out how we will get the 300 signatures we need for the brief

* Could be at the June 4th planning meeting, or at a meeting specifically for the task

* Could be at a different kind of venue from an ordinary planning meeting

We can decide exactly what we want to do at next week's meeting

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org termly general meeting

28 May 2013

Present: Miriam, Monica, Cameron, Stuart, Tim, Mie, Jessica, Amy, Tamara, Emily, Melinda, Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Assemble

* Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an appointed person)

* Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such as a coloured sticker

* Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting

* Election of president

* Election of treasurer

* Creation or elimination of executive positions

* Nomination and election of other executive members

* Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution (hopefully none)

* Financial report from the treasurer

* TCAN MP lobbying

* Summer Heat 

* Do the Math movie screening June 18th

* John Riddell - High School leafletting

* Weekly food

* Strategic discussion of divestment

* Getting Bill McKibben to visit

* Line 9 NEB process

* Going into a school

* McGill prof climate videos

* Follow-up on items from last meeting

* Next meeting

1) Assemble

Determination of who is eligible to vote

Members entitled to vote given token to indicate their status

2) Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting

Chairperson

Milan nominates Stuart

Stuart nominates Emily

* Seconded

* Stuart declines nomination

Vote in favour of Emily chairing the meeting

Interim chairperson

Milan nominates Stuart

* Seconded

* Passes unanimously

3) Election of president

Milan nominated

* Seconded

Stuart nominated

* Seconded

We need to clarify the voting process for when there are only two candidates

Votes in favour of Milan: 7

* Votes in favour of Stu: 1

* Abstentions: 1

4) Election of treasurer

Monica nominated

* Seconded

9 votes in favour

* No abstentions

5) Creation or elimination of executive positions

No motions to create or eliminate executive positions

6) Nomination and election of other executive members

Descriptions of the responsibilities of executive positions, as listed in the constitution

Creative director

* Stuart volunteers to take over the position temporarily if nobody wants to run for it

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

Director of communications

* Jess nominated

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

Director of operations

* Stuart nominated

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

Media director

* Monica nominated

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

International coordinator

* Tim nominated

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

Director of fundraising

* Amelia Rose nominated

* Seconded

* Emily nominated

* Seconded

* Stuart takes over as interim chair

* Votes in favour of Amelia Rose: 4

* Votes in favour of Emily: 4

* Procedure in the event of a tie?

* "In the event of an ambiguity in the agreed electoral process, the chairperson shall use their judgment to resolve it equitably and in keeping with the principles of Toronto 350.org."

* Votes in favour of Ameelia Rose: 5

* Votes in favour of Emily: 3

Director of outreach

* Emily nominated

* Seconded

* Approved unanimously

Thanks to all of those who served this term

7) Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution

Milan proposes all his amendments

* Added to 5(d): "If the chairperson is standing for election when the situation arises, the interim chairperson shall serve in this capacity."

* Added to 5(e): "In the event that two people are nominated for a position, the candidate who receives more votes shall be elected. In the event of a tie, additional votes shall be held until the tie is broken."

* Added to 5(e): "In the event of a tie, additional votes shall be held until the tie is broken." after "In the event that no candidate receives 50% +1 of the vote (not counting abstentions), the nominee with the least votes will be dropped from the running."

* In 6: "All constitutional amendments must be approved by a simple majority in a vote held by the general membership." replaces: "As required by the U of T, all constitutional amendments must be approved by a simple majority in a vote held by the general membership."

* Added to 6: "Unless otherwise specified, constitutional amendments passed during a TGM shall come into effect immediately."

* Approved unanimously

8) Financial report from the treasurer

We have $330

* We are still still waiting for the cheque from Danyasri's high school

9) TCAN MP lobbying

TCAN proposes to:

* Hold a mini-workshop mid-June to prepare for lobbying (including agreeing on a common set of "asks.")

* Mail requests to all GTA MPs for them to schedule a meeting in their riding offices. (There are 45 MPs in the GTA.)

* Depending upon the location of MPs who agree to meet with us, we will arrange volunteers (including if at all possible constituents of the MP's riding) to attend the meeting. We anticipate that meetings will happen the last week of June and the beginning of July.

* Please consult with your organization and let us know if you are willing to participate. I will create a googlegroup of volunteers so that we can discuss the process.

Do we want to participate in this?

* We would like to be kept informed on how the process is going

* We can provide information about meetings to our members

* Some people may wish to attend the mid-June workshop

We do have a retreat of our own maybe happening in June

Milan will send this information back to them

10) Summer Heat

Previously item 6 in: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/gLg-_x93YnMJ

http://joinsummerheat.org/map/

Should we organize something here, or arrange a trip to DC? Or other? Maybe Line 9-related?

* We should probably keep focused on our two main campaigns

* Line 9 may be a better match

* Could be a good thing to bring up at the larger Line 9 organizing meetings

Monica will be working on organizing a national week of action, as is being discussed now

* The idea is to coordinate actions in solidarity

Probably a good idea to be involved, if it is compatible with our campaigns

11) Do the Math movie screening June 18th

[Stuart returns from surprise emergency beer run]

Tuesday, 2013, June 18 - 6:30pm

This is being organized by Green 13 and the Jane / Dundas Branch Branch Public Library

* http://tcan.ca/do-math-movie-movie-spark-movement

* Clashes with our weekly meeting

We should put it in our MailChimp newsletter, social media, etc

The video is available on YouTube for free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsIfokifwSo

Milan has been approached by Jean Eng, who proposes paying for a screening

* Bloor cinema – capacity 700

* Isabel Badar – capacity 1,200

* Ryerson theatre – capacity 1,400

* She is "working with NOW magazine and Vitality magazine and some local sustainable companies to put on a screening in Toronto"

Milan is planning to meet with her to get more information

* She is the president of Pure+ Simple, a spa company: http://www.pureandsimple.ca/

Milan will report back after the meeting

12) John Riddell - High School leafletting

Stuart got an email from John - a member of the East End Against Line 9 local group

* Some members want to distribute material at local high schools before they close

* Asked for our advice on an approach, drafting a leaflet, etc

This would be the basis for "something more ambitious in September"

Stuart said we could help with a leaflet, but that we haven't undertaken anything like this so far

* If anyone is particularly interested, talk to Stu

Yasmin is involved in a program of presentations at elementary schools and high schools

* Monica is involved

* You need to get permission from the principal to visit school grounds

13) Weekly food

Maybe we could take turns to prepare food for the meetings. Eating together is an important part of building community. We'd just need a volunteer (or schedule!) to bring a dish each week, and maybe could provide funding for it (maybe $20/wk or so).

We are not allowed to eat in Hart House or Robarts Library, where we have most of our meetings

We could have a weekly or a monthly social instead

* Could be the first or the last meeting of each month - have it at someone's house with food

* We could use this as a precedent, and go with the last Tuesday

* Approved unanimously

Should there be a budget for it?

* Or stick to potlucks?

* We will stick to potlucks

14) Strategic discussion of divestment

Milan met with Anthony Gray, Director, Strategic Initiatives and Research, Office of the President

* One suggestion: it would be easier for the university to divest from directly-held stocks

* Could be a first stage, and could improve the odds of success

* Milan will alter the brief so that it refers specifically to selling directly-held stock

Milan proposes that we change the wording of the brief to request divestment of direct stock holding first in Shell and then in the 200 listed companies

* If they accept this, we can push to sell more complicated investment types that include fossil fuels later

Milan will go to the Governing Council office to get South Africa and tobacco minutes

An environmental lawyer from EcoJustice is looking over two sections

* People in the U of T Environmental Law Association may also help

* It would be great to have some finance-savvy people look at section 4

Milan has been in touch with Divest Yale, and they will eventually provide their brief

Short answers to common questions

* We have eight so far

* Send further suggestions to Milan

* Would anyone volunteer to write a draft response to one of the ones we have already?

* Emily will do: "What are the University of Toronto's peer schools doing?"

* Milan is doing: "Why should the university `take sides' in this matter? Is it appropriate for the university to take stances on social and political issues?" and "Can humanity manage without fossil fuels?"

* Milan will put up a thread about this on the planning forum

Divest Harvard: "Respond to Arguments Against Divestment" - http://divestharvard.com/updates/rebuttals/

Mie will check if any of the schools that have already divested use the Yale definition of social injury

15) Getting Bill McKibben to visit

Mie spoke to Cam

* Probably impossible, given how booked up he is

* He is undertaking a tour in Ontario, maybe - not clear whether it really will

We could wait and try to use the Comart funding with McKibben or someone of similar stature later in the year

* It would be good to get more information on how much they would be willing to contribute

* Monica will put Roger in touch with Cameron Fenton

We can stress to Cameron that we do want to be involved in any such event in Toronto

16) Line 9 NEB process

Most applications successful, including us

* Not quakers, Women for Peace, East End Line 9 group

* No obligation to explain why

Our application to comment was accepted

* We need to make our comment by August 6th

17) Going into a school

Yasmin is involved in a program called Wings for Change

* Doing a presentation at a high school in The Beaches on June 14th

Monica will go and observe

18) McGill prof climate videos

Tamara got an email from a prof of hers, re: climate change related videos

* Discussed previously as item 11 in: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/gLg-_x93YnMJ

19) Follow-up on items from last meeting

Meeting with Andrew Ursel, Vice-President External for the University of Toronto Students' Union

* Miriam asked for a meeting

* As the new outreach person, Emily can take over finding a time

Toronto Botanical Garden farmers' market

* Miriam booked us a table for the 20th of June

* We will need literature, petitions, etc

Submit a Pitch for Action Speaks Louder: Deadline Fri May 31

* Miriam sent around a draft for comment

* She will submit what she has in two days

20) Next meeting

Should we focus next week's meeting on a strategy discussion?

* Yes

Milan will book at room in Hart House or Robarts

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

4 June 2013

Present: Jean, Stuart, Amelia Rose, Monica, Tamara, Emily, Miriam, Tim, Cam, Jess, Amy, Milan

Chairperson: Stuart (on his birthday)

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* October 'Do the Math' screening

* Divestment strategy

* Bank account

* Fundraising / crowdfunding

* 'Bidder 70' screening

* Summer Heat (water fight?)

* NEB and Line 9

* Divestment brief

* Update on 'big speaker' event

* Next meeting

1) October 'Do the Math' screening

Jean Eng is the president of the Pure+ Simple spas in Toronto

* She wants to organize a screening of Do the Math at the Bloor Cinema in October

* The theatre seats 700, and she is willing to cover the rental

* We could collect donations, raise our visibility, etc

* Likely on a Wednesday night, could not be on a weekend, probably at 7pm

* Jean says it will be about $1000 to book the theatre and that she will cover it

Film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsIfokifwSo

Small caterers, alternative drinks companies, etc may be present and provide samples

* There is an area at the theatre where they will have space to set up

* 350 could also have a booth or two for recruitment and fundraising

* This is the only theatre that will allow outside food in this way

Media sponsors already in place: NOW Magazine, Vitality Magazine

* They will provide free ads

* Could possibly get some television coverage beforehand

* Jean is in touch with Adria Vasil, and some other environmentally-included local journalists

* She also has marketing staff that could help with promotional materials, press releases

350 could provide volunteers, recruit, and provide donations

* We should be able to process credit card donations

* Jean would be willing to lend us a credit card machine, if we don't have one of our own

Financial sponsors could be lined up

* The Comart Foundation may also be willing to donate

Possible to have 'swag bags' with sustainable contents, for instance cloth bags from NOW Magazine

* Could be a different mix of things in different bags

Jean is trying to convince the 350 people to send Bill McKibben

* Another option could be a video link

* Other possible speakers: James Hansen, Naomi Klein

* Incorporating a speaker panel could be great

The theatre says people can stand if more than 700 show up

This would integrate nicely with beginning-of-term recruiting at U of T

* Have a big, specific, free event which people can come out to

* As temporary creative director, Stuart will look into making some ads

What should 350 do now?

* Jean will contact possible donors

* We should coordinate with Jean and Liya Choi (marketing manager, liya [at] pureandsimple.ca)

* Possible dates, Wednesday October 9th or October 16th

We could have one big meeting among all those who would like to be involved

2) Divestment strategy

Thinking about the summer, the next six months, etc

Seeking support from faculty and staff members

* Do we have a list of possible supporters in this category? Not yet

* Cam will start a list in Excel or Google Docs

* We need to be selective and targeted in our approach - start with people doing research on climate change

* Our Horizon may be assembling a list of faculty emails, which they may be willing to share

* Cam has been looking at Academia.edu

* Good to propose a face-to-face meeting, offer to attend office hours

We could start with initial contact and conversations, with the brief to follow for possible signature

* We should start approaching people before the brief is finalized

* We can ask people to read the draft and provide input, or just tell them that it will be forthcoming

Requirements:

* "When the brief has been fully prepared, the initiators of the request must secure evidence of support for their cause through the collection of at least 300 signatures endorsing the brief. Up to 200 of the signatures could come from a single constituency of the University community (for the purposes of these procedures, the constituencies are teaching staff, students, administrative staff, and alumni); the remaining 100 signatures must be from at least two other University constituencies with a minimum of 25 signatures from any individual constituency. Each signatory must attest that he/she has read and agrees with the entire content of the brief."

Student signatures

* Natural to start a big campaign in September, frosh events, etc

* We could try to participate in the formal frosh week, or the alternative frosh week

* We should approach student governments, including at colleges

We should try to get campus media coverage during this span

* Emily has one newspaper contact already, who she will speak to

Alumni

* Huge group of people, but harder to secure contact information than for some other groups

* There is an alumni Facebook group

Administrative staff

* Could we approach some sort of staff association or union?

* Cam will look into this

We are still waiting for guidance from the Office of the Governing Council about what they will count as a 'signature'

The ongoing 'Boundless' donation campaign includes a sustainability aspect

* We should get in touch with these people

Event to accompany the submission of the brief

* If we set a date, we could promote it early

* Important to get the tone right, but show a good degree of student support

* Is there some way we can promote the 700 or so signatures we have already collected?

September is going to be a busy and intense month, so we should do as much planning as possible now

* We should approach the frosh people soon

Can we influence the composition of the ad hoc committee that will consider the brief?

Can we give oral evidence to them, provide supportive witnesses, etc?

What will our plan be if they say no?

Can we expand the campaign to other schools, the city, local churches, unions, etc?

* There is at least a bit of interest at Ryerson

Who can serve as the 'bottom line' for outreach?

* Emily could do this as of two weeks from now

Stuart will look into frosh dates, how to get a table, how to include fliers in frosh kits,

* There is no central orienting committee for all of frosh

We are hoping to have our 300 signatures by the end of September

* David Naylor is in place until November

Ideas for a creative event to actually present the brief

* Everyone come up with two creative ideas for next week

3) Bank account

Milan checked PC Financial and ING Direct, but neither offers accounts for groups

TD Bank offers a $2 / month account for community groups

* https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/products-services/small-business/accounts/community-not-for-profit-plans/serv-community.jsp

As soon as Monica signs her part of the paperwork, we will have an account 

* She will do this by next week

4) Fundraising / crowdfunding

Amelia Rose has been looking into possibilities

* See: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/zKmJonVL92Y/qCkYBSCrrkIJ

* We should approach the 350 mothership to seek funding

* Tim will try to get in touch with them

* T-shirts and buttons would be most welcome

We can seek grants from foundations, etc

* The mothership could maybe help us with this too

* Can be hard, as we rarely have big-ticket items or events to seek funds for specifically

Tim and Miriam are doing a hike to raise money for charity, and she is planning to donate her share to Toronto350.org

Approaching individuals

Funding within U of T: Hart House 'Good Ideas Fund', the Student Initiative Fund

* https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/zKmJonVL92Y/DNY1Hfdv_7sJ

* Good ideas fund is for a specific event

* Emily has received one before

The 'Square Credit Card Reader' costs $10 and lets you take credit card payment for a 2.75% fee

* http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/product/H8332LL/B/square-credit-card-reader?fnode=39

* Monica has friends who may know better alternatives

* She will talk to them for next week

PayPal

* Donate buttons for non-profits: https://merchant.paypal.com/ca/cgi-bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/donations

* Fees for non-registered non-profits: 2.9% + $0.30

We need a members list, including a breakdown of who is at U of T

* We could email everyone on the mem...@toronto350.org and ask

* Stuart will send Monica the list of addresses on this list

* We could send a message to the MailChimp list too, asking who is a U of T student

We could send a general MailChimp update: progress on campaigns

* Being accepted as a commenter on Line 9

* Photo from panda event

* Update on divestment

Lush cosmetics

* They already partner with 350

* http://www.lush.ca/on/demandware.store/Sites-LushCA-Site/en_CA/Charities-Support

5) 'Bidder 70' screening

Film about Tim DeChristopher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_DeChristopher

* http://www.bidder70.org/

* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085759/

There has been some talk about a group in Toronto screening the film

* No definite plans at this stage

Should we try something like a weekly or monthly screening, or have a subset of people who focus on screenings?

Cinema Politica: http://www.cinemapolitica.org/

* Possible partnership opportunity - Emily will contact them

6) Summer Heat (water fight?)

Stuart's idea is to have a public water fight at the end of July

* As an alternative to participating in the rally in Washington D.C.

Messaging - a waste of water?

* How to tie the idea to our case?

* At a beach, with lake water? At The Beaches?

* Parks with wading pools: in Kensington Market, or Dufferin Grove Park

Focus on extreme weather impacts of climate change in Toronto?

Would we be providing water guns? Sponges? Asking people to bring their own?

Alternative ideas?

* Incorporate with Critical Mass?

* Walk the Line 9 pipeline? (already happening on June 16th)

* Concert in a park?

* Sand castles?

* Bubble fight? (an existing group does this)

Stu will call the city about permits, access to water, etc

7) NEB and Line 9

We have been accepted as a commenter

Stuart has been talking with Sakura

* Full-time activist involved with Line 9

* How could groups come together to support the intervenors?

* We could ask the NEB to prohibit the use of the pipeline for bitumen

* Is there any precedent of anything similar happening?

Tar Sands Solutions Network: http://tarsandssolutions.org/

* Amy will look into it

8) Divestment brief

License for use?

* One option: "This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/"

* We can waive the attribution requirement if we wish

* More radical: https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/waiver

Milan will add a CC license to the brief

Brief repository idea

* A place for all briefs from schools and responses from school administrations

* Could be done through GoFossilFree.org, or perhaps something we could set up ourselves

* Good to see university responses in places where it has been successful, as well as from places where they have not been successful

Do we want to make physical copies for potential signers?

* Or just print executive summaries, with a link to the full brief

9) Update on 'big speaker' event

Tim contacted Cameron Fenton

* Possibilities include James Hansen, Naomi Klein, Tim Dechristopher, Maude Barlow

* Any of these would be good

Could help drive the U of T divestment event, or help kick them off at Ryerson and York

Do we want to tie this to the 'Do the Math' film event?

* Flexibility on dates may be a problem

A 'backup' local speaker could also be a good idea

10) Next meeting

Next Tuesday, 7-9pm

Stuart has "a big venison steak" from a deer his brother-in-law shot

We will meet at Stu's next week

Please bring other food / drink

[Milan]

Another 'Do the Math' screening:

http://greenlivingottawa.com/2013/06/03/do-the-math-movie-in-ottawa/

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

11 June 2013

Present: Stuart, Jessica, Amelia Rose, Tim, Emily, Amy, Milan

Chairperson: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Weekly status reports

* Do the Math Screening - Wednesday, October 9th

* Divestment brief

* Divestment signature campaign

* Preparing NEB submission for August 6th

* Line 9 'Walk the Line' - Sunday June 16th

* Camping trip - June 14th to 16th

* Summer Heat - water fight / etc

* Frosh and recruitment

* Cameron's list of faculty and post-docs

* Our Horizons at City Hall - June 27

* Next meeting

1) Weekly status reports

Milan has noticed a problem of things 'falling through the cracks' - mostly on the divestment brief, but also more generally

One idea would be to have each member of the executive very quickly report on what they have done, within their constitutionally defined role or generally, during the previous week

* People could also report on specific action items to which they have committed

* If there is another agenda item that would make part of a report redundant to include at the beginning, the person can simply mention that.

Whoever is chairing the meeting can go through the minutes of the last 2-3 meetings and bring up any action items that people haven't brought up themselves

For instance, back on the 22nd Miriam asked for comments on the Pitch for Action Speaks Louder and Letter to the Incoming President

* Did she get the input she needed?

Milan

* Has mostly been working on the brief

* Everything he has been working on is in the agenda

* Has nearly opened the bank account - Monica must confirm

Stu

* Contacted Liya at Pure+ Simple

* Worked on summer heat

* Setting up a 'donate button'

* Kai's list of U of T faculty

Jessica

* Getting familiar with MailChimp

Emily

* Cinema Politica, re: bidder 70 - multiple groups in town, including one on campus

* Newspaper contact

* Student government and student group lists

* If you have a list of student groups, please contact Emily

* Familiarizing herself with the outreach email account

Tim

* Mostly working on the Do the Math (DTM) screening

* Seeking funding from the 350 mothership, via Cameron Fenton

Amelia Rose

* Contacted Lush, they are working on the Northern Gateway Pipeline - hasn't heard back yet

2) Do the Math Screening - Wednesday, October 9th

Jean has booked the Bloor Cinema (capacity 700) for two shows on October 9th

* One at 6:30pm and another at 8:30pm

* The film is 44:53 long, so that will give us a good amount of time for discussion between shows

Finding a speaker

* Apparently BC Powershift is from Oct 3-7 and the are asking people to speak there.

* Cam requested a shortened list from the following: David Suzuki, Naomi Klein, James Hansen, Maude Barlow, Tim DeChristopher

* Tim and Monica have been in touch

Can we ask who will be in Toronto anyway, or closer to Toronto?

Other people we could add: Tom Steyer, Winona Laduke, Margaret Atwood, Crystal Lameman

Optimal order: Hansen, Klein, Suzuki, Atwood, Steyer, Barlow, Dechristopher, Laduke, Lameman

How would we manage with two screenings?

* Ideally, they would speak after both showings

Jean has been contacting many potential sponsors, including: David's Tea, Bunner's, Harvest Moon, Rawlicious, Magic Oven, Tea Tree Cafe, The Annex Hodge Podge, Rawlly Delicious, Veggie D Light, and Kupfert & Kim

* She has been telling them: "As a Food Sponsor you will have a table with space for a company Poster at the event and in August, September and October your logo will be on all of our promotional materials."

