2015 Planning Meeting Minutes
pres...@toronto350.org
pres...@toronto350.org
Toronto350 Meeting – July 14, 2015
Amanda, Tresanne, Klim, Martin, Joanna, Brad, Rhys, Phebe, Felix, Emil, Milan, Leon, Stu, Katie, Tali, Louis, Aifa, Celia, Manish, Ben, Lita, Suhail, Amelia Rose, Amanda, Lynn, Ellory
Chair: AmandaHS
Minutes: Tali
Q&A for candidates for VP, Political Operations, Communications
Vice President Candidates
- Katie
o Believes that there could be an improvement in communication between exec, membership, and the public – this may lead to structural changes or just ways of communicating
o Would like to focus on better integrating new volunteers into campaigns
o Would like to create more allyship with orgs in Toronto
o Toronto350 gives people opportunities to learn new things
o Reevaluate all our existing campaigns and determine if they are worth keeping and worth keeping in their current form
o We should strategize how to use our existing campaigns in the 6 months to a year including the election and Paris
o Strategy should focus on how to generate more turnout
- Amelia Rose
o Give people who don’t normally speak a voice
o Term limits
o Giving members a voice about what they want to see the group becoming
- Tresanne
o As previously declared, Tresanne chose not to speak during the Q&A period to bring attention to people who feel silenced or uncomfortable speaking up at our meetings. These relate to gender and race dynamics in our society.
- Ben
o Better structure – smaller more effective teams
o Caucuses that focus on inclusion and understanding privilege
o Toronto350 has a unique culture that is in part built around unique language
o Focus on integrating the suburban 350 groups
o Create a report card on candidates in the election
Communications
- Amanda
o Loves that Toronto350 is so nimble and able to change
o Communications are a big challenge for Toronto350
Political Operations
- Rhys
o More clout in the upcoming election (since the issues we care about are not getting any air time with mainstream parties)
o Allyship (coordination with other groups to increase political power)
Breakout sessions
- Strategy group will focus on coming up with a mission and a set of goals, as well as the ways in which the campaigns are going to be supported
- Outreach group will focus on coming up with a good pitch for street outreach, having clearer instructions on where to go for our events, improve key messaging to get people involved, review how potlucks are done, a Buzzfeed style top 10 reasons to join Toronto350, outings to farmer’s market, a challenge to bring a friend to a meeting once a month
- New people group reviewed the campaigns and signed up for specific ones, so campaign leaders should plan on having a meeting prior to the big strategy meeting so they know who their volunteers are and the volunteers know what the campaign is about and how to get involved
- GTA350 group discussed the below:
The next step seems to be trying to get the people to meet again, although in the summer it's hard to get people out to meetings.
The thought was to do a picnic social for the people in the group to come together and hang out (not an outreach picnic). People could then discuss what they wanted to do, and how to move forward. The following ideas were proposed as possibilities to suggest:
For the picnic, there could be an activity, such as a structured discussion. It could be a BBQ or include a firepit. There could also be bubbles, instructions here: http://gofossilfree.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/GDD-Divestment-Creative-Action-Manual-low-res.pdf
Movie screening. Hosting a documentary is one thing, but perhaps they could also host a more fun movie. Maybe include a social game, similar to the ones that the https://www.facebook.com/drunkfeministfilms run, although there was concern about doing it as a drinking game.
People could get trained to run the Step Up presentation and then host/run some presentations.
Several people in each group seemed interested in doing outreach, e.g. tabling at events. I was noted that many events outside of the downtown have lots of people yet no tabling from orgs, so this is a great opportunity. Going to outdoor movie screenings to "work the ground" was suggested. Group activities that would lead up to this could include making an Energy East flyer, and creating a petition that might be good.
The idea of doing a banner drop/banner hold over a highway also came up. This could be done several times within a week, and say something like "Harper failed me on climate". Making something anti-Harper, rather than pro-another party seemed to be less problematic.
Stu will tag the GTA people appropriately with appropriate WNE tags in NB.
We'd also like to send an email blast soon to ask people to signup. Perhaps when the picnic dates are set.
Stu will try to arrange a training for "Life of Groups", to be run onJuly 28th at 5pm near the potluck.
Tali will start making an Action Kit document, which Stu, RosemaryB, and hopefully others from volops will contribute to. This will include the nitty-gritty of how to organize specific events, as well as some general tips around organizing.
This is now in the works and will be available for volunteers to review and edit in about 2 weeks
Voting instructions for next week
- Membership voted for a ranked ballot system over the system currently in the constitution. This was a unanimous vote.
Next Meeting
Chair – Klim
Minute Taker – Stu
Voloper - Ellory
pres...@toronto350.org
July 21 Planning Meeting Agenda - 120 minutes (7-9)
Chair: Klim
Minutes: Stu
Voloper: Ellery
Present: Klim, Tresanne, Melina, Katie, Amanda Lewis, Keara, Joe, Ellery, Ezra, Stu, Milan, Tali, Leon, Ben, HannahWV, AmandaHS, Louis, Rhys, Suhail, RosemaryB, Phoebe, Jody, Robert, Brad, Amil, Sylvia, Snow Cubb, two minors (I didn't catch their names, sorry)
By-Election
Voting Eligibility and Distribution of Voting Tickets - Jody
A list of eligible voters (2+ meetings, filled out member survey online) has been compiled and is available for viewing
We are aware that some individuals are eligible voters but not on the list, for this election they will not be eligible to vote
But we want to fix this, if you believe that you should be eligible please inform Jody
This was felt to be “highly undemocratic”.
A motion was moved to allow people to vote who say they should be eligible members should be allowed to vote in this election.
A concern was raised