* From what I can tell, only Kupfert & Kim have responded so far, with a 'maybe'

* Rawlicious said no

We should have a meeting with the people from Pure+ Simple who are helping with the event

* I offered to book a room in Hart House, and asked Jean for information on when people would be available

Emily will lead the effort in coordinating this event

* Jessica will help

* Milan will tell Jean to use Emily as the primary point of contact

I have also asked Jean about whether there are any tasks we can help with in the next few weeks

3) Divestment brief

We really need commitment from volunteers at this stage

* It is much worse to volunteer and not follow through than to not volunteer at all, as it leaves everyone else with the impression that a task is moving forward when it actually isn't

What if you hate the brief and want nothing more to do with it?

* That's fine

* Toronto350.org has always been committed to the idea of individual commitment and volunteerism

* At this stage, we need a brief team that is committed to doing substantial work on a deadline

* If you would rather work on something else, there is Line9, recruitment, fundraising, liaison with other groups, the film screening, etc

* And you can always invent a project of your own! Entrepreneurship is a big part of what we're about

Status of campaigns at peer schools

* Emily said she would look into McGill and Harvard - does she have text we can integrate?

Milan set up a group to try to coordinate brief writing: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/divestment-brief-writers

* Milan will email a link to Cameron Fenton

Some remaining tasks

* Work on making the executive summary clear, convincing, and reflective of the whole document

* Incorporate Shell chapter into executive summary - Milan will do this

* In section two, fill in `Policies and infrastructure decisions justified with reference to climate change' - Jessica will work on this for next week

* And 'Fossil fuel companies acknowledge the reality and danger of climate change' - Jessica will work on this for next week

* In section 3, identify the source of the claim "The total damage, including public and private property, was estimated at approximately $547 million — the most expensive storm in Toronto’s history."

* And fill in `Abrupt and non-linear adverse climate impacts' - Milan will do this

* Substantially revise S 3.4 'The business activities of these companies frustrate the enforcement of the rules of domestic and international law intended to protect individuals against deprivation of health, safety, and basic freedoms' to make a strong legal case, including all relevant precedents

* Find as many legal precedents as possible acknowledging the seriousness of climate change - Milan will keep working on this

* In section 4, incorporate useful elements from the Yale brief - Milan will do this for next

* Incorporate the 350 mothership document 'Institutional Pathways to Fossil-Free Investing' - Stuart will do this

* In section 5, add a lot more to 'Actions taken by international bodies' - Stuart will look into this for next week

* Write all of section 7 - 'Short answers to common questions' - Milan will do this

* Look through http://toronto350.org/NRTEE/ for useful sources

* Double check that all the footnotes are rendering properly, at the bottom of pages and in the bibliography

* Make sure all the links in the bibliography work - Tim will do this for next week

* Have a legal expert review the sections which include important legal claims - Milan will follow up with the U of T environmental law people, and try to recruit other lawyers

* Have a financial expert review section 4 and the executive summary

* Run a revised draft by Anthony Gray

Things Milan has to do

* Fix LaTeX errors

* Incorporate Mie's suggestions for sections 1 and 2

* Write the FAQ based on notes from the party and emails

* Work out strong responses to the questions posed by Stu's contact Sandy MacKay

* Incorporate 'Freshfields' opinion

4) Divestment signature campaign

We haven't heard back from the Governing Council on what they will accept as a signature

* Milan will ask again

Ideas for presenting the brief

* Some sort of 'academic procession' like at graduation?

* Student-focused march to the president's office? - incorporating some sort of symbolic element?

* Put chalk marks all over campus with graffiti

* Take out a newspaper ad, possibly in a student newspaper

* Set up a dedicated website - could also be a way to collect signatures

* Involve a celebrity

* Have some sort of concert?

* Make something giant out of paper mache? Recruit the Clay and Paper Theatre Company

* Use a hexacopter to hoist a banner / film an outdoor event

* Form a huge '350' on the Front Campus

Where to present it?

* President's office?

* Weather could be an issue

Miriam has a list of alumni emails at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AknbYPCJ_sxtdG1qR1ltYzlqSEV1cHd0dDVJNFBQRXc#gid=0

* It also includes info on who has already been contacted

Could someone try to contact Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr?

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wiwa

We should try to get back on The Green Majority to promote the brief

Maybe highlight 'Those seeking a relatively quick overview should examine the section headings in the table of contents, the executive summary, and the ‘short answers to common questions’ provided.'

* Put executive summary above table of contents? Or make it available as a distinct PDF

* Separate doc with 'how to read' and exec summary

How to get signatures?

* Have 'read-ins' where people read en masse and we answer questions

* Speak in front of classes with sympathetic professors

* Might any profs be willing to put it on a course syllabus? Not all who read it would need to endorse

* Read aloud and make video and audio available

* Find ways to advertise to alumni - Facebook, alumni newsletter

* Milan will harangue the Massey College community

5) Preparing NEB submission for August 6th

We need to produce a letter for the NEB by August 6th, making our case against Line 9

Likely to be largely built from our application

Stuart will 'bottom line' this

* He is speaking with other Line 9 groups about what the general strategy will be and how we could fit into it

* We can focus to an unusual degree on the climate stuff

Date for a draft: 3 weeks before

* At the July 16th meeting

6) Line 9 'Walk the Line' - Sunday June 16th

They want Toronto350.org to provide a speaker

* Stuart is happy to help someone write a script and rehearse

* They are aiming to have three speakers in total

Agenda

* Meet on the Hydro Corridor at Talbot Rd. (1pm)

* Welcome (Gerry) - where we are

* ED - the Line 9 threat.

* Grannies - musical inspiration

* Walk to Grantbrook St.

* 350.org - connection to Keystone and BC campaigns

* Grannies - musical inspiration

* Walk to Bathurst.

* Greenpeace - connection to national Tar Sands campaign.

* Closing (Gerry) - importance of connecting with neighbours and councillors; upcoming Ontario EA campaign

Stuart will send around an email seeking volunteers

7) Camping trip - June 14th - 16th

Kai is coordinating this

Planning to go: Stuart, Miriam, Jessica

If you are interested, contact Kai

Stuart wants sheets to make banners with - if you have any, let him know

8) Summer Heat - water fight / etc

Stuart has called around extensively for information on permits

* Required for more than 25 people

* There are permits for up to 200 people for about $80-90 plus tax

* Apparently, they don't know of any previous water fights that have been arranged

Eight weeks are required to apply for a permit

* Website says six weeks

We could try doing it unofficially at a wading pool, or a beach

* Would probably be hard to get people out

Stu will try contacting the Occupy Canada people

Other possibilities? What could we organize in six weeks?

* Apparently not happening anywhere else in Canada

* No resources being provided to make it happen

* Some sort of banner drop, or other public event?

Could be a distraction from preparing for back-to-school events

We could have a BBQ for 350 people, where people try to bring one person who might be interested in getting involved with climate change

* The mothership probably wouldn't put this on their map

9) Frosh and recruitment

Optimal time for student recruitment

* Use the film screening as a lure

* Will it be general admission or ticketed?

Frosh

* Jess and Stu have been looking into it

* U of T clubs day, 10-4 on September 4th at Wordsworth College

* There is a large clubs day for the whole university

We should have a table at as many events as possible

It would be good to have an info-sheet on the film screening, and on the group generally

Event at Harvest U - in the graduate student union building, where the pub is

* They would sell food and drink

* We could have musicians, speakers, etc

Possible joint events:

* Environmental Action (UTEA) - https://www.ulife.utoronto.ca/organizations/view/id/16488

* Environmental Students Union - https://www.ulife.utoronto.ca/organizations/view/id/1059

Do they give a planner to incoming students?

* What would be involved in getting included in that?

* The ULife people probably know - groups....@utoronto.ca

Emily can take over Frosh planning

* Was involved with alternative frosh as McGill

10) Cameron's list of faculty and post-docs

List of potential supporters to be contacted

* He will send it around shortly

11) Our Horizons at City Hall - June 27

Rob says there may be a vote that day

* "we still need to confirm it with a few councillors before we officially get it on the agenda"

* They would appreciate having supporters out

This would be a committee vote to get their gas pump labelling project forwarded to city council

12) Next meeting

It would be a good idea to have more people chair

* Exactly how you do it is up to you, but you should review the minutes from the last few weeks to look for action items, as well as compose an agenda in advance

We can set a chair for the next meeting at the end of each

Emily will chair next week

* Milan will book a room for the normal time, preferably in Hart House

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

18 June 2013

Present: Cameron W., Stuart, Miriam, Emily, Tim, Milan

Chair: Emily

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* October Do the Math screening

* Divestment signature campaign

* Divestment brief

* NEB submission

* Summer Heat

* Finances

* Frosh event and recruitment

* Our Horizon

* Green 13 Do the Math screening - June 18th

* Climate Action NOW! brainstorming session

* Walk the Line event

* Farmer's Market - Thursday, June 20th

* 350 merchandise

* CCL Mid-Month Action Meetings - Summer Schedule

* Next meeting

1) Status updates

Stuart got sheets for painting during the camping trip

* Added material to section 4 of the brief

* Emailed Rob about climate change legal precedents

Milan has mostly been working on the brief, along with doing some email coordination related to the October screening and a bit of work on research for our Line 9 comment

Emily emailed her newspaper contact, contacted three Cinema Politica groups (heard back that they are meeting within the next week to chose a year's worth of screenings; they are happy to consider showing Do the Math), emailed the VP external for the University of Toronto Student Union

2) October Do the Math screening

Emily hasn't been fully kept in the loop on things

Monica and Tim have been doing work related to getting Naomi Klein

* Klein could not take part on October 9th

* Monica spoke with Jean and "Jean said she'd be more than happy to move dates and try to accommodate for Naomi Klein"

Please make sure to keep Emily informed about things related to the screening

Milan will send around an email reminding everyone that Emily is meant to be the hub to coordinate this

Milan will book a room in Hart House for 350 people to meet with the Pure+ Simple people

* For June 27th, before 2pm

* He will try to book a room for 11am

3) Divestment signature campaign

Cameron W. has been looking through U of T websites to identify faculty doing work associated with climate change

How can we identify the profs who might be most willing to help?

How do we want to use this list?

* Eventually, get people to sign off on the brief

* Could be colour-coded on the basis of how interested people are: red, yellow, green

* Possibly have people give presentations to the ad hoc committee

Ideally, someone who already knows a prof should contact them

Alternatively, we could set up a MailChimp list for these people

* May violate Terms of Service, given that they haven't told us they want to be on it

Our Horizon may have a faculty list as well - would they be willing to share?

* Already integrated, actually

Emily has been working on a list of contacts at campus organizations

* These lists are a way of gauging interest in supporting the campaign, as well as generally raising awareness

* We should be seeking endorsements from campus groups

Cameron will bottom-line a timeline or critical path for the overall brief process

4) Divestment brief

Thank you very much to Stuart, Emily, Monica, and Jessica for providing input for the brief

For people providing input in the future, please provide full bibliographic details

* For websites, that is author, title, URL, and year

* For articles in academic journals, include the name of the journal; and the volume, number, and issue if present

* For books, please include the publisher and year of publication

Milan has incorporated Shell into the executive summary and done some copy editing there (with input from Lauren Sweeney)

* He has also incorporated the text from Jessica and Emily, including adding the appropriate sources to the bibliography

* He is in the process of completing the FAQ in section 7, with much of it now done, including a detailed new answer on carbon capture and storage

* He is working on incorporating Monica's input on legal aspects, which has been slowed to a degree by the need to track down all the sources being cited

* He added a section on abrupt and non-linear effects in section 3

He must still incorporate useful elements of the Yale brief and make changes based on suggestions from Mie

* He also needs to incorporate advice we have received on the legal sections

Milan has been in touch with divestment organizers at other schools - most recently Harvard and Brown

* A list of organizers at many US schools is now at: http://gofossilfree.org/fossil-free-summer-fellows/

* Some documents from various campaigns are accessible at: https://drive.google.com/a/toronto350.org/?tab=mo#folders/0B0dtRhE8YprQZXNFZWNobUI3V0E

A complete accounting of what still needs to be done is included in the Excel task-list Milan has been sending along with updated copies of the brief

Milan will send around an updated PDF, set of files, and Excel sheet with tasks soon

5) NEB submission

Stuart is waiting to hear back from Sakura

The submission from the Province of British Columbia on the Northern Gateway Pipeline includes some useful text on diluted bitumen

6) Summer Heat

BBQ where we each try to bring someone who might get involved

Date and location?

* Fire pit somewhere? Dufferin Grove Park?

* Before the 24th of July would be good

* Preferred night? Thursday, July 18th perhaps

7) Finances

Monica still needs to go to the bank

Fundraising

* Stuart has looked into donation options - PayPal takes about 3%, other systems set up for charities take 4-5%

* He is also looking into what would be involved in getting a tax ID number / non-profit status

* Is the only option to incorporate as a non-profit corporation?

* http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/h_cs03925.html

* Looks complex and expensive

Crowdfunding

* Could seek donations for presenting the divestment brief

* Some ideas were discussed last week (item 4) - https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/ZfsckbKTvagJ

* How would we get people to see the page? MailChimp, Facebook, Twitter

8) Frosh event and recruitment

Emily will be working on this in the coming weeks

9) Our Horizon

They are postponing the presentation of their idea to the Licensing and Standards Committee until December 4th

* In the mean time, they are launching a new website and working on promoting the idea internationally

* Doing a two-month tour of Canada

10) Green 13 Do the Math screening - June 18th

Happening tonight - Amelia Rose is speaking on behalf of Toronto350.org

11) Climate Action NOW! brainstorming session

Saturday, July 6, 2-5pm

* OISE Room 3310, 252 Bloor St W. (at St. George subway station.)

* The intent is "to agree on a major action on Climate Change"

* If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to meet...@climateactionnow.ca. Come with ideas and be prepared to brainstorm.

12) Walk the Line event

Jerry (the Stop Line 9 guy) sent Stuart an email

* Raging Grannies, ED, 350 supported

* Spoke with "many local residents"

* Some disagreement on tactics

13) Farmer's Market - Thursday, June 20th

Miriam and Emily are going

* Planning to raise awareness about 350, talk to people, etc

* Happening at the botanical gardens at 777 Lawrence Avenue

* They will collect email addresses for MailChimp - may as well use the U of T divestment petition

14) 350 merchandise

Tim has been looking into this

Mothership won't provide anything for free - suggest that we 'localize'

* We could do a run of shirts - there may be one for Canadian divestment campaigns in general

* Would be about $5-7

We could offer shirts online, for people who donate more than a particular amount

We will express our interest in the general possibility

15) Greening Sacred Spaces Annual forum discussion

Milan spoke with Donna Lang, a woman involved in coordinating a large number of faith-based groups in Toronto

* http://www.greeningsacredspaces.net/

They are interested in supporting both the Line 9 campaign and the divestment

They would also like us to participate in their forum, which may be on March 1-2 or April 5-6

Milan will follow-up with her, to learn more about how they would like to be involved

16) CCL Mid-Month Action Meetings - Summer Schedule

Central & West Meetings are Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30; hosted by Lauren

* July 17 – OISE – likely on the 5th floor – there's an area with lots of couches

* Aug 21 - Friends House-TBC

* Sept 18 - Friends House-TBC

East end meeting are Thursdays from 7-9:00

* July 18 - Cheryl's house

* August 22 – Cheryl's house

* September 19 – Doug's house

17) Next meeting

Last meeting of the month, so it should be a potluck

Could anyone host? Monica mentioned being willing

* Harvest Moon is a possibility - Cameron W. will look into booking it

* If it's not available, he will send an email around to the executive to see if anyone can host

Milan will chair 

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Here is the latest Excel file with divestment brief tasks

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

25 June 2013

Present: Amy, Stuart, Cameron W., Monica, Tamara, Jess, Emily, Milan

Chair: Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Obama's climate speech

* Meeting on Thursday, re: October 'Do the Math' screening

* Cross-Canada actions on June 25 in support of Tar Sands blockade in Ontario

* September 28th Line 9 action

* Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

* Fundraising

* Firepit meeting - Dufferin Grove Park - July 17th

* Divestment brief

* Action Speaks Louder

* September outreach events

* Divestment brief outreach / endorsement progress and timeline

* Knock off Line 9 - Sunday July 14th

* Farmers' market

* Emily's newspaper contact

* Critical path for divestment

* Next meeting

1) Status updates

Milan has produced a fairly substantial revision of the divestment brief - especially of the legal sections

* Thanks to Monica for her input

* Incorporated useful content from Yale brief, wrote a nearly full draft of the FAQ section (we still need legal precedents)

Stuart is going to put all our press releases online

* He is collecting releases from Monica and Yasmin

* He put the David Naylor letter online

2) Obama's climate speech

Watch it

* On YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse?v=syEvjcNGFTI

* The President’s Climate Action Plan: http://www.toronto350.org/files/ObamaJune2013.pdf

3) Meeting on Thursday, re: October 'Do the Math' screening

We are meeting with Jean and Liya from Pure+ Simple

* Thursday at 11am

* Board Room at Hart House

It would be great if as many people as possible could attend

Have we heard anything more about when Naomi Klein may be available?

* Monica emailed Miriam's contact, but has not heard back

* Cameron Fenton is in Istanbul and hard to reach

* Monica will try to find a direct phone number

We could let the Pure+ Simple people know that if we don't hear back by a certain date, we will have a fallback plan

Are we approaching alternative speakers?

* Roger from the Comart Foundation suggested Elizabeth May

* That could also be a separate event

* We discussed alternative options, item 2 in: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/ZfsckbKTvagJ

Emily and Cameron have been talking about additional speaking events to complement recruitment

We should get as much as possible together before Thursday

* Attending: Milan, Monica, hopefully Emily

* Cannot attend: Stuart, Cameron, Jess

4) Cross-Canada actions on June 25 in support of Tar Sands blockade in Ontario

"Protest actions are planned outside Enbridge offices and other key locations in nearly a dozen cities across Canada in support of activists who took over a pumping station north of Hamilton, Ontario early Thursday morning."

* http://swampline9.tumblr.com/

* "This action, dubbed Swamp Line 9, aims to prevent construction on Line 9 and block the transport of Tar Sands through Ontario and Quebec. This action is also part of the Idle No More campaign Sovereignty Summer."

There was an action in Toronto at noon today - at a courthouse

5) September 28th Line 9 action

Between 12-20 groups are meeting about Line 9 every few weeks

* Earlier today, there was a meeting discussing a day of action for Saturday, September 28th

* Meant to be a big coalition event

* Fairly settled that Sarah Harmer will be there to give a concert

* Queen's Park is a likely venue, but this isn't settled

Stuart was present - discussions are ongoing

* We could help organize the rally, concert, etc

Could be a 'sound the alarm on Enbridge' event, with pyjamas and alarm clocks

6) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

Being put on by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition

* Speaking tour on campuses across Canada

* "Tour dates will each feature one leading academic, a national advocate and a local community organizer working on tar sands related issues across Canada. The tour will run September 16 - October 2nd, with the routing to be determined by availability of speakers and interested campuses"

Speakers include: Tzeporah Berman, Danny Harvey, Mark Jaccard, Tom Rand, John Stone, Crystal Lameman

* Local community organizers and divestment leaders TBD

Contact Cameron Fenton with any questions

* 604-369-2155

* div...@gofossilfree.ca

Could someone contact him about booking a date in Toronto?

* Tamara will

* She will ask which dates would work for them, and report back next meeting

7) Fundraising

We now have a bank account open

* Monica deposited the cash we had on hand - about $170 out of $320 we have in total

* We only get 5 free transactions per month, so we should access the account sparingly

There is now a donate button on the Toronto350.org website

* We need to confirm the link with our bank account via PayPal

* Probably best to do via the treasurer account

* Monica will choose a good password

Link for donations: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9RVNMG95RZEY2

* Please feel free to share

Can we put it on our Facebook page as well?

* Stuart will try to do this

8) Firepit meeting - Dufferin Grove Park - July 17th

Stuart has booked a firepit for us on Wednesday, July 17th - 7-10pm

* Will this replace the ordinary Tuesday meeting for Tuesday, July 16th?

* We could aim to have a substantive meeting first, then have a social event?

* Could conceivably replace the July end-of-month potluck

We will have a meeting on the Tuesday as well

* Incidentally, that is when we are aiming to have a draft Line 9 statement done

This will be our 'Summer Heat' event

* Everyone should bring a friend or family member who may be willing to help out with Toronto350.org

How will we promote this?

* Facebook event, MailChimp send-out

* Poster / graphic

* Jess will create a Facebook event and send out a MailChimp message; Stuart will create a poster

9) Divestment brief

There are a good number of medium-sized tasks left to do, though a lot of progress has been made

Fill in `Policies and infrastructure decisions justified with reference to climate change'

* Some links, but no draft text yet

* Jess will try to produce some draft text

* Please include full citations: author, title, URL, date, page numbers

Add a lot more to 'Actions taken by international bodies'

* Monica will take this over

Find as many legal precedents as possible acknowledging the seriousness of climate change

* Is there anything like this out there?

* There are some US cases, like Massachusetts vs. EPA

* Milan will continue to see what he can find

Have a financial expert review

* Milan has reviewed, and this section actually seems quite strong, at least for a non-expert

Look through http://toronto350.org/NRTEE/ for useful sources

* Jess will look at these, and will report back for next week

Ask the Office of the Governing Council for minutes of their debates on South Africa and tobacco divestment

* Probably best to go ask in person

* Amy will go and ask for these

Find examples of advertising from fossil fuel companies in which they acknowledge the seriousness of climate change

* Monica will look into this for next week

Write short summary of what India is doing on climate change

* Jess could maybe do for two weeks from now

10) Action Speaks Louder

Thanks a lot to Emily for heading this up

"The editorial collective has reviewed your pitch and we’re excited to see your first draft. Our first draft deadline is set for July 15, but we can be flexible by a few days if you need more time to develop your piece. Please let us know if this works for you. Just a reminder as well that your article should be no more than 850-1000 words."

* "The editorial collective is very interested in reading about the 350.org divestment campaign."

* "We thought that the pitch might benefit from focusing on a couple of things. First, it would be topical for us as a publication to highlight how the history of divestment at U of T has provided the current divestment campaign with resources, strategies and insights for mobilization. Second, it would be useful if when discussing successful divestment campaigns in the U.S., you could relate successful strategies back to the U of T context. Finally, we encourage you to include ways for folks to get practically involved as our publication prioritizes action over theory/ideology (not that those aren't important!). If you want, you could even include a call to action at the end of the piece."

Milan will follow up with Emily personally on this, and is willing to help with it if needed

* Emily may also be able to draw substantially from our executive summary

Cameron will take a first cut at writing this

11) September outreach events

Cameron met with Emily yesterday about this

Half our outreach efforts are seeking endorsement for the brief

* The other half will focus on recruitment

Making inroads with students

* We need > 30 students to apply for various funding options

We want to have material related to the film screening to hand out

* The 5-6 weeks between frosh and the screening may be too long a lag

* Can we put something in the middle? Perhaps a smaller film screening

* We want to be able to capitalize on interest before people get too caught up in schoolwork

Purposes of recruitment?

* Get the numbers we need to apply for funding

* Get volunteers to work on various undertakings

* Brief presentation action

* Brief endorsements / signatures

Alternative frosh 'disorientation'

It would be good to have an event per week for the first three weeks or so

12) UTSU club day

This is distinct from the general frosh events

* Costs $60 to sign up for each: frosh event and open event

* Frosh is first year only, whereas club day is general

* Probably best to emphasize the general event, rather than the frosh event

* Early bird deadline July 12th

* Cameron will sign us up

How to be effective during frosh week? Target sympathetic groups: environment, geography, etc

13) Divestment brief outreach / endorsement progress and timeline

If you want to stay up to speed on the whole divestment movement, subscribe to: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/students-divest

Emily has produced a template for email to faculty members

* She wants input

* Volunteers?

We have a list of about 150 profs now

* To be contacted this week, just to let them know who we are and what we are doing

* About 15-20 seem likely to be key supporters - the plan is to send them personalized emails

* Emily has produced a template for emails to faculty, and is seeking input

Cameron and Emily are trying to establish contact with faculty, staff, and student associations

We still haven't heard back from the Office of the Governing Council about what they will count as a signature, despite repeated inquiries from Milan

* Milan will go ask again in person

Are there 'big name' faculty who we could get endorsements from?

* Ted Sargent (works on photovoltaics)

* It would be good to have campus-wide support from faculty in many departments: English, chemistry, geography, engineering, etc

It's hard to estimate the relative impact of faculty endorsements compared with having an extra-convincing brief, etc

The degree of influence we will have on the ad hoc committee once it is formed is unclear

* Faculty associated with fundraising campaigns like Boundless may prove especially influential

* Sending personal emails to any of these people would likely be a good idea

There is likely to be a bandwagon effect - the more people who endorse the campaign, the easier it becomes for anyone else to do so

Should we try to get a few faculty endorsements from targeted people, before sending out mass emails?

* Probably increases the odds that people in general will be willing to endorse

How can we extend the alumni endorsement list?

* About half the people on the list on our drive have been contacted

* People should reach out into their personal networks

* William E. Rees (inventor of the idea of the ecological footprint) would be a good person to contact

14) Knock off Line 9 - Sunday July 14th

2-6pm

* Being organized by Environmental Defence

* They will provide an hour of training, then send people out for 2-3 hours

* Canvassing, not asking for money

Canvassing event, around the Finch corridor

15) Farmers' market

Emily and Miriam participated and made a banner

* Got about 30 signatures for divestment

* Further opportunities to have a booth at such markets are possible

https://twitter.com/Toronto350/status/347796611788853248

https://twitter.com/Toronto350/status/347848742478700544

16) Emily's newspaper contact

Several options open: article, op-ed, etc

* Monica can be the primary contact

* Milan can help with writing things

17) Critical path for divestment

Cameron has been looking for free software to help

* Free software: Trello

* https://trello.com/

He can send around emails to people, to let them see what is there

18) Next meeting

Tuesday, July 2nd

* Will be in the Harvest Noon again - 16 Bancroft Avenue

Would anyone like to chair?

* Emily will chair

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org meeting with Pure+ Simple re: October 'Do the Math' screening

27 June 2013

Present: Jean, Liya, Jules (Promotions and Communications Manager, NOW Magazine), Monica, Emily, Milan

Note-taker: Milan

Related minutes:

* (Item 1) https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/tVzIOaSTr8wJ

* (Item 2) https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/ZfsckbKTvagJ

* (Item 2) https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/BSP5Sn5BYfoJ

* (Item 3) https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/sGZDZE7nApEJ

Agenda:

* Food and drink sponsors

* Speaker

* Promotion

* Donations

* Event timeline

* Task assignments

Milan will circulate the minutes from this meeting and seek volunteers for unassigned tasks.

1) Food and drink sponsors

Jean contacted many small natural food companies

* David's Tea is willing to participate, as are Yo Yo Yoghurt (contact there wants to attend one of our meetings), 

* There was an offer of 100 cookies from Sweets from the Earth, but that probably won't go far with so many people

* Jean will see if they are willing to provide 500 cookies

The logos from people who donate will be included in the promotional materials

Jean wants to get a corporate sponsor to provide "proper food"

Having some environmentally-related door prizes would be good

* NOW Magazine could donate something

* We can hand out raffle tickets to people as they come in

2) Speaker

Available dates: (Sun) 13, 14, 15, (Thu) 17, (Mon) 21, 22, 23

Finding a speaker has been holding up the process of booking a firm date for the screening

Status on Naomi Klein?

* Miriam and Monica have been in contact with her assistant: Jackie Joiner

* Monica will pass along the available dates

* Cameron Fenton has also been in touch with her, but neither he nor Monica have heard back recently

Any chance of Bill McKibben?

* Highly unlikely

Other possibilities

* People who come to mind: Tom Steyer, Winona Laduke, Margaret Atwood, Crystal Lameman, David Suzuki (costs $20-30,000), James Hansen, Maude Barlow, Tim DeChristopher, Elizabeth May

* We passed along this list to Cameron Fenton as well

We could send an email with the possible dates to all of our top picks

Given how much time we have, it would be no problem to have multiple speakers

We can offer to sell copies of people's books

Monica is trying to get concrete commitments as soon as possible - ideally, before Tuesday's planning meeting

Once we have a firm date, we can invite local speakers

* Jules will speak with Adria Vasil

3) Promotion

Jean said she would "remind Jules Howlett of NOW magazine to confirm Adria Vasil and Wayne Roberts"

Jules will speak to Alice Klein (Chair and CEO, NOW Magazine) about how much they will be willing to do

* May be possible to produce some editorial content

* They also have a huge social media following, (70K+ Twitter followers)

* Digital advertising on the website may also be possible

Probably best to start in newspapers in September - roughly three weeks out

Vitality Magazine is also willing to provide some space (1/2 page ad)

Could we organize some sort of contest to accompany the event?

We should get a picture of the 350 crew planning the event

* Process of starting to inform news organizations about what's happening

Jules will outline a proposal by the end of next week

"Can someone contact the major Newspapers in TO to see if they will sponsor this event with free ads? Please call the Globe, the Star, and the Grid"

* Monica can do some research on what sort of articles people have written, in order to tailor proposals to them

"Someone needs to be in charge of TV media promotions"

* "Send out PR about Toronto350.org for Milan or whoever to make panel or guest appearances"

* "Call Rogers, CTV, Global, CP24 (Liya has a contact there), CityTV to schedule time for the Community News"

* There is free airtime available

* Get in touch with Steve Paikin

PR needs to be tailored for each show

We should find ways to reach out to Ryerson and York students

* We have wanted campus representatives on our exec for a long time

* We can bring this up during the event itself

Liya will work with Stuart on making the visual ads for the event

* Jules is willing to collaborate on it

* Needs to be in Illustrator format

4) Donations

We do have a bank account and PayPal account now

Jean has volunteered her credit card machine for the event

* Their processor charges 1.7%

* Compared with 2.75% for this machine: http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/product/H8332LL/B/square-credit-card-reader

* We could also do both

We will mention our openness to donations during the event itself, and explain what they will be used for

The raffle could also be donation based

5) Event timeline

There probably won't be physical tickets at all

* General admission, first-come-first-served

We will have the cinema from 5:30pm - 11:30pm

The plan is to have two screenings, at 6:30pm and at 8:30pm

* The film is 44:53 long, so that will give us a good amount of time for discussion between shows

* Ideally, we would like our main speaker to address the crowd at both screenings

* If they are unwilling, we could have a second speaker for the second show

It could be a good idea to have people clear the theatre for refreshments between the screening and the speakers

Has Jean received the high-quality version of the video she requested from the 350 mothership?

* The Toronto350 people should contact them to inform them about the screening, and find out what format we can get it in and how

The cinema will provide microphones for amplified speaking (we will likely need to rent the mics)

* We should contact them to get details about this

6) Task assignments

Jules will produce a promo package for next week

Monica will do research on media to target

Milan can prepare a media release

* Four part: about the event, the speaker, Toronto350, and Milan (as possible interview subject)

* He will do the last two parts before the Tuesday meeting

We will talk about possible contests on Tuesday

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

2 July 2013

Present: Cameron W., Monica, Tamara, Emily, Amy, Jessica, Milan

Chairing: Milan

Note-taking: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Fundraising

* Climate leadership training - Chicago from July 31st to August 1st

* October 'Do the Math' screening

* Communication

* Firepit meeting - Dufferin Grove Park - July 17th

* Divestment brief

* Divestment week of action call

* Next meeting

Note: Stuart will be out of contact until this Sunday

1) Status updates

Milan

* Has 51 days left until his comprehensive exam, so he will need to scale back on 350 work

* Will still be coordinating the completion of the divestment brief

Tamara

* Emailed Cameron Fenton, re: the Tar Sands Reality Check Campus Speaking Tour

* http://oilsandsrealitycheck.org/

* Asked about scheduling a date for Toronto

* Has not yet heard back

Emily

* Emailed almost all the profs who we identified, re: the divestment campaign

* No responses so far

* Heard back from Daniel Johnson at Cinema Politica

* They are doing a screening of Bidder 70 in October

2) Fundraising

We received our first donation through PayPal: $25

* From a Facebook follower with no prior connection to group

* The money will stay in PayPal until we transfer it (probably using one of our 5/month transactions)

* Current bank balance: $268.25

You can share the link at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9RVNMG95RZEY2

The fees we are charged are $0.30 per transaction, plus 2.9% of the value

3) Climate leadership training - Chicago from July 31st to August 1st

Training with Al Gore and the Climate Reality Project

Applications are due by July 6th: https://climatereality.myreviewroom.com/

Monica knows someone who is going - as is Melinda Rooke, who says she will pass back the materials to us

4) October 'Do the Math' screening

On June 27th, Milan, Monica, and Emily met with Jean and Liya from Pure+ Simple, as well as Jules from NOW Magazine

* The minutes are online: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/y85sGMLM-8EJ

Speaker

* Naomi Klein?

* Monica has emailed her assistant several times

* Cameron Fenton doesn't have a direct number

* Roger CCed Monica in an email to his contact, trying to get Elizabeth May to come

* No response so far

It would be good to have a U of T prof, as well as any outside speakers

* Matthew Hoffmann spoke at our previous film screening

* He is one of the profs that Emily has already emailed

Promotion

* Have we heard back from Jules at NOW Magazine?

* Jules said he will put together a promotion pack by the end of this week

* We should follow up if we don't see one

Contests

* At our meeting with the Pure+ Simple people, they suggested we come up with some contests where we can give away prizes during the two screenings

* Ideas?

* We could choose someone at random from among those who 'Like' us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter

* It would be good to have something that NOW Magazine could promote

* Possible objectives: promote event beforehand, raise funds, gain social media followers

It would be good if the contest involved doing something a bit substantive, like sending a tweet about mitigating climate change, contacting an elected representative, etc

* If we have reached that point, we could draw the name of a random person who has endorsed the brief

5) Communication

Many thanks to Jessica for sending out an informative MailChimp message to the members list

Thanks also to those putting content on Facebook and Twitter, as well as responding to emails send to our general toron...@gmail.com email account

* Tamara checks the latter via her phone, and Stuart is also meant to keep an eye on it

6) Firepit meeting - Dufferin Grove Park - July 17th

See item 8 in: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/sGZDZE7nApEJ

Dufferin Grove Park:

* July 17th - 7-10pm

Could be useful to share as a Facebook event with other Toronto groups

7) Divestment brief

Many thanks to Amy and Jessica for submitting text

Thanks to Amy as well for doing a bunch of research on the tobacco and South Africa precedents

* We should go through this for useful material, and a sense of how they think

* Monica will look through the links Amy came up with, to find ideas for improving our brief

Jessica is looking at the NRTEE documents, as well as working on a bit of text about India

Milan inquired about having paper copies printed at the Coach House Press

* It would be $2200 - $2500 for 500 copies

* About $525 for 50 copies

UBC adopted a new 'responsible investment policy', possibly to pre-empt the divestment campaign there

* http://www.vpfinance.ubc.ca/2013/06/26/ubc-adopts-responsible-investment-strategy/

* "In adopting its new responsible investment strategy, the university consulted widely with leaders in the responsible investment field. These leaders did not favor divestment but recommend an approach that makes decisions based on ESG principles and engagement with companies to improve performance."

* "Issues with portfolio screening are multiple and complex. Ethically, portfolio screening is difficult to apply to reflect the competing political, environmental and social interests playing out at any given time, and whether these interests should be company specific or sector-wide. Economically, screening out entire sectors such as the Canadian energy sector would push more of the endowment outside of the country, into geographic areas that often have more questionable social and environmental records. Financially, implementing a direct screening policy would prevent UBC from investing in pooled or indexed funds and would generate significant overhead that would negatively impact student and researchers supported by the endowment."

* We should have responses to these arguments in our brief

* Should we break this down and respond specifically in the FAQ?

* "McGill said no for X, but here is our response"

* "UBC said no for Y, but here is our response"

* Milan will add two items of this kind to section 7, under "What are U of T's peer schools doing"

Still no word from the Office of the Governing Council on what counts as a signature

* Milan will go in person this week

Monica is working on section 5.6 - actions by international bodies

* She will check to make sure there are no bibliography duplicates, before she sends it to Milan

Monica also found what may be some useful legal information

* Useful article on why Canada doesn't have effective federal climate policy

* List of existing legislation in various countries and cities, including links between human rights and climate change

* UN resolutions affirming that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can serve as guidance for climate policy

* Specific cases linking climate to health

Financial review

* Prof: Adjunct Professor Jane Ambachtsheer

* Teaches a related course, and could potentially be willing to review section 4

* Cameron will email her

We still want to find advertising where fossil fuel companies acknowledge the seriousness of climate change

8) Divestment week of action call

Monday July 15th at 9PST/12 EST

Details still being arranged - could be a conference call or a Google Hangout

9) Next meeting

Milan will book a room for next Tuesday, at the normal time

Who would like to be the chair?

* Emily will be the chair

[pres...@toronto350.org]

My apologies, but there is a typo in the graphic for the original minutes. The one here is correct, and the firepit event is happening on Wednesday, July 17th.

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

9 July 2013

Present: Emily, Flavius (found us online through Facebook, U of T alumnus), Monica, Jessica, Jean, Milan

Chair: Emily

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Do the Math film screening

* Line 9 NEB submission

* Divestment brief

* Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

* Divestment generally

* Dufferin Grove firepit gathering - July 17th

* Next meeting

1) Status updates

Introductions

Monica is covered by other agenda items

Jessica sent text on India to Milan for the brief, along with some legal text

* Still working on reviewing NRTEE PDFs

Milan has mostly been working on the brief, which is in the agenda

* With his comprehensive exam about 40 days away and a whole other research project to complete, Milan will only really be able to work on coordinating the brief until late August

* Also sent out about 200 invitations to family and friends for the firepit social, but would be surprised if more than five actually come

Updates from Cam W.

* Actions Speak Louder article draft

- OPIRG expects a first draft by July 15

- I had hoped to be able to send it today, but it's taking longer than I expected. I'll send a draft to you and the rest of the exec tomorrow.

* Environmental Finance Contact

- I've emailed Jane Ambachtsheer (UofT adjunct prof who works at Mercer), but I'm still waiting to get a reply. I'll keep you posted.

Emily met with Cam W. on Friday, talking about emailing and general divestment outreach

* Cam is working on updating the list of professors

2) Do the Math screening

Do we have any word on speakers?

Monica wrote to Naomi Klein's assistant again, and is starting to give up hope based on all the non-responsiveness

* Still no definite 'no'

We should be energetically approaching people other than Naomi Klein

* Monica has been getting a more energetic response from the Green Party, re: Elizabeth May

* They know the possible dates

* If we get confirmation of May for a date, we will go ahead and book that date

Adria Vasil will definitely be able to participate - Jean has been in touch

As soon as we have a speaker lined up, we should have a meeting with Jean to plan promotion

* Look for TV opportunities, etc

Food and drink suppliers

* Jean is still seeking a corporate sponsor

Vitality Magazine will provide two half-page ads in subsequent issues

* NOW Magazine is willing to provide more advertising

* Stuart should get in touch with Liya about designing promotional materials

* We should also get a group photo at a well-attended meeting (Milan can bring his camera, flashes, and tripod)

Do we have a good-quality copy of the actual film yet?

* Jean contacted Jonathan Warnow at 350.org

* Tim should follow up with him, as agreed at previous meeting (Jean didn't take this over, despite the appearance from an email)

Can someone follow up with Jules from NOW Magazine about the promotional package?

* Jean is in touch with him

It would be useful to have a short document describing the group and our campaigns, to send to potential sponsors and so on

* Ideally, it would be good to get some sort of non-profit status

* Expense and bureaucracy are complicating factors

* http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/h_cs03925.html

3) Line 9 NEB submission

We have been accepted as a commenter in the NEB process

We are meant to have a draft for next Tuesday

* We can use Milan's previous letter about the Northern Gateway pipeline as a template

* Also, language from the province of British Columbia about diluted bitumen

Stuart says he will produce a draft over the weekend

* It will be circulated for review

4) Divestment brief

Milan has added to the brief, and dealt with some existing issues

* Added material to the FAQ section; incorporated results of outside proofreading

* Found a finance expert willing to look at section 4

Milan has received input from Amy (citations), Lauren (law), Alena (proofread the whole document), Jessica (legal), and Monica (actions by international bodies, legal, more connections with tobacco),

We need higher resolution versions of some graphics in section 3, as the current ones are illegible when printed

* Monica is looking into this

More proofreading is always valuable. If you find exceptions to any of these conventions, please let Milan know about them:

* CO2 should appear with a subscript '2' in all cases - use the \ce{CO2} command in LaTeX

* Spell out acronyms and initialisms at the time of first use

* Provide full names at time of first use

* Use 'percent' in text and '%' in tables, make sure to use \% for LaTeX

* Put all dates in the format: July 5th 2005

* Use 'university' except when saying 'University of Toronto'

* Use 'city' except when saying City of Toronto

* Please use the Oxford comma: when listing facts, or figures, or anything else please put a comma before the last item

* Please put only one space after a period

* Please spell out numbers from one to ten, and use arabic numerals (for example, 10,000) for larger numbers

* In lists - if the items are complete sentences, put punctuation at the end. If not, do not put periods or other punctuation at the end

* Standardize abbreviation for kilowatt-hour (kWh)

* 'arctic' does not need to be capitalized

* The names of academic journals, newspapers, and magazines should be italicized

* The names of court decisions should be put in "double quotation marks"

* The names of laws should be italicized

* Titles of books should be italicized

* Block quotations should not be surrounded by quotation marks, but they should have a citation at the end

We would still like to find some fossil fuel advertising that acknowledges the danger of climate change

It would be good to have more evidence to substantiate the claim that the fossil fuel industry has undue influence with Canada’s government: amount of contact between ministers and industry representatives, etc

Matt at Trinity College

* Contacted us about wanting to organize a campaign there

* Monica remains in touch

5) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

Info from Cameron Fenton:

* The dates are still being finalized depending on other campuses that step up with interest in putting events on, basically in order to start booking we need a commitment from a local partner group that they can come up with the resources to put the event on, i.e. a room, promotions and enough financial support to cover costs (ideally by finding a student society or other campus partner to put on the event) as bringing these speakers together is going to cost around $2500+ for travel/accommodation costs (depending on the speakers)."

* Related PDF attached to the minutes

As things stand, we definitely can't commit $2,500

* Is this even a cost-effective use of our resources

* Their speakers are largely Toronto-based, so it may be much cheaper for us

It seems pretty plausible that Tzeporah Berman and Danny Harvey would come to one of our events for free

Milan will contact Tamara about asking Cameron about how much it would cost in Toronto

6) Divestment generally

Fall campaign

Divestment week call of action - we are waiting for updates

* Monica is waiting

A friend of Emily's is writing for the Varsity and knows the news editor

* She is following up with other campus media contacts

Once the brief is open for signature, we should try and get back on The Green Majority

* Previously: http://toronto350.org/files/Green_Majority.CIUT.Radio.020813.mp3

Milan still needs to go to the Office of the Governing Council to get their answer on what will count as a signature for the purpose of endorsing the brief

7) Dufferin Grove firepit gathering - July 17th

Potluck-style - people should bring food

What if the weather is terrible?

* We will see how things look closer to the date

7) Next meeting

Who would like to chair?

Monica will chair

Group photo next meeting?

* Milan can book a good room, bring photo equipment

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Some documents related to today's minutes

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting 

16 July 2013

Present: Amelia Rose, Tamara, Stuart, Jessica, Monica, Amy, Flavius, Milan

Chair: Monica

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Firepit social tomorrow (July 17)

* Cinema Politica

* Do the Math screening

* National week of action conference call

* Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

* Divestment brief

* Divestment generally and outreach

* Crowdsource funding possibilities

* Line 9 NEB submission

* Line 9 door-to-door canvassing

* Line 9 day of action

* Ontario Energy Ministry public consultation

* Action Speaks Louder draft

* Next meeting

1) Status updates

Milan

* Has over 200 books to read for his comp on August 22nd, so he is restricted in how much he can do for 350

2) Firepit social tomorrow (July 17)

Updates from Jean

* "Julia from Vitality Magazine will being coming to the firepit social."

* She will be bringing a platter of sushi to share

We should bring unmarked cups for any adult beverages

* Monica can bring some paper cups

Bringing drinking water in plastic bottles would be a good idea

Stuart will be bringing fire supplies: wood, kindling, etc

* The parks department provides a grill and skewers

Everyone who can should bring food

* Stuart is bringing falafel

Milan will photograph the event

Bring sports equipment: frisbees, bocce ball, etc

Forecast is like today, but slightly hotter

* Some chance of a smog alert, which would cancel the fire

3) Cinema Politica

Emily has received information about this

* First or second Tuesday of September

* Showing of Bidder 70 (Transition Toronto is showing the same film this Saturday)

The Danforth group is also planning an event in the fall

* Emily is waiting for us to have more details on our Do the Math screening, before she contacts them

4) Do the Math screening

Updates from Jean

* "We (Pure + simple) are now part of Quench whose founders I have asked to help publicize our event with their network.  They have an app that lets people know where they can refill their water in the GTA."

* "Alice Klein is meeting with me on some promo ideas for the event"

* "Jules is getting a confirmation for Adria Vasil soon"

* "Jules is going to get us a better deal on the Bloor cinema rental"

Naomi Klein's assistant says she definitely cannot make it

Monica got in touch with Jaymini Bhikha at the Green Party, who coordinated Elizabeth May's schedule

* They asked for more details and Monica responded

Monica, Emily, and Jean are meeting with Allie on Thursday to set a date

We are still waiting for the media package from Jules

5) National week of action conference call

Six on the call including Stuart and Monica

* Discussed having a coordinated event in the second week of September

* Focus would be on divestment and enlarging the movement

"Not very conclusive"

* Not clear what kind of event people would be putting on

* One aim is to create a 'Canadian identity' as there have been no Canadian successes yet

Goals not clear

* Stuart will email Cameron F. to try to get more details

U of T clubs week is the week before

[Decided to skip group photo, since only eight people were here, more will probably be at the social tomorrow, and we already have group photos with more than eight people]

6) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

Have we heard anything about how much it would cost to bring the Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour here?

* Item five at: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/nmvDXwhXsAsJ

Tamara asked

* Cameron says it's probably going to be $1000 - $1500

* Only one of the speakers is actually Toronto-based

* Would be more if Naomi Klein came

* Other local partners may be able to help with financing

The tour runs Sept. 16 - Oct. 2

The size of the commitment is quite unclear, given the last comment about financing

Is there someone who would want to lead on this, be the central point of contact, 'bottom line' it, etc?

* Tamara will evaluate what the actual time and financial commitment would be

* Monica is willing to help

The Comart Foundation may be willing to commit funds

7) Divestment brief

Apologies, but Milan hasn't yet been able to integrate everything Amy, Monica, and others submitted

Milan did arrange and attend two hour-long research consultations with U of T librarians about the legislative history of climate change in common law jurisdictions

* Unfortunately, the message that emerged is that there are no shortcuts and that the research to work this out will be time-consuming and intricate

Milan would very much appreciate if someone who is reasonably comfortable with LaTeX would take over the incorporation of citations from Amy

* Stuart will do this

* Milan and Stuart will coordinate about dealing with remaining brief tasks

Elements of legal argument:

* Examples where judges have acknowledged the danger and reality of climate change

* Demonstrate risk that fossil fuel companies will be found liable, raising doubts about their future profitability

* In terms of U of T's fiduciary duty, legal risks faced by these companies could be a reason to be wary about heavy investment

They are likely to really care about the law, and care less about the science - so it is probably worth committing some effort to this

* The McGill rejection was very law focused

* The committee that considers the brief is likely to care a lot about law, relative to the science

Milan will focus on this for this week

8) Divestment generally and outreach

Emily heard back from Matthew Hoffmann

* Seems enthusiastic, wants to see the brief and meet with us

Monica has been contacting alumni

Milan still needs to go to the Governing Council office to ask what they will count as a signature

* Hopefully we can do it with a Google Docs form - radio buttons for 'staff / alumni / etc'

9) Crowdsource funding possibilities

For presenting the brief?

* We don't really have any details on what we would do with the money

We could offer incentives for donations above a set size

Campaigns normally run for 30 days or so

* When would be the best time? September?

We are hoping to present the brief in October / September

A group will put together a proposal, including Amelia Rose, Stuart, Jess, and Flavius

* Amelia Rose will send an initial email to get things going

Our Horizon is doing something similar

Stu changed the 'donate' button on our webpage, and added a 'press' page with clippings to date

* Still waiting for past press releases from Yasmin

10) Line 9 NEB submission

Stuart produced a draft letter of comment, and Milan suggested some edits

* Basically done and ready to submit

Stuart will circulate the latest draft to the members list, asking for comments by next Tuesday

11) Line 9 door-to-door canvassing

Happened this past Sunday

* Tamara was there

* A lot smaller than the previous event, mostly Environmental Defence people

* About 30 lawn signs distributed

* About 100 petition signatures

12) Line 9 day of action

Meeting of a coalition of Line 9 groups

Meeting Tuesday July 2rd, 5-7pm at OISE

* Stuart will be going

They are hoping to eventually arrange a huge rally downtown, end of September / early October

13) Ontario Energy Ministry public consultation

A formal review of Ontario’s Long-Term Energy Plan is currently underway.

* http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/ltep/

* They have an online survey, and are also accepting formal submissions through the Environmental Registry

Do we want to participate as a group?

* Given all the criticism of feed-in tariffs and the Green Energy Act, it may be valuable to affirm our support

* Likewise, this is a chance to support the coal phase-out

A lot of Ontario's policies are usefully far-sighted, and good from a climate transition perspective

Tamara will look at the site, and work out what kind of input they accept from groups

14) Action Speaks Louder draft

Milan edited Cameron W's draft for 'Actions Speak Louder' and sent the first draft to OPIRG before the deadline

* He's not sure who was actually responsible for it, but the deadline was imminent so he submitted a first draft

* Maybe it was Miriam and then Emily / Cameron

They will probably get back to us with further comments

15) Next meeting

Who would like to chair?

* Stuart

Where?

* Hart House? Robarts? Harvest Noon?

* Milan will try to book at Hart House

[pres...@toronto350.org]

=== Added by Milan ===

Present: Jess, Emily, Tamara, Stuart, Flavius, Milan

Chair: Emily

Note-taker: Tamara

=== End of Milan's addition ===

Agenda: July 23

1) Status Updates

2) Review of the Fire Pit event

3) Do the Math Screening

4) Divestment Brief

5) Line 9

a. Big Rally

b. Weekly mtgs

c. NEB letter

6) Nation builder (We Are PowerShift)

7) Disorientation (Emily)

8) Ontario LTEP submission

9) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

10) Crowdfunding

11) Website/Social Media Updates

12) Next Mtg

1) Status Updates

- Jess found about a dozen NRTEE (National Round Table on Energy and Environment) reports that look useful and recent, will send to Milan

- Emily met with Matthew Hoffman, he has endorsed our campaign and will read over and sign our brief once it is available. He gave some names of other profs and grad students to contact. He would like us to do an active discussion with his class (seminar: Global Environmental Politics) in Sept. about our campaign (potentially assign exec summary as reading and discuss with students). 3 prof endorsements so far including Hoffman.

- Stu: Wrote to Cam Fenton to find out goal of Sept. event, no response yet. Made attestation page for signing brief.

- Cam W via Emily: spoke to his prof/Green Party candidate Rachel Barney had 3 comments about our campaign (what does divestment seek to achieve? not to end fossil fuel industry; South Africa divestment took several years, shot down several times, vocal public support was an important factor in changing this; recommended two contacts: Toronto City Councillor and U of T alum Gord Perks and an ecumenical minister at U of T)

- Milan: between now and Aug 22, cannot chair or take notes but will try to be present

2) Review of the Fire Pit event

Madeline interested in reviewing stuff

Sandy interested in reviewing stuff

No one that really seems like they will come to meetings regularly

Someone was expecting a speech welcoming/explaining the purpose of the event. Consider this in planning future events.

3) Do the Math Screening

Emily: went to the Bloor last week with Jean to chekc out the venue, still no date set yet.

Thursday's meeting postponed until next week, date TBD.

Hopefully we will have a date and an answer from speakers before then.

Elizabeth May still a possibility - Monica to update.

Video conference with Bill McKibben? Jean to get back in touch with 350 about that.

Naomi Klein unlikely

Jean would like a summary of Toronto350 to circulate, info about members/exec - putting a "who we are" on our website, send a logo and images for press

4) Divestment Brief

Milan has been incorporating people's text (over an hour a page, more than 25 pages left to incorporate), also to incorporate his own work on legal section.

New task: identify people and cutting edge climate change research out of U of T, particularly that U of T has itself promoted/instances where U of T has presented itself as a cutting edge research facility with a focus on climate change 

(check out Boundless campaign) - Stu will do this

Stu will look into logging IP addresses from attestation page.

5) Line 9

a. Big Rally

Stu went to today's mtg

Next mtg August 13th at 5pm, mtgs will happen ~ every 2 weeks

Sept. 29 2pm Queen's Park

March in the afternoon

Likely concert in evening

Sarah Harmer's name has been thrown around

Highlight this event at Disorientation and Clubs Day to get students out

b. Weekly Meeting - main group

7 to 9 or 630 to 8?

c. NEB letter

Stu received feedback from Jon, Sabrina, and Milan

Milan will incorporate feedback, finalize and submit

6) Nationbuilder - We Are PowerShift

Cam Fenton sent an email last week about setting up a page for groups on PowerShift website

Let's pass for now, can revisit if we want to do crowdfunding

7) Disorientation

Alternative Frosh Week coordinated by OPIRG - said we can have a divestment breakout group at "World Cafe" (like clubs day), possibly partner with Students Against Israeli Apartheid to talk about divestment on campus

Milan does not like this idea - their campaign does not have a great chance of success, may not be wise to associate ourselves with them in the eyes of U of T admin

Emily will ask about doing our own thing or working with other environmental groups rather than Israeli Apartheid

8) Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan submission

Think long term, not short term. Ultimate goal of a completely carbon-free energy economy in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Circulate LTEP document and allocate some time at a meeting or schedule a separate meeting to discuss

Emily will email that out, please respond if interested

Due by September 9th

9) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

Tamara to take lead

10) Crowdfunding

Flavius: Need to put together a document to figure out what video will look like then have either a phone/skype discussion or in-person meeting. Flavius is willing to put together a detailed rough copy.

Goal: $1000

Should we pick a platform that allows us to extend our goal if we reach it?

Jess will attend Our Horizon crowdfund launch this Thursday (25th) to get ideas.

Need to think about advertising.

Need a specific request/reason for people to donate.

Brainstorm session: Sunday evening 6-8pm at Jess's

11) Website/Social Media Updates

Stu will fix Twitter logo

Updating website: videos, past campaigns, photos, exec bios... Stu will work on this, have it updated for September

12) Next Meeting

Potluck at Stu's, 7pm

Stu will take minutes

Tamara will chair

[thugsb]

Present: Stu, Tamara, Jess, Jean 

Chair: Tamara 

Note-taker: Stu 

Agenda: July 30 

1) Status Updates 

All updates are included below 

2) Do the Math Screening 

a. Speakers: May or May and Adria 

Jean is waiting on May to send us her bio. 

Both May and Adria will talk together. 

b. Messaging 

May can talk about the big-scale of what we can do politically. 

Adria can talk about the small-scale everyday things. 

c. PR event 

Who amongst 350 are willing to be public-facing speaker? Milan? Monica? Stu is. 

Monica will be doing the PR for Toronto350. 

When contacting people that you want something from (such as a speaker), you should send an email, then call, ask them to read the email, and say you’ll call back. Don’t rely on email. 

d. Eventbrite? 

Yes, Stu to collaborate with Liya. 

e. Marketing 

We need a banner ad to put on our website, along with all the sponsors etc. Stu can collaborate with Liya on this. Jess is also interested in connecting with Liya about that. 

Get an article in NOW. 

f. Meeting on Thursday 

Has to be the afternoon for Jules (NOW marketing). 

Hopefully Monica can come. Can anyone else? 

g. Who we need to be there from 350: 

2 welcomers 

2 speakers 

2 on stand, recruiting and taking donations 

At a later date, we can put a callout for volunteers. 

h. Maybe two or three of us could together tell the audience about 350, instead of just a single speaker. We should come up with a script. Who wants to be involved? Stu to send email to members. 

i. We’ll be sending out about 20 pitches to media organizations, trying to get stories or air time. All 20 need to be customized to the organization we’re asking. And once we’re on, we need people to write the articles or go on air. Jean has sent a list. Stu will send this around. Stu will put out a call for volunteers, both for writers and presenters. 

3) Divestment Brief 

Jess: Sent NRTEE to Milan. 

Stu: Sent UofT promotion to Milan. 

Milan sent an update email, asking for contributions from Monica and Amy, including work for Stu. 

4) Ontario LTEP Review 

The deadline is Spet 16th. Tamara volunteered to write a draft, for group approval at a later date. She’ll have it ready for next Tuesday. 

a. 350 submission – meeting to discuss 

First conserve, then invest in renewables, then nuclear, with carbon-based energy as the last option. 

We support Feed-in-Tarriff for renewables. 

Do we want to oppose nuclear, in that nuclear will limit the growth and money available for renewables? 

b. Survey 

Stu to (re)send this to members. 

c. Public meeting tomorrow 

At Intercontinental, 220 Bloor W, 7-9pm. 

Amelia-Rose is there tonight. 

Others are encouraged to go. 

5) Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour - COMART 

Yes, it is worth asking Comart for funding for this. The TSRCST is an important event. 

6) Crowdfunding 

Jess, Flavius and Stu met Sunday. Flavius and Stu came up with a script. Jess thinks Flavius’ script is better. Tamara wants to combine the two. Can Flavius flesh out his script a bit and make it ‘snappier’. 

Then we will need 3 people and a camera-person. Jess will send an email to ask for volunteers. 

7) Website/Social Media Updates 

Needs upcoming events, including Do the Math to be highlighted. Also there are comments from Amelia-Rose. 

Jess will add events to the calendar. 

8) U of T Heroes 

Jon suggested we give an award. We can’t take this on right now, unless Jon wants to? 

9) Student Leaders Connect 

This may be of interest: 

Student Leaders Connect is a one day conference designed to promote collaboration and networking at U of T open to all student leaders!

Date: Saturday, August 17th

Time: 11:00am - 4:30pm

Location: Goldring Stude nt Center, Victoria College (121 Charles Street West)

Cost: Free! Lunch will be provided too!

http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/leadership/Undergrad/Student-Leaders-Connect.htm 

10) Actions Speak Louder 

Tamara will take this over. 

11) Renewal of Recognition 

Tamara will email the constitution to the UTSU officer. 

12) Next Mtg 

Stu will chair. 

Tamara will take notes. 

We need a room. Hart house or Robarts?

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

6 August 2013

Present: Emily, Jean, Amy, Flavius, Stuart, Milan

Chair: Stuart

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Ontario LTEP Review

* Actions Speak Louder

* Crowdfund script

* COMART

* UofT Heroes (Jon)

* Student Leaders Connect 

* UTSU

* Tar Sands Speaking Tour (Tamara)

* Renewal of recognition

* Cinema Politica

* National Week of Action Event (CYCC)

* Upcoming Events + info for Mailchimp

* Website updates - Stu to do

* Energy East Transcanada pipeline - reaching out to 350 mothership and tar-sands-blockade for help

* disOrientation

* Line9

* Divestment brief

* Do The Math

* Next Meeting

1) Status updates

Jean is continuing to work on the screening

* Preparing pitches for TV opportunities and media outreach

* Organizing swag bags, seeking prizes for raffles

* TV pitches: Canada AM, Daytime Toronto, The Agenda

* Has spoken with Elizabeth May

Stuart could potentially need to relocate to Kansas City for a few weeks, at an uncertain time

Emily will be following up with campus media contacts, Cinema Politica

2) Ontario LTEP Review

http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/ltep/

Tamara has taken this on

Individuals can complete a short survey online: http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/ltep/ltep-survey/

3) Actions Speak Louder

Tamara to produce new draft by tomorrow

* She has told Stu that she thinks she can make that deadline

4) Crowdfund script

There was a meeting specifically about this a week and a half ago

There are two quite different drafts: one from Stuart and one from Flavius

* Flavius is working on making it 'snappier'

* Flavius has produced a new draft that incorporates some of Stuart's points

Objective is just to seek funding generally, not for a specific action or event

Flavius will circulate it to the membership and seek volunteers willing to be involved

5) COMART

Monica has contacted them to ask for funding for the Tar Sands Speaking Tour

* Hasn't yet heard back

6) UofT Heroes (Jon)

Jon had the idea of giving an award to U of T related people working on climate change

* "I think it would be really cool if TO350 honoured a UofT hero with an annual award or some form of recognition"

Hopefully, he will provide more information at a meeting soon

7) Student Leaders Connect 

Item 9 in: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/3jhHUnP2k2IJ

August 17th - registration is now full (we are not on it)

* Emily will try to sign up

8) UTSU

Milan met with Benvenuto Triolo, the new Sustainability Coordinator at UTSU

* They have funding available if we can propose specific uses

* He is happy to help with promoting the October film screening

* We can get 1,000 free photocopies from the UTSU office during the school year

* He recommends that we contact Keith Stewart at the School of the Environment

* Works for Greenpeace, and currently teaching a course at U of T

* https://twitter.com/climatekeith

* Milan sent him an email

http://utsu.ca/section/34

* "Each U.T.S.U. recognized group is entitled to 1,000 free black and white photocopies throughout the fall/winter sessions (September – May) and 500 free photocopies throughout the summer session (May-September). Simply bring in your original documents to the U.T.S.U. front desk, and our Internal Coordinator will take care of the rest. Please note, for larger print jobs (100 plus photocopies) we ask that you submit your originals and return the next day to pick up the copies. Smaller print jobs can be done on the spot."

Amelia Rose said he might go to their 5-7 meeting tonight, not clear if he did

9) Tar Sands Speaking Tour

Tamara is working on it, asking Comart for funding

10) Renewal of recognition

Tamara has contacted them

* Has she heard back?

11) Cinema Politica

Screening "Bidder 70" at the Bloor Cinema in September

* Emily has been in touch with them

* They are willing to partner with us on this

Date not yet 100% certain

* When it is, send it to Jess for the MailChimp

* We can also create a Facebook event for it

We need to send at least one or two people

12) National Week of Action Event (CYCC)

We could conceivably make the Bidder 70 screening our event for this

To be discussed further next week - Stuart will look into it in the interim

13) Upcoming Events + info for Mailchimp

Jess has been struggling to find information

* If you have anything, please send the information directly to her

We could have a movie screening, potluck, debate, or workshop at Harvest Noon

* They would be willing to help promote it

September 10th - orientation street festival at U of T - could be added to the next mailing

* Cameron signed us up

* We will need volunteers for this: 10-3pm

* Amy may be able to do it

14) Website updates - Stu to do

Stuart has received a number of suggestions by email

* He will make the changes over the next couple of days

15) Energy East Transcanada pipeline - reaching out to 350 mothership and tar-sands-blockade for help

Stu got an email from Patricia Warwick at TCAN

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/08/06/energy-east-transcanada-pipeline/?__lsa=e230-4978

* "Energy East can expect more of the same opposition, said Daniel Kessler, a spokesman for 350.org, a U.S. group that is helping organize the battle against Keystone."

* "'We plan to fight it with our friends in Canada,' said Kessler, referring to the Energy East proposal. 'Our goal is to not play whack-a-mole with these projects, but to slow them down long enough until policy makers come to their senses and adopt policies to keep fossil fuels in the ground.'"

Transcanada wants it to be online by 2017

We could be producing op-eds for campus media

* Amy will look into doing this

We could send a press release to NOW Magazine

16) disOrientation

Item 7: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/toronto-350/HT2q6T-oRAY/O3rlOaDKx4wJ

U of T

* Emily will send them an email Thursday

* What sort of event would we like to participate in?

* Maybe a panel with other campus environmental groups, talking about environmental issues of interest to the U of T community

Ryerson

* September 5th

* Will involve discussion of Line 9

* We probably don't want to be part of it officially, but it could be good to attend

17) Line9

There is a meeting next week that Stuart is attending

* Next Tuesday, 5-7pm, at OISE

Ryerson disOrientation - Sept 5th

Line 9 Day of Action - Sept 29th - Meeting on Aug 13th, 5pm OISE

18) Divestment brief

Stu to incorporate parts from Amy

* Amy has put together the footnotes for all the country sections except France, which she will do during the next few days

* Stuart will incorporate them into the LaTeX files

Emily and Cam are working on outreach

* May be counterproductive to promote too much now, before the brief is finalized

* Emily has a list of 150 profs that we can email a link to the final version to

Milan still needs to incorporate text from Monica, as well as slot in some legal information

* On the legal side, Milan will produce what he can reasonably quickly, with possible supplementary evidence to follow for the committee

19) Do The Math

We should have printed information available for the event

* At least business cards, possibly a short pamphlet

* Could be included in the swag bags

Media pitches

* Ideal timing is closer to the event

Canada AM - less substantive morning show

* http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/

* Possible topics of discussion: Line 9, divestment, Do the Math screening, Energy East

* Less urgent pitch than some of the others

* Stu will lead on this, with Flavius willing to help

The Agenda - more serious and political

* http://theagenda.tvo.org/

* This is the most urgent pitch

* Jean has the pitch nearly together

Daytime Toronto

* Less serious than the other two

* Would have to be about the event, not a political show

* Could be an opportunity to focus on the sponsors

* Flavius will do this

Live Healthy Now

* "Live Healthy Now is a live call-in television series hosted by Registered Dietitian, Bev Miller. Bev answers your questions about nutrition and presents vital information to help you begin living a healthy and energized life today!"

* Jean will prepare the pitch

A Greener Toronto with Candice Batista

* http://www.rogerstv.com/page.aspx?lid=12&rid=16&sid=2778

* Rogers program

* Jean has contacted her, but she hasn't yet responded

* Flavius will come up with a pitch during the next two weeks

Breakfast television

* http://www.bttoronto.ca/

* Another less serious option

* Highlight the event

* Quite a similar kind of show to Daytime Toronto

CBC Newsworld

* Jean will write this pitch

CBC radio

* To be coordinated next week / via radio

 

* Monica provided alist of media outlets and pitch ideas

Creating ads with Liya

* Jean will have Liya do this

* Ben Triolo is willing to help with graphics

Selling stuff?

* Do we want to sell t-shirts, etc?

* Stuart will see if he can find anyone to design one

* He will also look into the costing

* We could give t-shirts to people who make a donation beyond a certain level

* 350.org charges US$17.99 - 24.99

* http://www.cafepress.com/project350/5670049

McKibben!

* Bill McKibben will provide a recorded video greeting

Program for the event

* To be discussed next week

20) Next Meeting

Chair: Emily

Note-taker: Flavius

Location

* Emily will try to book Harvest Noon

[Flavius Georgescu]

Present: Emily, Amy, Stuart, Flavius, Ben, Milan, Amelia Rose, Jean

Chair: Stuart

Note-taker: Flavius

 

AGENDA items

 1.     Status Updates

2.     Do the Math event

a.     Discussion of direction of event

b.     Facebook event creation

c.      Event registration

3.     T-Shirts

4.     Media release quality control

5.     Energy East

6.     Actions Speak Louder

7.     Ontario LTEP Review

8.     Beyond Green Youth Summit

9.     Crowdfunding script

10. Tar Sands Speaking Tour

11. National week of action event

12. We Stand Together Against FIPA (Stu)

13. UTUTSU meeting

14. Bidder70 screening September 17th Bloor Cinema

a.     Action: print flyers

15. Line 9

16.  Brief

 

3. T-Shirts

Milan received the following quote:

For two-sided American Apparel shirts:
* For 50, around $520 ($10.40)
* For 75, around $725 ($9.66)
* For 100, around $945 ($9.45)
* For 200, around $1780 ($8.90)

Could be ready in about a week

Stu may help with upfront costs. 

Emily: we shouldn't give up on values in picking a company to print these. 

- hide quoted text -

Amelia Rose: knows of a company who can print 1 sided very good quality. 

Flavius: Maybe we should stick to 50 t-shirts as we don’t know if we can sell them all and we would need to pay Stu back.

Stu will try to get logo from Neil.

2. Do the Math event

Jean has sent ma...@toronto350.org all documents. 

Jean: we have asked sponsors if they want to get involved with stories for media.  None have responded as of yet.

Jean there should be 2 groups working on releases. One for consumers another for more technical details. 

Jean: we need to work out a plan on who is doing PR and operations. Stu: the same people will be doing both given availability.

C) Event registration

- Stu will make Eventbrite event.

Jean & Stu: Next event summary will include an image. Stu will add it in if Liya is not able to.

Jean has some of the logos and will be sending them off to Stu.

Jean will be helping out with pitches until Monica gets back but she has been pushing back on important work on her company.

Stu and Emily will work on schedule for sending out pitches. Jean can get someone to check grammar.

Jean: We need to get schedule for event. Jules may go first to introduce event and announce raffle.

Jean will send a program for the even to Stuart.

4.     Media release quality control

- Milan: there should be a clearly defined member or members of exec to OK PR releases.

- Emily: not a clear process. Maybe Monica?

- Milan can read them after the 22nd of August.  Stu: it should be a 48 hour process not 24 hour.

- Stu can create a list for approvals - pr...@toronto350.org

.5. Energy East

Amy got in touch with Cheryl McNamara at the Citizens Climate Lobby
and learned that they aren't doing anything specific for it

Suggestions from her:

"I encourage your members to write letters to the editor too.
Politicians tend to read those. Letter writers have a better chance of
being published when they respond to front page news or
editorials/opinion pieces.

FYI - Fred Edwards, the Opinion Page editor for the Toronto Star, is
very nice. Be sure to call him end of day (when deadlines have passed)
to pitch your idea to him. He told me that he gets a fair number of
oped submissions that are environmentally themed. You will need to
think of an angle that's different from the rest. When I pitched my
oped on lobbying in Washington - I took it from a citizen's point of
view, and he liked that. He didn't print it, but posted it online,
which was great. He said that there is now an appetite for opeds that
offer a genuine personal point of view. I think he may appreciate a
very local angle too - how will this pipeline effect Toronto?"Jean, Op Ed gets more attention. Amy: not sure what angle to take. 

Stu: Angle – Ontario should not be contributing and undermining it own commitment to decreasing emisions. Emily: we are not going to be seeing any lower prices as a result of this.

Amy: we should pitch this first.

6.     Actions Speak Louder

 Tamara has sent this out.

7.     Ontario LTEP Review

No update.

8.     Beyond Green Youth Summit

 "I am reaching out to invite Toronto350.org to apply as a workshop

facilitator at Canada’s most dynamic environmental youth summit at the
University of Toronto this Oct 25-27th."

* Friday Night: Beyond Green Kick-off with Emily Hunter, Tom Rand,
live entertainment and more at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema; Followed by
a short eco-film fest!
* Saturday: Charge up. Hands-on workshops that approach environmental
issues from every angle and empower you with all the info you need to
take action.
* Saturday Night: Celebrate Change. Keynote speakers Tzeporah Berman &
Majora Carter lead an inspiring evening on creating grassroots
environmental movements and campaigns
* Sunday: Organize for Change. Attend workshops that equip you with
the tools you need to create change. Connect and conspire with other
delegates to bring change back to your community.

Emily: tentative yes for participating.  Milan: this may help us get some signatures if required.

9.     Crowdfunding script

Stu: we will be able to get some help in October which means we may delay this. We will be fundraising during the screening.

Emily: this has been postponed.

Flavius will be sending out an email to book volunteers for when they said they will be available.  Roughly end of October

10. Tar Sands Speaking Tour

No Update yet.

11. National week of action event

Stu: idea is to get divestment into mainstream media. Organized by CYCC.

Emily: Perhaps this can be tied into with Bidder70 screening.

 14. Bidder70 screening September 17th Bloor Cinema @ 6:30pm

a.     Action: print flyers

 Emily: we need to change our meeting for that week. We should print out some flyers to help out with this screening.  Cinema Politica is organizing this.

Jean: get someone to critique the film ahead of time.

Ben: can get a professional poster done if he gets all the info in time.

12. We Stand Together Against FIPA (Stu)

 Taking place Friday, August 16 at 58 Cecil St. 7-9. Information on court case for anyone willing to attend this.

13. UTUTSU meeting

 Ben has some funding available for some of our causes.

Jean: Perhaps they can help with some of the opersations of the Do the Math Screening – ushering etc.

 15. Line 9

Flavius’ notes from meeting:

        * Organizing a march against Line 9 on Sunday, September 29 @ 2pm Queens park to Dundas Square.

        * Art days Sept 7 & 22 to work on flyers, posters etc. Volunteers required especially someone who can create a poster.

        * Pamphleteering Monday Sept 2 - they need volunteers

        * Group is meeting again on Tuesday Aug 27 @ 5:30pm

- Ben may be able to help out with the printing of their poster.

16.  Brief

Milan has been incorporating text he has received.  Stu has made some changes will highlight them

Milan: it would be useful to get a critique on the financial aspects of the brief from an expert.

17. Next meeting:

Chair: Stu

Note-taker: Emily

Location: Harvest Noon if available.

[Emily Barrette]

Aug 20th Minutes

 

In attendance: Stu, Emily, Jess, Ben, Jean, Amelia Rose

 

1.     Do the Math

a.     Pitches

                                               i.     What is the goal of the TV pitches?

                                              ii.     What about radio?

                                             iii.     And written?

                                            iv.     Can we schedule and assign them tonight?

We should have a meeting just for pitches. Do this as quickly as possible. Stu and Jess will meet tomorrow.

 

Concern about limited resources and amount of time we can reasonably devote to media pitches.

 

All future pitches will be Monica’s responsibility.

 

b.     Schedule for the night?

Stu’s idea: Movie Panel-Panel Movie

Tentative Schedule for the night

 

We have the Bloor Cinema from 6pm-11:30pm

 

6-6:15 McKibben+NOW+Toronto350.org Intro

6:15-7pm Do the Math Screening

7pm-7:45pm-Panel (May+ Vasil) 15min-15min+15min Q&A

 

7:45-8:15 break

 

8:15-9pm Panel (May+Vasil) 15min+15min+Bill McKibben+NOW+Toronto350.org Intro

9pm-9:45-Do the Math screening

9:45-10:15 350.org led discussion

 

Need to check with May and Vasil if they are willing to do a second panel?

 

Jean will contact May and Vasil.

 

c.     Live Healthy Now Pitch

d.     Split into groups to do the pitches?

                                               i.     Stu and Jess will do the TV pitches Wednesday night.

e.      Graphics needed

                                               i.     Can then be posted on: Eventbrite/Facebook/Website

 

Neal just sent them to Stu, will be forwarded on to Ben and Jean.

 

            Selling books? Adria Vasil’s book. Publisher has to take care of that. We do

            not have the capacity to sell books, as well as other things.

 

Jean can donate 100 books on Ayurvedic health and beauty. Link will be sent out to the Do The Math group

 

 

2.     Climate Fast, Sept 21st-Oct 2nd (Amelia Rose)

Fast in Ottawa, 3 asks: renewable energy future; price on carbon; removal of fossil fuels subsidies.

103 MPs and 13 Senators signed on to pledge.

Support this group?

Form on website climatefast.ca, fill out an organizational form in support.

 

This year added a carbon fast as an alternative to a food fast.

 

Amelia Rose will sign us up for that!

 

3.     T-shirts (Amelia Rose)

Didn’t get a chance to look at it.

Price did not include tax (from last week)

$520 + tax for 50 T-Shirts (from American Apparel); cheapest make would be $350 + tax

 

To be investigated further (Stu and Amelia Rose)

 

4.     Tar Sands speaking tour

1. Partner org

Email from Cameron asking us to be a partner organization.

                       

                        We already said no.

 

5.     Switch screening (Jess)

Watched a movie called Switch recently. Screening for ourselves and our own knowledge.

Our Horizon+350 screening: internal event

 

Too busy for this right now, but in general a good idea to do social events for ourselves, and social events on a regular basis.

 

Postpone until post-Do the Math screening

 

6.     Bidder 70/CYCC action (Emily?)

No updates.

Weekly meeting will be scheduled for Monday the 16^th.

 

Pictures with the big orange cross and take pictures? Yes!

 

7.     How Tar Sands Threaten Our Community with Ben Powless (event, Milan)

a.     Mark your calendar: Sunday, Aug. 25, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

b.     East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell Avenue

8.     TGM date - Sept 3rd? Or after we have new members? (Milan)

Monday September 16^th or September 24^th. Stu will send out email.

9. Backgrounder - summary of events (any volunteers)

Stu will do this

10. Ryerson disOrientation - (stu asked for a table)

Stu is on this.

Looking for volunteers to help out (Jess will send out call for help in

11. UofT disOrientation - panel (Emily’s email)

-evening thing: Emily and Stu will take this on.

Emily will email back saying yes.

Details to follow

12. Beyond Green Youth Summit (Milan/Emily)
1. Oct 25-27^th
2. Anyone want to organize/run a workshop? We’ll most likely be trying for the 300 sigs.

 

Emily and Stu will take this on.

 

13.  What happens if we get loads of people in September? (Stu)

a.     Action team?

 

Create an action team dedicated to running events to get people out in large numbers.

 

Building groups and teams under the executive (ex. Community outreach, campus media, social coordinator)

 

14.  Parliament to Campus - (Milan)

Bring former parliamentarian to come and speak.

Interesting, but not something we have time or resources for right now.

 

Maybe something for new year.

 

15. Brief:
1. Annual reports (Rob)
2. 4 PDFs from Milan
3. Stu may try to incorporate Monica’s stuff or continue the style-guide work
4. Otherwise on hold (and Stu failed to do anything this week)

 

16. UTSU Sustainability Commission meeting September 17^th
1. Opportunity to promote Toronto350.org and get volunteers for Do the Math screening

17.  Next meeting

a.     POTLUCK!

b.     August 27^th 7pm-9pm Stu will host. 755 Dupont St. (side gate)

c.     Stu will chair, Emily will host.

[Emily Barrette]

Aug 27^th 2013 Agenda

 

Attendance: Emily, Amy, Monica, Tamara, Milan, Flavius, Dan

 

1. Status Update

Tamara: Ulife renewal of status.

Milan will do this.

 

2. Philosophy discussion: Sponsorship (Stu)

20 corporate sponsors for the Do the Math event

350 has generally avoided corporate sponsorship.

Future events: think about how we want to have corporate sponsorship

            -Money?

            -What type of sponsors? Ethical, sustainable living vs. others

Policy or case by case?

Guidelines or protocols/bylaws to shadow constitution? Yes, let’s do this!

 

Action: Will add protocol section to shadow constitution. Before we accept someone as a corporate sponsor it will be discussed at a meeting.

 

Milan will do this and circulate it.

 

3. Energy East op ed (Amy)

Updated version sent out. Need to start pitching this sooner rather than later.

Sometime this week.

 

Amy will reach out to Toronto mainstream media.

 

Emily will get in touch with campus media again.

 

4. Line9 rally - moved to Oct 19^th

Rally of more than 20 groups moved to October 19^th.

NEB hearings in Toronto are October 16^th-19^th.

Rally during the day, concert in the evening.

Highlight rally at the Do the Math Screening-hopefully get some people out.

 

5^th assessment report of the ICPP coming out in September (timing related)

 

Flavius went to the meeting today.

Looking for help:         Monday handing out pamphlets (9am)

 

Flavius: will contact Ben about printing pamphlets and flyers.

 

5. T-shirts (Amelia Rose)

Nothing to report

 

6. Tar Sands speaking tour (Tamara, Monica)

1. Is it happening? When?

Delayed until further notice. Will still take place

Proposing middle of October. If the issue is raising funds, probably won’t happen within a month.

 

Probably email update from Cameron/CYCC

 

7. Draw the Line, Sep 21st.

Anything we can do?

 

Not going to devote too much energy to this.

 

Will probably do something small related to this.

 

8. Bidder 70/CYCC action (who wants to speak? Who will come?)

-350 members will speak: Milan, Tamara, Emily, Stu (Emily and Milan)

-posters: black and white only

           

            Will ask about format for speakers.

            Stu will help with speech writing if necessary

 

9. TGM date

Will be September 24^th

 

10. Ryerson disOrientation - need volunteers

September 5^th-monica and Milan and stu, and possibly Nicole of environmental defence

Noon-4:30pm

Noon-3pm: Milan

3pm-4:30pm: Stu and Monica

 

Paraphernalia? Tri-fold handout

Stu will look into this

 

11. UofT disOrientation - workshop - need volunteers

Milan can take this on—similar Beyond Green Youth

Stu can be there

Flavius and Monica

Emily potentially also             

 

Wednesday 2^nd October, 6-7:30pm

 

Send to TCAN people, include in mail chimp

 

Keep it to a 350 event; would partner with people with the same objectives, not people who are sharing same tactics.

 

12. Clubs Day, Tuesday September 10^th 10-3pm

Amy & Monica,Stu potentially. As of now, Amy and Monica can both do the 10-3pm.

 

Emily will send out call for volunteers.

 

Stu will take care of flyers.

 

13. Beyond Green Youth Summit (Milan) Oct 25-27th

-Milan will run a workshop.

 

14. Parliament to Campus - (Milan)

­If someone wants to spearhead, great. Not super useful and shouldn’t devote too many resources to this.

 

Push off to later.

 

15. Brief:

Almost done!!!

To do:

Incorporate Monica’s text

Adding more detail about legal precedents.

 

September 1^st-September 9^th: finishing brief

 

Proofreaders wanted.

 

Change the Shell demand to within a year from when we present the brief to the President.

 

16. Do the Math

-Video file

            Now have a copy from the 350 mothership (Jean has it)

-Schedule

            Decided!

           

6pm-6:15 Bill McKibben's video Intro + NOW intro + Toronto350.org Intro

6:15-7pm Do the Math Screening

7pm-7:30 Panel (May+ Vasil) 15min+15min

7:30-7:45 Q&A (answered by May and Vasil)

 

7:45-8:30 break

 

8:30-9pm Panel (May+Vasil) 15min+15min

9pm-9:15 Bill McKibben's video Intro + NOW intro + Toronto350.org Intro

9:15-10  Do the Math Screening

10-10:30 Q&A (answered by Toronto350.org members)

 

-MC-Daryn from Green Majority? Monica will ask

 

-Pitches (Monica)

            Yeah!

Tables for other Climate groups (TCAN, CCL) (Stu/Lyn)

            Sure! Double check what kind of space we have available.

 

17.  Next meeting

Tuesday September 2nd

Hart House

Milan will chair

Tamara will take minutes

[Monica Resendes]

Toronto350.org planning meeting, 3 September 2013

 

Present: Flavius, Dan, Jean, Monica, Stuart, Jess, Milan, Emily

Chair: Milan

Note-taker: Monica

 

Agenda:

* Status updates

* Divestment brief - final week

* NoJetsTO Campaign

* Shadow constitution amendment

* Termly general meeting - September 24th

* Ryerson disOrientation - September 5th

* Clubs Day - September 10th

* Bidder 70 screening -  September 17th

* U of T disOrientation  - October 2nd

* October 15th Do the Math screening

* Next meeting

 

Status Updates:

·      Energy East op ed (Amy)? Amy not present – update next week?

·      T-shirts (Amelia Rose)? Amelia Rose not present – update next week?

·      Any updates on crowdsourcing? Stu - crowdsourcing will be put off until Do the Math is over.

·      Folder for UT clubs day: Stu and Monica will create a tri-fold flyer for UT clubs day.

·      350 “swag”: Milan asked about tee shirts, Emily still needs to hear back from Svetla about these.

Tar Sands Reality Check Tour

Tour is postponed until the middle of October.

They are proposing October 17^th or 18^th for Toronto, just before the big Line 9 rally.

Monica and Tamara can be contacts for this.

Stu will email Line 9 mailing list to see if they have a preference

 

Divestment Brief

There is still some substantive work to do

* Milan has reviewed Canadian legal cases on climate change and found a bit of useful information. He has also looked a little at the US and will do more

* Milan needs help on proofreading. Chapters to be proofread: Executive Summary; Climate change is settled science; Social injury; Fiduciary duties; International organizations; Shell; FAQ; Bibliography.

We should split up the chapters, and by MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY have people identify grammatical errors; formating problems, issues with language and tone, etc.

Jess will do FAQ, Stu will do Executive Summary and Bibliography; Sandy (Stu’s friend) will do fiduciary duties, Flavius will do the Social injury and Why start with Shell sections.

 

NoJetsToronto Campaign

The NoJets group sent Emily a request for endorsement to stop the expansion of the Toronto Island Airport, including allowing jets to travel to and from the airport.

Margaret Atwood has already endorsed it, former mayor David Miller, professors, the Toronto Environmental Alliance, Citizens Climate Lobby.

Voted to officially endorse the campaign if they list air pollution and climate change as major causes for challenging the expansion proposal.

 

5) Shadow constitution amendment

Further to our discussion of August 27th, Milan has added the following draft text to the shadow constitution:

 

"ARTICLE 5: PROCEDURES

Before a for-profit enterprise shall be accepted as a sponsor, the matter shall be discussed at a planning meeting. If any person present rejects to the sponsorship, a simple majority vote will be conducted to settle the matter.”

Milan moves that the text be officially incorporated into the shadow constitution.

Vote on approving the above text for approval for constitutional amendment.  Accepted unanimously.

 

6) Termly general meeting - September 24th

Milan will send out the two-week notice for the meeting, along with a copy of the current constitution and shadow constitution

Please think about whether you would like to run, or whether you know anyone else who may * Remember, we can create new executive positions to suit the interests people have

Stu – we should probably try to shuffle the exec membership as much as possible so that people could get different experience, and so that we don’t get too engrained as a group on roles or become to reliant on a single person.

Jean – just be careful to not shuffle too much so that you don’t end up with people who may put a role on a CV but can’t really do the job. You should keep a position for a year, then if you want to change, retrain another person then.

Emily – we should let new people take on executive positions if they want to, we may not need a lengthy mentoring process.

Emily will review meeting minutes from last TGM to see who will be eligible to vote at next TGM.

Harvest Noon will be the location for the TGM – Monica will book the room.

 

7) Ryerson disOrientation - September 5th

Noon-4:30pm

·      Can any more people commit to going?

12-3 Milan will be there

3-4:30 Monica will be there

*Stu will also be there for a couple of hours; possible Nicole from Environmental Defence?

 

8) Clubs Day - September 10th

10-3pm – Amy and Monica. Flavius might be able to come, he’ll let Monica know.

Jess send out a call for volunteers in the mailchimp. Emily will repeat the call out.

Stu and Monica will make a general flyer with UT campaigns and general info. 

 

9) Bidder 70 screening -  September 17^th

At Bloor Cinema, at 6:30pm – 9:30 pm ?

Cinema Politica will cover costs for posters, but in return they want us to flyer all of them.

They would like one specific person to speak so they can add the info on the flyers—Emily can’t commit because she doesn’t have a fixed schedule for next week.  She’ll consider and let Milan know – if she can’t, Milan will do it.

 

10) U of T disOrientation - October 2^nd 6-7:30pm.

Stu and Emily wrote a proposal.  They will book a room and promo the workshop, we just have to show up and put the workshop on.

Stu, Emily and Milan will facilitate and meet to discuss further details.

 

11) October 15th Do the Math screening

Status on Daryn from The Green Majority as an emcee?

Daryn offered various business services (audio/visual) in addition to emceeing.

Do we want any of these services, or just want him to emcee? He said he could do it for free if we give him 3 minutes to self-promote, or for a $150 honorarium if he just emcees.

Jean – Jules from NOW magazine can possibly also emcee?

Emily Daryn for facilitating the Q & A because he’s familiar with the issues and could understand questions / comments, etc.  We could have an emcee and a moderator for the Q & A portion, but we need to make sure we consider and acknowledge NOW magazine’s contribution.

Stu – we can have Jules introduce Bill McKibben; Dayrn will introduce TO350, TO350 will intro the film.  

* Was Jean able to arrange anything regarding an honorarium?

Monica will contact Daryn and ask if he can do it for FREE in exchange for 3 minutes of promo, if he refuses we can offer $200 for him to emcee and audio record. 

 

12) Next meeting

We will change the meeting to Wednesday, September 11^th at Hart House.

Stu will chair.

Emily will be note-taker.

September 18^th at Monica’s house: 200 Robert Street, just west of Spadina on Harbord.

September 24^th the TGM at Harvest Noon.

 

On Thursday, June 28, 2012 10:21:44 AM UTC-4, Milan wrote:

We had our first planning meeting last night - 27 June 2012.

We have another planned for Tuesday July 3rd, from 7:00pm until about 9:00pm. The aim of the meeting will be to discuss recruitment and possible actions the group could undertake.

If you want to attend, please contact milan.i...@gmail.com

[Milan Ilnyckyj]

Minor correction:

Tamara was also present

[Monica Resendes]

 

Sept 11^th Agenda

 

In attendance, Emily, Milan, Tamara, Monica, Stu, Ben, Hannah, Chantale, Shosho, Ashley,

 

Cake and Champagne to celebrate finishing the divestment brief!

 

1.Status Updates and Welcome!

 

2.Reconstituting the Exec

-Milan stepping down as president so that he can focus on his comprehensive exams in December

            -Emily will be stepping down as outreach director

 

3.Outreach - people who signed up and said they want to volunteer!

            -on our website there is a sign up for newsletter and for people to volunteer.

            -Stu will provide list, Emily will send out email.

 

4.UTSU SC on 17th

            -meeting 5-7pm

            -Monica will go

 

5.Bidder 70/CYCC action

            -Stu will speak, with big orange

 

a. Fossil Free Frosh

 

b. Invite fb fans-need to become an admin of the group

 

6.TGM Tuesday September 24^{th TBD OR  Wednesday 25th at Harvest Noon}

            -Please email TO350 members list to let us know of your availability

            -Emily will have list of eligible voters

 

7.Divestment Double Down Day Sep 18th (Amelia Rose)

            -a meme making workshop

            -more information to come. On that day, media blitz, posting memes to social media

 

8.ClimateFast Blast out to members in newsletter and to members (Amelia Rose) “(Unless I can do that as support was given a few weeks back).”

            -more information from Amelia Rose

 

9.UofT disOrientation – workshop October 2^nd at 6pm

            -room 10-200 in OISE

            -will mainly focus on divestment campaign

 

10.Beyond Green Youth Summit (Milan) Oct 25-27th

            -we will be organizing a workshop

 

11.PowerShift in Victoria, October 4-7th

 

12. 350 groups in Ontario

            -Owen Sound, Barrie, Hamilton

            -Emily will follow up

 

13.Brief

a. Have we had any media coverage? FossilFreeFrosh want to know.

            -Emily will contact The Newspaper, Monica will contact The Varsity

 

            -Monica: afternoon or two canvassing campus for signatures.

 

            -table at Bidder70 and Do the Math

 

13.Do the Math, October 15^th

 

a. Pitches (Monica)

 

b. NOW ads

 

c. Swag Bag filling - 4pm at Cinema on the day (volunteers please!)

 

d. Thank you ‘cards’ (memes)

 

e. Tables for other Climate groups (TCAN, CCL) (Stu/Lyn)

 

f. T-shirts “(No word back from Emily)”—too much, not going to do this for Do the Math?

            Emily’s sister will work on designing a t-shirt

 

14. Next Meeting

            -At Monica’s house! Address will be sent out with the minutes.

            -7pm-9pm

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org planning meeting

18 September 2013

Present: Stuart, Emily, Monica, Amelia Rose, Flavius, Chantale, Kevin, Shosho, Suhail, Dan, Tamara, Milan

Chair: Stuart

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda

* Status updates

* Bidder 70 debrief

* Tar sands reality tour

* Termly General Meeting - Sept 25th

* Line 9 rally - Next meeting Thurs Sept 26th 7:30pm at OISE 5th floor

* UofT disOrientation - Oct 2nd workshop

* Beyond Green Youth Summit (Milan) Oct 25-27th

* Divestment Brief

* Mailchimp and members list

* Recruiting email

* Do the Math - Oct 15th

* Next meeting

1) Status updates

None

2) Bidder 70 debrief

About 36 people present, aside from Stuart and Milan

Should we have a printed copy of the brief?

* Milan has a marked-up manuscript copy

* We will bring it to future events

Should we have general statements for issues like nuclear power?

* Track previous questions

* Monica will start this

3) Tar sands reality tour

To be coordinated with National Energy Board (NEB) hearings

Capacity of 150 seats or so could be feasible

* The Comart Foundation may be willing to help pay

Tasks for us: advertising, renting the space, being present at the event

* Bring out the other Line 9 groups

4) Power shifts

Upcoming in Victoria BC

* Also October 18 - 21st in Pittsburgh, PA

* http://www.wearepowershift.org/register

* http://www.wearepowershift.ca/register

5) Termly General Meeting - September 25th

Harvest Noon - 16 Bancroft Avenue

* Wednesday 7-10

* Potluck

People vacating positions

* Emily - Director of Outreach

* Stuart - Director of Operations

* Stuart is happy to keep managing the website

* Jess - Director of Communications

* Milan - President

We want a Creative Director

Monica will need to step down as Treasurer when she stops being a student

All current positions are defined in the constitution

We would love to have campus reps for Ryerson, OCAD, York, etc

Stuart is thinking of running for president; Suhail may run for Treasurer; Monica may run for Creative; Shosho may run for Media; Kevin may run for Fundraising; Amelia Rose interested in Outreach; Shosho may run for Ryerson campus rep

* Stuart will continue to manage operations for Do the Math in October

5) Line 9 rally - Next meeting Thurs 26th 7:30pm at OISE 5th floor

Coalition of various groups, organizing a forthcoming rally

Greenpeace not active on Line 9 in Toronto

6) UofT disOrientation - Oct 2nd workshop

Stu, Emily, and Milan to meet and organize

7) Beyond Green Youth Summit (Milan) Oct 25-27th

Will largely build on the disOrientation event

8) Divestment Brief

Online, we now have 43 attestations

Green Drinks would be a good place to promote it

* http://www.greendrinks.org/ON/Toronto

* "We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at Grace O'Malleys (except for April)"

Could someone who is on Facebook send messages to whichever sympathetic U of T groups have Facebook pages, asking them if they will post a link to the brief?

* Would someone be willing to get in touch with Ben and do this

* Tamara will

We want endorsements from as many U of T environmental organizations as possible

If we had someone willing to do it, pushing student referendums could be a good tactic

* Suhail is willing to look into how hard this would be

Librarians

* We need endorsements from administrative staff

* A librarian-specific poster would be great

* We can ask librarians to put them up in staff common areas

* Monica will design a poster, Milan will go to major libraries to ask about them putting it up

Also, if you are on any mailing lists (for a U of T department, college, etc), please send out a message about the divestment campaign.

A chalkboard campaign across campus could be useful

* A sentence or two, with a link

* toronto350.org/divest/

* We will cover OISE

* Milan will do Sidney Smith and the Larkin building

Sidewalks could also work

Recent Varsity article: 

* http://thevarsity.ca/2013/09/16/toronto350-calls-for-u-of-t-to-divest-fuel-shares/

* Back in December: http://thevarsity.ca/2012/12/03/activists-target-u-of-t-over-shell-investment/

We want an action to accompany the presentation of the brief

* Something we can announce at the Oct. 15 Do the Math event

It may be advantageous to have David Naylor choose the composition of the committee, rather than Meric Gertler

* May be more likely for an outgoing president to support the campaign, rather than an incoming one

* Incoming president: http://news.utoronto.ca/profile-professor-meric-gertler

We should push this week for signatures

Could be useful to have one or more student society co-present the brief

Could any student legislative body be willing to pass a resolution supporting the campaign?

McKibben's escalation tactic at Middlebury

* "Our colleague and co-founder Bill McKibben has announced his plan to donate a $50,000 prize he’ll receive later this fall to the college, to be put into escrow until such time as they divest; we’ll do likewise with our smaller gifts, and encourage others to do the same."

Another campaign planning workshop could also be useful

* The U of T disOrientation and Beyond Green Youth Summit will do this

9) Mailchimp and members list

Ask for Endorsements

Ask for Student IDs

ClimateFast

Should include the upcoming divestment workshops, and a reminder about the TGM

10) Recruiting email

Milan: "I think it would be a good idea to come up with a simple email listing all of our upcoming recruitment-related events. We could then send it to various mailing lists; ask that it be sent around to incoming students in various programs, colleges, and departments; and personally forward it to anyone who shows interest."

11) Do the Math - Oct 15th

Milan was on The Green Majority on the 13th

* Podcast: http://greenmajority.ca/2013/09/13/tgm-091313/

* He will be back on the 27th, talking divestment

Climate working group at Trinity St. Paul's United Church

* Reserved 50 tickets for Denis

* "We will have a follow-on action planning and next step discussion at Beit Zatoun House"

* He is going to call Stuart about this

* Synergies over coffee with Greg

* Emily is happy to meet with him

Pitches (Monica)

* Jean wants a 5th round sent

* Monica has pitched to some radio stations, and is now working on getting added to event listings

We should have a line for people without tickets

* Let them in 10-15 minutes before the show, if there are empty seats

EventBrite

* Just checking off 700 names per show will be a big task

* It may be better just to let people in, and only check names for swag bags

Thank you 'cards' (memes)

Tables for other Climate groups (TCAN, CCL) (Stu/Lyn)

T-shirts - design from Emily

* Probably unreasonable to try to have them for October 15th

Status of Daryn as moderator?

* We have agreed on the $150 honorarium

* He will do a weekly promo on the radio show, as well as audio-visual stuff on the night itself

* The priority from him should be good-quality audio, and it would be good if he did video too

* If not, it would be good for us to shoot video

Would Elizabeth May be willing to say something against Line 9 at the event itself?

How many volunteers will we need? Who will organize them? How specified should the roles be, and who should be responsible for that?

* Greeters, ticket-takers, swag bags, donations, ushers

Stuart will come up with an operational plan, with help from Emily

12) Next meeting

Termly General Meeting

Chair will be elected

Milan will take notes

Agenda items can be sent to Emily

[pres...@toronto350.org]

Toronto350.org Termly General Meeting

25 September 2013

Present: Stuart, Emily, Tamara, Flavius, Monica, Chantale, Shosho, Kim (from 350 Owen Sound), Susannah, Meghan, Dennis, Anne, Greg, Milan

Preliminary chair: Emily

Note-taker: Milan

Agenda:

* Assemble

* Introductions

* Short statement from Milan

* Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an appointed person)

* Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such as a coloured sticker

* Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting 

* Election of president 

* Election of treasurer 

* Creation or elimination of executive positions

* Nomination and election of other executive members

* Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution (hopefully none) 

* Financial statement from outgoing treasurer

* Tar Sands Reality Tour

* Do the Math screening - Oct. 15

* Rock the Line - Oct 6

* Institute for Christian Studies

* Brief endorsements

* disOrientation workshop

* Next meeting

* Merriment

1) Introductions

Kim

* From 350 Owen Sound

* They have already done a Do the Math screening

2) Short statement from Milan

Thank everyone who has been on the last three execs

* To save my voice, I won't list everyone, but thank you all

Very quick sketch of how T350 has developed

* Radiohead and first summer meeting

* Five of us met on a back patio in June 2012

* I think this is now our 68th planning meeting

* Kent screening, cooperation with other groups, 'Save Santa'

* Other screenings, the February 2013 trip to Washington

* Line 9 and divestment

Looking forward, why this work is promising and important

* Most people are concerned, but apathetic

* There is scope for driving them to take action

3) Determine who is eligible to vote (shall be worked out beforehand by an appointed person)

Done by Stu

4) Members entitled to vote shall be given some token to indicate their status, such as a coloured sticker

5) Election of a chairperson and interim chairperson for the meeting 

Milan nominates Emily; Tamara seconds; Emily accepts

* Passes unanimously

Emily nominates Tamara as interim chair

* Passes unanimously

6) Election of president 

Monica nominates Stuart; Milan seconds; Stu accepts

* Passes unanimously

Presidential transition:

* Change password for and name associated with president account

* Pick up bags of 350 stuff from Milan

* Get walked through all ongoing email

* Get a DVD with all of Milan's 350 files

7) Election of treasurer 

Stuart nominates Chantale; she accepts; Monica seconds

* Passes unanimously

8) Creation or elimination of executive positions

Vote to rename Outreach as U of T Campus Liaison, create York and Ryerson Campus Liaisons

* Passes unanimously

Amendments to the constitution to include new text on the three positions

* Passes unanimously

9) Nomination and election of other executive members

Creative director

* Stu nominates Monica, who accepts

* Elected unanimously

Stu nominates Flavius and Tamara for Director of Operations

* Stu will continue to bottom-line the Do the Math event

* Tamara accepts, Flavius does not

* All but Tamara vote in favour

Flavius nominated for Director of Communications

* Accepts

* Elected unanimously

Shosho nominated for Media Director

* Accepts

* Elected unanimously

Should we eliminate the International Coordinator position?

* Emily moves to do so, Stu seconds

* Passes unanimously

Kevin nominated for Director of Fundraising

* Indicated his interest to Stu by email

* Elected unanimously

Hopefully he will be active in applying for on-campus funding

* Student Initiative Fund: http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/Student-Initiative-Fund.htm/

University of Toronto Campus Liaison

* Emily nominates Chantale

* Accepts

* Elected unanimously

Stuart moves to create a new Director of Outreach position

* "The director of outreach shall have primary responsibility for Toronto350.org's visibility in Toronto, outside of universities. They shall seek to make connections with churches, community groups, other local 350.org groups, and other potential allies."

* Passes unanimously

* Emily nominates Amelia Rose, Stu secondds

* Elected unanimously

York University Campus Liaison

* Emily nominates Amelia Rose

* Elected unamimously

Ryerson Campus Liaison

* Shosho nominated, accepts

* Elected unanimously

10) Proposed amendments to the U of T constitution (hopefully none) 

Milan proposes several minor changes

* Stu moves to adopt them all

* Passes unanimously

11) Financial statement from outgoing treasurer

Monica locked herself out of the bank account, so doesn't know the exact balance

Milan: the balance is $243.50

* Monica needs to reimburse herself $80

Monica will find out what will be needed to hand off the bank cards to the new president and treasurer

12) Tar Sands Reality Tour

Being organized by the Fossil Free Canada group

* Oct 9-18th

* 18th would be in Toronto

* Speakers not yet confirmed

* The main group will provide postering material

Ben booked a room through UTSU

* The Imperial Oil room in the neuroscience building

* We will know for sure by the end of the week

Please spread the word on this to interested people and groups

13) Do the Math screening - Oct. 15

Jean is very busy with franchising right now

Raffle

* Price for tickets?

* 1 for $5; 3 for $10 ($3.33); 7 for $20 ($2.85)?

* 1 for $5; or $5 for 20?

* $1 per ticket?

* Adjust based on how full the room is?

* How to run it?

* We need to buy a roll of raffle tickets

Donations

* How? Just Jean's credit card machine, or our own 'square' reader

* Emily already has one

* Cash too

* Does anyone have a cashbox we can use? A jar with a slit would work.

* We will need change for raffle tickets - good to have a float

* Stuart has sent the fundraising plan to Kevin

Trinity St. Paul's

* They have established a working group on climate change

* They want to support the Do the Math screening

* They have reserved a block of tickets, for which they will be charging a bit - they will be having an afterparty

* The party will be an engagement session, with 5-6 ideas that people could take up: retrofitting their church, etc

* Produce an action plan for the following year

* They are considering an internal divestment campaign

* One of their members is on the United Church investment board

* They have large meetings every few years, which sometimes draw media attention

* They will be attending the first screening

* 1-2 representatives from 350 could attend their after-party

They have affordable meeting space: large gym, large meeting room

* Elizabeth May and Gwynne Dyer have spoken there before

* Auditorium for 1200, available for $100

Recent article on divestment in Canada doesn't mention us at all: http://canadiandimension.com/articles/5546/

* https://twitter.com/GoFossilFree/status/382975481630310400

* We have consistently had trouble being in touch with Cameron Fenton and the CYCC

None of the TV or radio shows we approached got back to us

We will be doing some postering

NOW! Magazine and Vitality Magazine will be including some ads

Monica got contacted unprovoked by a CBC reporter

Milan is back on The Green Majority on Friday

* 11am to noon, CIUT 89.5 FM

* Daryn will be doing a regular promo for the event

Monica has large numbers of posters, but they need stickers

T-shirts

* If we want them, we need to order them ASAP

* Emily has a design

* We could buy them for about $10 and sell them for $20, but we would need to sell half of them to break even

* Better to order t-shirts later, just to give to volunteers

We should write a 30-second script for Bill McKibben

* We don't yet have a video introduction

* Stuart has tried emailing, but hit a "wall of silence"

* Sending a script, or some bullet points, might prompt them into action

* He could stress the opportunity for leadership on the part of U of T, which is in the brief

The Do the Math committee should meet to sort out the small details

* Could be after Rock the Line on October 6th

14) Rock the Line - Oct 6

We need a respectable table banner for this

Monica is coordinating, Stu and Emily will be there

Happening at Mel Lasdmen Square (spelling uncertain)

* Afternoon event, 2pm - 5pm

15) Institute for Christian Studies

School of about 50 students, not officially part of U of T

* Their director of communications approached Stuart

* All their investments are in mortgages

* We can ask them to spread the word to people who could endorse the brief

16) Brief endorsements

Flavius made a physical printout of the brief

We have 69 endorsements electronically

* We also have a few handwritten ones, about 30-35

Still no endorsements from administrative staff

* We have library posters ready to go

* We want to ask specific librarians if they would be willing to put them up in a break room, staff bulletin board, etc

We need to keep reaching out to campus groups

We haven't really reached out to UTSU or GSU - the campus student organizations

* Dan made a spreadsheet of contacts

17) disOrientation workshop

Milan can't meet Thursday or Friday, Stu is away all wekeend

* The event is on Wednesday

Milan and Stu will meet this Friday at 2pm at Massey

18) Next meeting

Stuart will be absent

Milan will try to book us a Hart House room

Monica will chair

Milan will be the note-taker

[Milan]

[Milan]

Toronto350.org planning meeting
1 October 2013


Present: Monica R, Monica D, Flavius, Chantale, Shosho, Marcus (with the Beneficent Foundation), Tamara, Milan

[Several people ended up sitting on the floor - we should try to always book larger rooms]

Chair: Monica R

Note-taker: Milan


Agenda:
* Introductions
* Status updates
* disOrientation workshop - Oct. 2
* Beneficent Foundation
* Brief endorsements
* Tar Sands Reality Tour - Oct. 18

* Rock the Line - Oct 6

* OPIRG York Environmental Justice meeting
* Divest Queens

* Do the Math screening - Oct. 15

* Next meeting


1) Introductions

New people: Monica D - found us online through ULife
* Heard about 350 in a course reading
* Already on the mem...@toronto350.org email list


2) Status updates

Milan
* Green Majority radio interview: http://greenmajority.ca/2013/09/27/tgm-092713/
* Also interviewed today for The Varsity (even though the agreed interview time was tomorrow)

We should add a page to the website with links to all the press coverage we have received, in addition to our existing page for press releases
* It should include this: http://www.nowtoronto.com/columns/ecoholic.cfm?content=191970


3) disOrientation workshop  - Oct. 2

Milan is leading, hopefully with Emily

It would be great if more members could come

The plan for the workshop is attached to the minutes on the Google Group

Only two people are signed up right now on Facebook

We should promote it via social media

Similar workshops could be useful for any other group that might divest: labour unions, churches, etc


4) Beneficent Foundation

https://www.facebook.com/BeneficentFoundation

Food-providing organization, non-denominational
* Using food that is going to waste from grocery stores, on Thursday night
* 2/6 large grocery stores have already agreed to participate
* Avoid waste and expense
* Not specifically targeted to the homeless
* Also working with culinary services at schools

Can we cooperate in any useful way?
* Reducing food waste is compatible with climate change mitigation
* Both volunteer-driven organizations
* 350 campaigns so far have not been directly food related, but we are open

Marcus can help promote the Do the Math screening
* Potentially, some of the other October events


5) Brief endorsements

We have 87 endorsements online
* Lots of alumni and students, some faculty, no administrative staff yet

We have a poster specifically for librarians which should be printed in colour and distributed to major U of T libraries

We are still hoping to present the fully-endorsed brief to David Naylor, before he leaves in mid-November
* Our thinking is that it easier for an outgoing president to appoint a sympathetic committee

Opportunities for endorsements:
* Rock the Line
* The October 15th screening
* Our divestment workshops
* Ask to talk to classes
* Promote via social media

Anyone who has time to devote to this, let Milan know. There are many ways it could be promoted, and the sooner we get our 300 endorsements the better

People in classes could be asked to sign a 'commitment form' expressing their intention to read the brief
* They could provide an email for follow-up

It would be good to have someone bottom-line getting brief endorsements
* Putting together a list of tasks

Monica contacted Tom Steyer's organization several times, regarding an letter to the committee


6) Tar Sands Reality Tour - Oct. 18

Earlier, they had it planned but cancelled
* The plan now was for it to coincide with National Energy Board meetings on Line 9

We had lined up the Imperial Oil room in the neuroscience building
* The U of T Office of Space Management has now decided to reject us for "security reasons"
* Specific to this room, not necessarily general to all rooms

Accessibility is an issue, especially in most lecture theatres

Monica has identified a lot of cheap or free community venues for use in the future
* Including the Bloor United Church, which says we can use their space for free on Friday

We have the whole evening booked: 5-9, so we have time for setup and takedown
* Essentially at Bloor and Spadina
* GoFossilFree has not confirmed any speakers yet

Originally meant to be cross-Canada, now just Ontario and Quebec

Cameron is in B.C., swamped with PowerShift - Lily is now organizing it

Monica has been trying to get Food Not Bombs or someone else to provide food for free

The tricky organizing is now basically done - we have a venue, and the church will help promote the event
* There is a rea...@toronto350.org mailing list which interested people can be added to

No promotion has been done yet
* Should be sent to TCAN and other organizations that provide information on events
* Some postering should happen - GoFossilFree should provide the materials

[Monica R has done an amazing amount of work on this]


7) Rock the Line - Oct 6

We will have a table, Monica is working on getting a table banner
* Sabrina will be sending more details

Fedex has a student discount, which we could use on a printed banner
* Monica will coordinate this


8) OPIRG York Environmental Justice meeting

Amelia Rose wants to get involved with the group
* He can't go this week, but would like if someone else could
* He can be contacted at outr...@toronto350.org


9) Divest Queens

Amelia Rose got an email from them
* They want information on our experience so far
* He sent them a link to the general http://gofossilfree.org/ page
* We could have a Skype discussion with them, or something similar

The campus reps might want to take this on as a project: working out how to share divestment experience with other interested groups


10) Do the Math screening - Oct. 15

How many EventBrite signups?
* A week ago, there were 400-500
* About 67 on Facebook

Any publicity we can get is very welcome

Monica submitted it to many event listings; Jean has reached out to many media desks

350 members should do whatever they can to share it within personal networks

We are doing some postering
* Monica is doing businesses on Bloor, the Centre for Social Innovation
* She will also bring posters to the planning meeting next week
* Jean is doing postering
* Ben is printing and putting up posters around U of T

There is a detailed to-do list for remaining tasks
* Interested parties should ask to be put on the ma...@toronto350.org list

We are in NOW Magazine for the next three weeks
* They are also running two contests for us

We need a good number of volunteers for the event itself: signups, brief endorsements, donations, ticking off names from EventBrite (if it seems possible at the time - maybe just for the swag bags), etc

We haven't heard anything more on a possible video introduction from Bill McKibben
* Is there anyone else there who we could contact?


11) Next meeting

Milan will book a room and send it to the members' list

Tamara will chair

Monica D will take notes

[Stu Basden]

Toronto350.org planning meeting
8 October 2013

Present: Monica D., Fiona, Monica R., Amelia Rose, Ben, Kevin, Nenad, Gabriella, Flavius, Shosho, Stu, Chantale, Tamara

Chair: Tamara

Note-taker: Monica D.

Agenda:

1) Introductions

2) Status updates

3) Toronto350.org google admin

4) disOrientation workshop debrief

5) Brief endorsements

6) Rock the Line debrief

7) OPIRG York Environmental Justice meeting

8) Beyond Green - 5 free tickets

9) Banner

10) Elizabeth May event

11) Maude Barlow event

12) Tar Sands Reality Tour - Oct. 18

13) Divestment resource for other groups

14) Do the Math screening - Oct. 15

15) Next meeting

1. Introductions

2. Status Update

• Fiona talked to UTSU, can’t to a referendum at elections

• we could do our own referendum separated from

• Fiona talked to Prof. Doberman, who’s very enthusiastic about climate change

• he’s willing to do a testimonial

• Flavius asked Jane Goodall but she was hesitant to answer because she didn’t know much about it

• Actions Speak Louder article: it was published. Tamara is going to pick up some copies.

• A record of our media clips is available at http://toronto350.org/in-the-news.php

  
  

  
  

3. Toronto350.org google admin

• Stu: on our hosting gmail accounts, he’s the only one who has access to doing executive stuff 

• needs someone from the exec to want to do be trained on it - Kevin volunteered

4. disOrientation Workshop debrief

• Fiona and Milan were there

• They talked about ideas for getting endorsements and promoting the campaign

• Possibly doing some big event when submitting the brief i.e. a party or show

• Milan has sent around notes and ideas for ways to help get brief endorsements in 30 minutes - everyone should do some of these
  

5. Brief Endorsements

• We should definitely need to encourage people to get endorsements.

• Overview:

• we need 300 endorsements - students, alumni, teaching staff.

• maximum 200 from one group, 75 from a second and 25 from a third

• we have 105 so far online, ~100 offline

• we need the other groups represented because most likely those so far are students

• Flavius said that there’s a list of emails for all student groups/clubs on campus

• Chantal updated the hit list for the environmental groups on campus which updates the people who are in those groups and will send it out to members again - if you contact anyone for endorsements please update the google doc so we don't get overlap or miss anyone

• Chantal printed the library posters and added a list of libraries to the hit list document - if you took library posters please give them to library staff and mark on the google doc where you took them
  

• Chantal volunteered to bottom-line brief endorsements (Thanks Chantale!)

  
  

6. Rock the Line Debrief

• Monica said that the other groups look aesthetically better, so we should bring whatever you can to make our table look better

• we got a full page of endorsements, plus community signatures

• 25 new contacts, which is good

  
  

7. OPIRG York Environmental Justice meeting

• Meeting was cancelled because of too few attendees

• They’re working on Line 9 at York University and are calling for divestment from Enbridge, may broaden the divestment call

• They haven’t sent our another meeting, but when they do more people should show up
  

8. Beyond Green - Environmental Youth (14-30) Summit Oct. 25-27 http://www.earthday.ca/beyondgreen/

• We have 5 free tickets. We got them because Milan is running a divestment workshop there. There may be more passes if Milan registered any co-facilitators.

• If you are interested in attending email Stu and he can send you the link to the free tickets

  
  

9. Banner

• Monica looked into it, and even with the discount it is very expensive (~$200)

• Kevin suggested a way to do it at cost with paint and a powerpoint projector on cloth, he will look into this
  
  

10. Elizabeth May event

• This Thursday, Oct. 10th, at 7pm at Hart House on U of T campus

• it would be great if someone went to speak to her and perhaps promote ‘Do The Math’

11. Maude Barlow event

• This Thursday, Oct. 10th, at 7pm at United Steelworkers Hall (25 Cecil St)

• Kevin said he can go to this one

  
  

12. Tar Sands Reality Check Speaking Tour

• That’s booked

• 45-50 people on facebook

• Ben has offered some money for food, but it would be great if we can get donations

• Nenad will look into donations or a discount from Chocosol

• Chantale did some pricing for some fruit and cheese

• perhaps we should get some yogurt dip, cheese

• Shosho has connections from Shoeless Joes - she may be able to get some appetizers

• Ben might have some UTSU connections for coffee and tea

• We can get in as early as 5pm to help with tech setup and setup food

• On the tour end, four speakers have been confirmed

  
  

13. Divestment Resource

• We should develop a resource about what has worked well and what has not in our divestment campaign (developing the brief, getting attestations, presenting the brief)

• Chantale will email details, please respond with what you think has worked well/not worked well

• we should make sections available on our site as they are produced instead of waiting until after we present the brief

• Divest Queens: no new update

14. Do The Math Screening

• Darren made a suggestion that in the Q&A, we should get people to tweet their questions instead of having people stand up and ask

• We only have 15 minutes of question period which is pretty limited

• We could do both:

• ask people to tweet questions during the speakers

• have mics available after a few twitter questions for those without smartphones/twitter

• Schedule has changed; it needs to be updated - there will be a 350 only Q&A after the second screening

• Monica R. to do scripted intro

• Tamara will go on stage with Stu and Milan for 350 Q&A (unless someone else wants to volunteer!)

• So far 19 people are able to volunteer the entire night
  

• Divestment campaign and the rally should be mentioned in the intro and later by Daryn

• Napkins for food: Tamara can buy some if Darren cannot get them donated

• Kevin has decided on raffle ticket pricing: 1 ticket for $2, 20 ti kets for $20 (50% off) to encourage people to buy a lot

• Kevin will figure out how many tickets we need for the event, let Tamara know

• Donations via cash box at the raffle table and/or where we are checking people in/handing out swag bags

• Chantale will get a $50 float (or Monica if Chantale doesn't have bank access yet) : $5 bills, some loonies and toonies

- Kevin’s going to ask to borrow Greenpeace cash box

- Value village has huge jars for donations - Tamara will get one

• Stu has some cooking bowls for raffles

• Thank yous have already been sent to businesses along Bloor

• BRAINSTORMING FOR THANK YOU GIFTS FOR PRESENTERS AND JEAN:

• thank-you-plant-pots

• gift cards

• free-trade chocolate (Nenad might have some connections by tomorrow)

• $30 per person

• Monica will deal with the gift bags

• Daryn from Green Majority said that he could get a 2nd person to video and audio the event (good quality) -- for $100

• it could also be an educational video

• he can add graphics to it (minimal)

• film both Q&As and presentation periods

  - we voted to do this

• Chantale is going to print the logo and the “Thank You” to put on the poster

• There are about eight 350.org t-shirts left; some people already have some

• Volunteers should come in a blue shirt, or anything blue

• There are errors in the Bloor Cinema monthly calendar

• it said that there is only one 6pm screening

• they should send out an electronic update on what is really happening - Monica will check on this

• Bloor Cinema has 8 tables

  - will need 4 or 5 for food, some upstairs and some downstairs

  - one for donations/raffle, make sure people see raffle as they can only get tickets on the way in, take donations on the way in AND out

  - one for checking people in/handing out swag bags

  - tables for other groups (Our Horizon, etc.) - these will need to be upstairs

15. Next Meeting

• Next Wednesday , 7-9pm, Chantale will book a room

[Monica Resendes]

Toronto350.org planning meeting
, October 16th, 2013

 

Present:  Fiona, Kevin, Amelia Rose, Milan, Monica R., Kevin, Flavius, Dan, Tamara, Pieter Basedow, Lyn, John Deverell

 

Chair: Flavius

 

Note-taker: Monica R.

  

Agenda:

 

1. Green party representative - John Deverell

He is running in the by-election in Toronto centre riding. Big issues are

climate change and election reform. May pitch engagement in election

campaign.

-Special situation in Toronto centre, it’s a communications opportunity to send a message to the country out of Toronto, out of a riding that’s already voted for voting reform previously in 2007. Climate policy compelled him to accept Green leadership nomination. Suggestion that we have a communications network that can be applied to a bi-election that will occur sometime this fall.

-Getting the bi-election to be treated as a protest vote.

-Changing the liberal party over, would be important, firming up NDP would be important, both would be more likely to occur if they get a shock in the bi-election. Basically it’s a message-sending endeavor.

-It’s a risk-free vote b/c it’s a bi-election.

-A possible way to frame this is a multi-partisan way is to call an all-candidate’s meeting on the issue of climate change and/or electoral reform.

-Would likely occur in November

-Ryerson would likely be an ideal place to have this. Shosho and Kevin will look into booking a room at Ryerson.

-Stu will contact FairVote to connect with them.

 

2. DTM debrief

-a.) If we want to be on TV or radio we may need advance promo, but we may not need too much advance PR for something like a movie screening, as attendance for the movie went way up about 2 weeks before the event. To increase outreach, we can connect with GSU. Pieter has worked a lot with the GSU to get on their media contact list because the accounts are so expensive. They also have a listserv of over 40,000 students so that is a great outlet for outreach as well.

-Contact the exec director for GSU for getting on that list – environmental commissioner as well – Monica will do this.

-b.) Having an emcee was critical. There is no way that you can both be the organizer and emcee. I was relieved that Daryn was there. However, Daryn could have received more direction. I felt that he went on a little too much, esp the intro to the second screening. I also received comments from people saying that he was taking too much of the floor from Ms. May - they'd come to hear her talk, not him!

c.) Food - Hopefully it drew the crowds. It resulted in people being happy, although it also resulted in clogging up and delaying the start. However, the delay was more to do with the ticketing than the food.

d.) Prizes - Next time, we'll try the raffle. It would be good to have them for that. It's not a draw that people would come out for, but it could be used for effective fundraising. We’ll try to get ourselves registered for this ASAP and this will last 2 years; we might not be allowed, but we’ll try.

e.) Lines - I didn't take into account the lines when planning. However, going up the line to get signatures, endorsements, and give out flyers was really helpful.

f.) Flyers - The other way to flyer would be to leave them on seats before people sit down. Both of those options seem more effective than trying to hand out flyers, either as people enter or leave.

g.) Donations - We asked for money on the way in to the first screening, and got $235. Coming out, people gave more, and bumped it up to $800 iirc. We barely asked for donations as people came in to the 2nd screening, but on the way out they bumped us up to around $1100.

-It would seem to me that we should have been actively trying to get donations as people entered, as well as leaving. Some might have been expecting to pay for a ticket, and so be ready to part with money. For others, it would have put the thought in their head, so that they would be more likely to donate as they left.

-Overall it seemed to work well. I think we can call the event a big success because of this, especially since it was a last-minute change of plan away from the raffle.

-However, it's worth bearing in mind that the venue was around $2000 to rent. If we were paying for this out of pocket, instead of receiving the venue as a donation, we'd have lost out.

-Change the front page of the website

 

3. Follow up email DTM attendees

 

-Send out an email on Friday early afternoon to new address highlighting the rally on Saturday; link to the brief; Tar Sands Tour; Lyn’s Tea and Talk. Flavius will send this out.

 

-Milan will send an email to everyone he spoke to about endorsements personally;

 

-Need someone to decipher email addresses (from petitions+endorsements)

to add to our lists.

 

4. Brief Endorsements

-Chantale is assigning brief endorsement tasks this weekend.

-We have about 119 signatures online and more on hardcopy, but we’ll have to contact all those that assigned themselves as staff b/c they likely don’t officially fall under that category.

 

5. NEB hearing actions

Line 9 Rally Saturday, Tar Sands Reality Friday.

 

6. Margaret: wants a speaker for a DtM screening Oct 27th or Nov 3rd.

Toronto First Unitarian Church is going to be showing “Do the Math” on one of those dates.

-Monica can do the 27^th, Tamara can do the 30^th.

 

7. Lyn's Tea and Talk

-Designed to be a follow-up to the screening last night. Meant to be an introduction to climate organizing.

-Will be casual, with light food – these details will be worked out in the coming days.

-Mila will contact Food Not Bombs

-Kevin will talk to Amanda from Greenpeace to see if they can attend

 

8. CCL conference, Ottawa Nov 16-18

-The cost is $100 but there can be carpool and billets set up

-Learn about lobbying and engaging with government

-You don’t have to stay the whole time, you can stay on the Monday for lobbying, or until Tuesday.

-Stu is considering going, so if anyone else talk to him.

 

9. Conscious Activism – Oct. 30^th 6:30-film; 8:00-panel (Hart House Debates Room)

-Screening David Suzuki’s “Force of Nature”

 

10. Yaz’s exhibition at the ROM @ Tuesday, 29^th at 6:00 – Environmental Digital Communications

 

11. Gasland II

Amelia Rose proposed screening.

-A friend of Amelia Rose wants to show Gasland. The movie is 2 hours and they were wondering if we could help out and find a venue and do a larger showing. Venue at U of T?

-Looking for capacity of 100-150.

-November 12^th – so either the weekend before or the weekend after. Amelia Rose will confirm the date and we can work to book a space.

-Lyn, if we want to show films on a small-scale, the Friend’s House is a good place – up to 100 people.

-Lyn also has the film Revolution, so we could do a showing of that, too. We could put a program together for different showings – maybe Jan or Feb?

-Mila will help to do this.

 

12. We need to preparing the brief presentation

-We need to brainstorm ideas and have a sense of what we want to do asap.

Next meeting - place, chair and minute-taker TBA

 

[Chantale Spencer]

October 22nd, 2013

Present: Kevin, Tamara, Flavius, Chantale, Milan, Margrit Eichler (President of Scientists for Right to Know), Pieter Basedow (from Scientists for Right to Know), Kyle, Nenad, Stu (online)

1. Wi Fi antenna missing from the Do the Math event
- Possible Pure and Simple may have it?
- No one here has it

2. Brief Endorsements
- Currently have 150- online
- Acceptable versions of signatures online form, paper sheets, email sent to us stating that they have read the brief and attest to it (as long as they have a phone number or email- way to contact them)
- Many have incorrectly listed them as teaching staff (TA's do notcount as teaching staff)
- We will need someone to contact everyone who has listed as teaching staff to see if they are listed correctly
- Need to inquire if retired faculty count as faculty or not (Milan will look into this)
- Nenad sent out information to Science Education Listerserve
- Wanted to send it out to the larger listserve but was stopped by the department head
- Would like to have a list of which professors/ everyone have signed the brief in the excel document- share internally
- Stu to make a thermometer for the website about how many students, faculty etc. have attested
- Pieter and Fiona were at and environmental meeting and David Powell was impressed and on board
- Pieter will follow up with contacting Prof. Douglas MacDonald
- Fiona will digitalize paper sheets and Milan will merge them so we can have an entire list- google docs that will be shared internally with the group
- Tasks have been assigned regarding the Brief
- Should focus less on getting student signatures
- Wikipedia page for People from UofT is a good resource
- Seeing some concern for profs about using their name beyond the brief
- Nenad will contact Kerri Deli
- Many people have checked multiple categories on the brief (will count them for what will help us the most)- will check the directory (Tamara will do so) and then we will contact the rest

3. Beyond Green Workshop
- Our session is Sunday 1130-1230 room number TBA
- We have two more days to nominate presenters (so they can get more tickets)
- Cam Fenton can also give us more tickets
- Presentation will be similar to the Disorientation Divestment workshop
- Kevin will make it
- Tamara will call them tomorrow
- Once we have the room number will post to facebook and twitter

4. All Candidates Debate for Toronto Center
- Kevin bringing the issue if we are willing to host an all candidates debate (between the conservatives, liberals, green and NDP)in the byelection surrounding climate change (would like to do a vote on it)
- Pros:
    Potential to build goodwill
    Development of political contacts
    Increase of organizational profile
    Expanded community presence
    Media coverage
    Good practise
- Cons:
    Associated costs as hosts/ organizers
    Goodwill may not be sufficient
    Failure may hurt reputation
    Event may be hijacked by agendas
Discussion surrounding the project
- Provide the questions in advance
- Have a moderator
- Have it online and can encourage people to post their own youtube responses
- Who would we identify as our community partners- Scientists for the Right to Know, Tri-campus Aboriginal representative, Kyle has contacts with the Aboriginal center on Spadina, Native Fellowship Center, First Nations House at UofT, University of Toronto Debates Club,
- Issues to talk about- Climate Change, Aboriginal Issues, Line 9, Electoral Reform May strike electoral reform (Kevin will speak to John Deverll- Green Party Candidate who suggested the topic) Striking Line 9 because it is currently in the media
- Left with- Science policy, climate change, aboriginal issue
- Time may be an issue- there may be too many questions/ issues
- Venue- Hart House Debates Room
    Issue is that UofT doesn't fall within the riding- most candidates want to be seen campaigning in their riding
    Other possible venues- St. Luke's United Church, Center for Social Innovation (will cost us), 519 Church St.(offers free space to non-for profit groups- Scientists for the Right to Know are willing to use
their status with them to book the space for free)- this may
- Date- November 13th- predates two townhalls
- Are we inviting independent/ other parties?
    Decided to invite the four parties and then if we are contacted by anyone else we will consider them
- Kevin and Fiona have film backgrounds and would be willing to help out with taping the event
- We need a strong moderator- maybe Deran which moderated Do the Math?
- Considering the first hour being a debate and the second hour being a public question period
- Issues concerning question period- should we allow people to ask questions by mic, write them down, do we choose questions- will figure out later

5. United Nations Canada Rally- we missed it

6. Seminar at the Living Convergence- will send email to the executive

7. Queens Divestment
- Has anyone reached out to Queen's divestment?
- Concordia also asked and Milan will follow up with them
- Unsure who has their contact information- Flavius will follow up with Monica about who has the contact information and Milan will forward them information

8. Meet with Cam Fenton after the Beyond Green Summit
- Monica may have more information- Flavius will ask Monica
- Milan is willing to meet with him

9.Larger Group Meeting
- Having meetings outside of UofT because some people have expressed concern that we are too focused on UofT
- Difficult logistically and having a second meeting a week is not possible

10. Line 9 Debrief
- Jim O'Reilly was flying a Canadian flag at the rally and affiliated himself with us
- One of the keynote speakers a
- Kevin asked him put the flag away and he was not happy about it
- Should we say the for future events people should not be able to bring national or political symbols?
    Should decide before the events- may cause more problems
- Future rallies it would be good to have a group of people that will participate in direct action (Kevin will coordinate)

11. Next Week's Meeting
- WILL BE A POTLUK Tuesday 7-9pm
- Harvest Noon???
- Can't bring our own beer :(
- Person who books it has to leave a $50 deposit
- Fiona will book
- Kevin will chair and Milan will take minutes

[thugsb]

Oct 29th Agenda

Present: Kevin, Shosho, Darren, Pieter, Michele, Tamara, Lyn, Fiona, Stu

1. Status Updates

1. Fiona is connecting with Native Student Association, will meet with their president this week.

2. Upcoming Events

1. Tools for Change Workshops - ongoing

1. Kevin going to Nov 3rd, Stu to Nov 9th

2. Permaculture Project GTA Fall Living Convergence, Nov 30-Dec1st

1. Stu and maybe Kevin to run it.

3. Toxic Trespass Screening Nov 9th

1. In Mississauga http://www.oneig.ca/

4. Gasland 2, Nov 9th, 12-6pm, location TBA.

1. Put on by a coalition. Hopefully with speakers. It’s meant to be a stepping stone towards a larger action against fracking.

5. Chris Turner is speaking: http://d.pr/i/Gube Nov 9th

6. Voice of Women for Peace are running a conference on Reclaiming the Future on Nov 9th

7. CEA Nov 28th

8. Science Right to Know - Peter Ross, Nov 29th

3. Peace Poppies

1. Kevin and Pieter have some

4. Tea and Talk

1. We’re not sure about food - Tamara will bring cheese and crackers, Stu to bring chips and salsa, tea and coffee can be made these

2. Stu to host afterwards, 7pm, docu on population and informal discussion

5. Email Lists

1. meeting@ created for sending out the meeting time+location

2. Try to use members@ sparingly, and (generally) don’t reply-all

6. Meeting Structure

1. Have event listings as a single agenda item at the start, after welcome/intro/status, and new proposals

2. Then brainstorm and smaller items

3. Then maybe split into separate groups for larger items

4. But we’re flexible. Anyone who chairs may wish to bare this in mind.

5. We can also meet mid-week using hangouts/skype if we need extra meetings.

7. Line 9 Website Content

1. Stu to add NEB comment and rally pics and general update

8. Brief Attestations

1. We’re up to 247 online, with 30+ offline, including at least 21 faculty. We’ll hopefully get them all this week.

2. Look at the list from the disOrientation if you run out of ideas

9. Brief Delivery Action

1. Even if we get it in Nov 4th-8th, Naylor is likely to not want to start something. Nov 13th is likely to be far too late

2. Maybe we could do a “Welcome the new president” event, whether a banner drop or otherwise.

3. We could make some clever messaging of “Start off in the right direction”, but don’t want to force Mertler into the position of having to tread on Naylor’s toes.

4. People generally thought it would be good to get it to Naylor if possible. Fiona will go to the pres office on Thurs and try to find out whether Naylor would HAVE to pick the committee if we presented it to him. If that is the case, we’ll have an emergency meeting on Sunday at 5pm (with food provided by Stu), where we’ll plan on the action, and do much of the work to making it a reality.  If Naylor wouldn’t have to pick the committee, we’ll wait and present it to Mertler instead.

5. We could either present to Mertler towards the end of Nov, or early in Jan. Dec would get swamped by xmas, but we’re likely to get a lot of people out if we do it in the first week back in Jan - e.g. ~5th-10th.

10. Divestment and Investment

1. Kevin has a contact with a green investment thingy.

11. Respond to Harvard President

1. http://www.harvard.edu/president/fossil-fuels - Kevin will look into whether he can do this.

12. Beyond Green Workshop Debrief

1. Milan talked to UofT people about Divestment/endorsement ideas

2. Tamara talked to UofT Scarborough students about getting endorsements and solidarity actions in Scar+Missi.

13. All Candidates Debate

1. We have a venue - St Lukes United Church, Sherbourne and Carlton, for $100.

2. We need to write a standard form email to send to the candidates to invite them - Darren will take it on.

3. Kevin will look into AV equipment - Science for Peace has video and lights  (Pieter will look into it) or Kevin has found someone who can do it, though he’d have to rent the equipment.

4. Flyering is good to get people out - stand on a corner and hand out flyers. Better than postering.

5. Pieter will contact Daryn (tGM) to ask for a quote to moderate.

14. Next Meeting

1. Shosho will get us a room at Ryerson

2. Fiona will take minutes, Stu will chair

[Milan]

One correction: the incoming president is named Meric Gertler:

http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2013/03/04/u_of_t_names_meric_gertler_as_next_president.html

Also - how many online signatures do we have after you subtract out the ones that people have added from the paper signature lists? And what's the breakdown between the four categories?

[thugsb]

Woah, sorry, correction to the last two minutes: Amelia Rose was also present!

[fundr...@toronto350.org]

November 5th Planning Meeting Minutes

Present: Stu, Milan, Gabby, Fiona, Deborah, Kyla, Pieter, Flavius, Chantale, Kevin, Shosho

 

Agenda

Status Updates: 1

Upcoming Events: 1

Divestment Brief: 2

All candidates debate toronto centre. 3

American novelist 3

Alan Lissner photo exhibit 4

Divestment v2.0- 4

Climate Action Network Nov 16. Day of Action. 4

Line 9. 4

Dec 2^nd Tarsands Resistance meta-group strategic meeting. 4

Fundraising: 4

Next Meeting: 5

Divestment planning meeting: 5

 

Status Updates:

               Divestment Brief – 315 endorsements total.

               Video from screening coming from Green Majority

               Friday Nov 29 – Pieter Peter Ross, Dr. Robert Page

 

Upcoming Events:

               Event calendar has links to latest events.

               T-Can meeting, want 350 representation to talk about divestment.  Nov 23. Saturday

               -Sho Sho will attend.

               -Milan will provide divestment notes.

               Permaculture Living Convergence Nov 30.   Need times.

-        Stu and Kevin workshop plan.

-        Possible Topics:                        Line 9

Letter writing skills?

Group facilitation?

Divestment Brief:

               Milan met with Anthony Grey from the Office of the President @ U of T

br...@toronto350.org mailing list being updated

               How should brief be presented?

               Concerns- Switching to a protest style for the presentation will alienate.

               Recommendation- Hold public lecture laying out the moral case for divestment.

New president takes office Nov. 7^th

Provide advanced copy of brief.

Convene 15 minute public lecture.

               350 can request speaking rights at the governing council and with the committee appointed by                the President.

               - Customized letter for the new president. – Urban Issues, Harvard Rebuttal

               - Revised Brief

               - Petitions/Endorsements

               - Research every member of the governing council.

                              -Invite to lunch/private meetings

                              -Organizational affiliations

 

               Volunteers needed to:

 

Research Governing Council – Deborah has a contact in the faculty.

Find venue for lecture. – Croft Chapter House at UC – Pieter will contact.

               This needs to happen in December/January.

              

               ~$40 for printing debited from Treasury to print brief.

                              Chantale may be able to print it for free/get it bound

 

               Toronto Star is seeking press release re: brief

                              Milan, Fiona,

               Reinvestment -  Anthony Grey does not recommend Toronto 350 pursue this course of action.

              

               Other Organizations to Contact:

               Canadian Association of University Teachers

               The Council of Universities in Ontario

The U of T Bulletin

Cameron Fenton in town Nov. 27/28

All candidates debate toronto centre

               Media response – Stu/Kyla

               Need Toronto350.org letterhead

American novelist

               Amelia Rose has contact with writer from the US who has written a fictionalized account of                climate and divestment campaigning/teaching climate science.

               Needs contact with publisher – Kevin has card for Tzeporah Berman's EDITOR (not publisher)

               You still need a contact.  Bring it up at the next meeting.

              

Alan Lissner photo exhibit

               -Pieter and Flavius will flesh out an event plan.

Divestment v2.0-

               Stu has a contact working on a pension divestment campaign.

               Film Series Jan-Feb Joint plan with CCL.

Climate Action Network Nov 16. Day of Action

 

               Environmental Defence doing an action

               Greenpeace working on Arctic 30 campaigning

               Nov 16. Day of Action plan.

               Send out to memberlist

               Social Media passwords/accesses

Line 9

              

               Forest ethics lawsuit

Municipal level campaigning

              

Dec 2^nd Tarsands Resistance meta-group strategic meeting

               (Repeat this on Agenda until Dec. 2^nd)

 

Fundraising:

 

               Vic Special Project Fund

 

 

 

Next Meeting:        

 

               Room in Hart House

               Chair: Stu

               Minutes: Chantale

 

 

 

Divestment planning meeting:

 

               Updates should be sent out in the brief

               Send Milan the link on Harvard vs. U of T.

 

               Research:

               Governing Council – Gabby

              

               Lobbying:

               Milan will plan 15 minute lecture.

               Letter to Gertler – Kevin/Fiona

               Harvard Response (Review, edit)

Allies – Pieter will ask around.

              

               Logistics:

 

              

[Chantale Spencer]

Nov 12th Agenda

Present: Chantale, Milan, Stu, Tamara, Monica, Amelia Rose, Kevin, Flavius, Brad Z. (Toronto Sustainability Speaker Series), Katie, Fiona, Debra, Gabriella, Gavin.  

1.   Status Updates

a.   Novel- from last week

·        Kevin got in contact with an editor from Random House and  Amelia Rose will connect them with the writer

2.   Upcoming Events

a.   TCAN Delegates meeting, postponed until Jan 18^th

·        Toronto Climate Action Network

b.   Globalization, Law & Justice Workshop, Nov 14th, 4:10-6pm, 84 Queen's Park

·        If you want more information talk to Stu

c.    Victoria College Sustainability Committee IPCC brainstorming, Nov 15th, 4pm, Goldring Centre

·        Brainstorming about what we can do about it and what we should do moving forward

·        Contact Stu if you are interested in attending

·        Flavius, Gabriella, Fiona and Amelia Rose may be able to go

d.   GSU AGM, Nov 25th, 6:10pm, Koffler House Auditorium

·        Graduate Student Union

·        Would be useful for the brief if we could get a statement of support from them

·        Need to check if there is a deadline for submitting agenda items (for them next one because we missed the deadline for the upcoming meeting)

e.   Permaculture workshop, Dec 1st, probably 2:30pm

·        We are running a workshop at this event

·        Kevin, Lucas and Stu are running the workshop

·        Workshop will be about how you can use Climate Change as a tool for any other issue you have

f.    Line9 Strategy Meeting, Dec 2nd, 6:30pm, 60 Lowther Ave (Friends House)

·        Coalition of 20 groups that are working to oppose Line 9

·        As many people that can go to the meeting would be great

 

 

 

3.   Items

1. Debate Question

·        We were going to run an all candidates debate however Rogers out bit us and the Liberals and Conservatives declined our invitation

·        November 16^th St. Michael’s college will be hosting a debate and we have been invited to submit a question for it

·        Decided to come up with three questions, with three different objectives- force the candidates make a commitment that they will need to hold to in their campaign, allow the candidates to distinguish themselves from one another and induce a response from the audience

·  Commitments- In light of the fact that we have not reached our most recent goal for emissions, which is already a weekend goal in comparison to the Kyoto, are you willing to support a federal carbon pricing which is already implemented in British Columbia?

·  Differentiate- In some cases your parties are supportive of major new infrastructure projects designed to increase oilsands development, how do you justify that given the need to cut carbon pollution?

·  Raise issue- the IPPC report talks about the increased cost of a food prices due to climate change, for example two years an organic chicken in your riding cost $13 and last year it costs $30 and now the store doesn’t sell it anymore (insert example about organic chicken prices and how they have risen over the past years) are you going to get serious about climate change or are you going to wait till bread costs $20 loaf before you do something about?

o   Issue: should we be using organic food may alienate people living in the regent park region as they were never able to afford organic food to begin with

·        Kevin, Stu,  Flavius, Tamara, Debra will continue to work on the questions

·        Stu will send in the questions in tomorrow at 7pm

2. Climate Disaster - Nov 16^th

·        Last we talked last week about doing our own event however we do not have any time to organize something before Saturday

·        Decided to advertise the Environmental Defense event

·        Greenpeace will also be having an event on the same day about the Artic 30

·  Kevin will inform us of the details

 

3. Revolution @ Cinema Politica Danforth, Dec 1st, 7:30-10p

·        Would like to collaborate with us

·  Mainly be sending it out to our network and a bit of postering

·  We can have a table there as well

·        Amelia Rose will be the main contact person

·        Tamara, Gabriella may be able to table

4. Bank

·        We currently bank with TD but we are thinking of switching to a more ethical banking system (Alterna?- chosen by Occupy)

·        Unsure about how much it will cost, how many transactions we will have a month

·        Chantale and Fiona will find out more information and present it next week

5. CTV

·        Want to interview someone from this group who has a property on Line 9

·        Amelia Rose will send out an email to the member list

6. ULife + ULead

·        Received an email from Christina Wallace about how ULife can support our group through the winter semester

·        Paths to influencing the Universities organization, Public Speaking

·        Fiona will follow up with Christina

7. Film series - Jan-Feb

·        Mila and Lyn are organizing

·        Initial suggestion was to run a screening once a week

·        Issue: would only draw 50 people and would diminish over time

·        Monthly instead? Or week-long festival with a workshop at the end

·        Katie, Debra and Monica will contact Mila and Lyn

8. Suzuki+Mckibben in the spring?

·        Pieter brought up the point- will discuss next week

·        Amelia Rose will follow up

9. Solstice party

·        Hold the date- December 21^st at Stu’s House!

10. Something IN CAMERA- talk to Stu
11. OPIRG CREP (Community Research Exchange Program)

·        Do we want any research done?

·        Does anyone want a research project for their studies?

·        Will bring it up next week

 

 

4.   Philippines - **Kevin to Post Minutes Regarding this**

a.   Music Fundraiser with Maya

o   Maya has some contacts in the music world

b.   Table at Dec 4th fundraiser

c.    Climate Fast are fasting in solidarity

d.   Canadian Government is matching donations to

5.   Brief

·        Dimitri- high powered lawyer that often speaks at UofT considering boycotting UofT because they are connected to the tarsands

o   Wants to start his own divestment campaign but really wants to aid us in our campaign

o   Vetting the lecture we will be giving

·        Workshop with Marc Lee, Nov 29^th

o   Short talk by Mark Lee from the CCPA (Center for Policy Alternatives)

o   November 29^th possibly an afternoon event

o   They would provide some small resources (e.g. $100)

o   Cameron suggested to invite students, administration, journalists and faculty

o   We decided that we shouldn’t invite anyone we are inviting to the lecture

o   Amelia Rose, Stu, Fiona, Monica and Gabriella will work on it

·        Media Release to the Toronto Star about submitting the brief to the president

o   Monica and Fiona have completed

o   Will follow up in a week or two

·        Harvard Response

o   Kevin has written a draft response

o   Milan will look at and add to the response

·        Letter to Meric Gertler

o   Milan has written a preliminary letter

o   Stu will write the draft letter

·        Spreadsheet sent out with tasks

o   Still collecting brief endorsements but we have enough

o   Brief will be submitted tomorrow

o   Chantale- will merge contacts into an excel file

o   Letter to the president finished and sent out to the members

o   Need to choose a date and book a venue

·        Pieter looked into the Croft house which seats 35

·        Massey Hallway also an option

·        President, governing council, University Chief Financial Officer, anyone else suggested to us

o   Should block off a seat for them? However there are 50 members

o   Maybe we should use a room with capacity 50-100- Massy upper library??

·        Sent out invitations- require someone to do this

·        Write lecture- Milan will write it out and send it out to the brief group

·        Package for the President

o   Background research for President Gertler- Fiona

o   Printout of online signatures

o   Original public petition papers

o   Press release- can be adapted from Star press release- Tamara or Shosho

·        Engaging with the ad hoc committee

o   Contact people for letters of support for overall divestment campaign- Monica  

§  Send suggestions for people to Monica

§  Tamara and Amelia Rose will aid in contacting people

§  For ones that have already sent a letter we should make a note so that they can just adapt it

§  Monica has a sample letter we can adapt

§  Tamara will write a generic letter for those who have not previously sent a letter

o   Identify faculty members that would address the committee- Gabriella and Fiona work on this

·        We need to lobby individual executive members

o   Get contact information

o   Will need people willing to meet with members of the committee (over lunch?)

·        Suggested contacts- need someone to contact

o   UofT Bulletin

o   Canadian Associations for University Teachers

o   Council for Universities

·        Monica will make a list of talking points for the campaign

·        Send in status updates to Milan Noon on Tuesdays

6.   Next Meeting-  Kevin check to see if we can use the Greenpeace office at College and Spadina

·        Chair- Flavius and Minute Taker- Milan

[Milan]

Toronto350.org planning meeting
19 November 2013

Chair: Flavius

Note-taker: Milan

Present: Kyla, Monica, Flavius, Kevin, Nickie, Chantale, Gabriella, Rosemary,  Pieter, Milan, Amelia Rose, Stuart


Agenda:
1. Status updates
2. Bank info
3. Brief
- Letter to Gertler
- Harvard response
- Contacting profs
- Other?
4. Permaculture workshop, December 1st
5. Cinema Politica
- need a speaker for 3 min, Sunday Dec 1 @7:30. 1300 Gerard East
6. Marc Lee, case for divestment
- venue booked
7. Philippines fundraising
- first collection on Thursday?
8. Letter of support
9. Philippines rally
10. COP19 rally
11. Skype chat
12. November 30th divestment workshop
13. Next meeting
14. Exec member titles
15. Questions about how we organize


=== 1 Status updates ===

Lots of people seem aware of the minutes, possibly by Google Alert

At some point, we may want to have a discussion about server logs (number of downloads of PDF) and/or keeping track of how many people are reading our emails
* Do we want to keep running Google Analytics on Toronto350.org

We may want to have a meeting specifically about 'scaling up'
* Incorporation, website operations, etc


=== 2 Bank info ===

Report from Chantale on banking options:

Alterna basic business plan
* $15 monthly fee, $10 per month
* Online banking
* 15 monthly transactions
* $0.80 - $2.00 for additional transactions

TD is $24 per year
* Alterna is $135 per year, but would be $85 for this year with a promotion

There is an Alterna ATM at College and Spadina, and another at Bay and College

There are also credit unions which we might want to consider

Alterna may be more consistent with our message, re: divestment

Our bank account isn't really an investment - it's not money we are hoping to build up indefinitely - it's money we plan to use

As one of Canada's big five banks, TD is definitely investing in the oil sands and other questionable ventures

Other student groups may have free accounts for Alterna
* Including Dutch and Ukrainian credit unions

Someone could go ask if they would be willing to give us a discount or a free account

We have credentials as a U of T club

We may eventually have a lot more transactions per month to deal with

Chantale will go and ask whether they would provide a less costly type of account

Rosemary will send Chantale information about the credit union options

Should we be thinking about incorporating?
* Issues: cost, paperwork, annual expense, possible need for a lawyer
* We would need by-laws
* There are other obligations re: meetings, etc
* Fee: $155 for an Ontario not-for-profit
* Could provide advantages for fundraising
* We would need to formally register ourselves as an advocacy organization
* Toronto350.org Advocacy Group Incorporated

We should also be mindful of 'culture jamming' opportunities


=== 3 Brief ===

President Gertler is currently in China

Milan went to his office to ask about scheduling the lecture
* Suggests that if we don't hear back in a week, we go ahead and book a venue
* Milan will continue to follow up with the Office of the President

We want to have a good number of our own people - ideally 50+
* Croft Chapter House, 35 around table, space around for extra seats
* The Massey Upper Library seats about 50
* We want to invite 50+ university officials, including the entire Governing Council
* The Croft Chapter House may not be ideal for a lecture

There are lecture rooms in University College, like room 144
* There's the debate room at Hart House
* The Isabel Bader Theatre is huge, probably too big for us to appreciably fill
* The Bahen Centre seats 127 in two rooms
* Monica can log in and check the availability of rooms

SEE THE DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN PLANNING SPREADSHEET FOR DETAILS ON ALL THE ONGOING TASKS


=== 4 Permaculture workshop, December 1st ===

Stu is managing this, and it is coming along

They are hashing out a plan at a meeting at 6pm next week

Happening 'somewhere northeast' on a bus route

2:30pm, 1 hour and 15 minutes long


=== 5 Cinema Politica ===

December 1st screening "Revolution"
* 7:30pm at 1300 Gerard East
* Probably pay-what-you-can

We are helping promote it

We will have an opportunity to briefly introduce ourselves
* Is someone willing to do this?
* Flavius may be
* Would someone be willing to be on the discussion panel, if they are willing to have us?

We have a Facebook event, and so do they
* Also on our Google Calendar

Flavius is likely to be there


=== 6 Marc Lee, case for divestment ===

November 29th, 4:00-5:30

Stu thinks we have booked the Bahen Centre
* Ben Triolo (UTSU green guy) has been tasked with the booking

Well-published economist working at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Cameron Fenton will be there

130 invited on Facebook, 21 say they are coming

We want 30+ people to be present
* Invite your Facebook friends!
* Gabriella will send out emails to department heads, asking them to distribute them
* It was already in one of MailChimp messages

We could have volunteers hand out fliers

Stuart will do an intro talk for this event
* We can use the banner from Do the Math


=== 7 Philippines fundraising ===

The intent is do to some busking and street canvassing, getting donations for victims of Typhoon Haiyan

Kevin coordinating

Goal: raise awareness about impacts of climate change through direct dialog while raising funds
* All proceeds going to Oxfam, which the Canadian government will double
* Tagline: "Philippines emergency"

Morning of the 26th of November
* 3.5 hour activity, 11am to 2:30pm

We want 3-5 musicians and 5-8 volunteers
* People can come out for just a segment

To be done at Queen and Spadina on the north side of the street, broad sidewalk near Lululemon
* Lots of foot traffic

There will be 15 minutes of training on outreach

We will have our big banner, plus cardboard signs

We will only be taking cash, using slotted buckets
* Volunteers will not handle cash directly

Dress code: business casual, dress pants, nice shirt
* Musicians can wear anything
* Stuart has 8-10 clipboards, some with 350 stickers on them

It is likely to be cold - bring a thermos!

Do we have materials that could be handed out on the street?
* Monica can make a pamphlet that we can print on normal paper

Do we want to have a press release? Before the event? After we make the donation?
* We can write something good here, explaining how our climate change policies are worsening such storms around the world

Stuart created a Facebook group
* Stuart will send out an email to the members list specifically about this

Stu may invite some artists he saw at Transac
* Fiona plays the guitar and sings


=== 8 Letter of support ===

Re: professors supporting our campaign at the ad hoc committee
* See spreadsheet


=== 9 Philippines rally ===

This Friday (Nov 22) at 5:30pm

Amelia Rose received some information from the Climate Action Network (international group with many chapters)
* Limited planning so far
* It seems they would be willing to let us organize it, if we want
* Amelia Rose will tell them that we are interested in helping, but that we don't want to organize the entire event in three days

Likely to be a few speakers, then standing with candles in dignified silence

In a recent 350.org email:
* "This Thursday and Friday, there will be vigils for the victims and survivors of the storm across the world, calling for ambitious action on climate that honors those affected by the storm. As leaders conclude their talks in Warsaw, we hope to show them how the world has been moved to action by Typhoon Haiyan, and that they must join us in ambitious steps towards climate justice."

U.S. 350 mothership is doing 'vigils' all over the world, Thursday and Friday of this week
* Two locations being considered in Toronto: city hall or outside Philippine consulate (Yonge and Eglington)
* Hardly anything planned now - they want a speaker, etc

There will be a map on the 350.org site

Flavius can write a message to send out by MailChimp

Could be an opportunity to gauge public reaction for the fundraising session

Stu may be able to speak, or provide a speech for someone else to read (maybe Tamara)
* Kevin will take pictures, which we can use to promote it on Twitter and Facebook after

Are we meant to bring our own candles?


=== 10 COP19 rally ===

UN climate change conference ongoing in Poland

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Climate_Change_conference#2013:_COP_19.2FMOP_9.2C_Warsaw.2C_Poland

Canada has been identified as one of the four worst countries, along with Australia and others

Some people are considering a rally this Friday (Nov 22) from 12:30 to 4:30 outside Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver's office
* Contact Amelia Rose if interested


=== 11 Skype chat ===

Cameron Fenton's idea, for sometime before the 29th
* A discussion session on media strategy

Monica is in touch with him

There is a room at the Greenpeace office that could be useful
* Could be faster and easier than having lots of people messing around with Skype

One aim: to coordinate our media strategy better with the overall campaign across the country

As an alternative, we could try for an in-person meeting when he's here
* Stuart will ask Cam if this would work for him
* Otherwise, Kevin can book the room with a week's notice
* Room would suit 10+ people


=== 12 November 30th divestment workshop ===

Already organized, happening at Trinity St. Paul's

Please go and tell U of T people to endorse the brief!


=== 13 Next meeting ===

End-of-month potluck
* Food but no alcohol could be possible at 33 Cecil (also, this is a frequently-used room)
* Kevin will try to book here - there is a kitchen
* Otherwise, Stu's

Chair: Monica
* Tamara

Milan may only be able to come to give a divestment update ~30 minutes out of the three hours


=== 14 Exec member titles ===

Do we want to switch 'director' to coordinator
* Less pompous / pretentious
* Too authoritarian?
* Looks good on a CV?
* Are we organic or hierarchical?
* Useful for dealing with certain types of other organizations?

What about president?
* Seems appropriate - clear who's in charge, someone who is directly elected and serves in a constitutional capacity

Can be changed through constitutional amendment at the Termly General Meeting

Kevin is going to go ahead and call himself Fundraising Coordinator right away


=== 15 Questions about how we organize ===

Some people from Owen Sound want to know how we organize
* The constitution and shadow constitution

Generally consensus-based
* Otherwise, we call a vote and majority wins

Only really linked by name to the 350.org mothership

As part of the discussion about building capacity, we should think through and perhaps further document such approaches

Every 350.org group around the world is different, and establishes their own norms of governance

Like 350.org, we don't have an official group position on nuclear energy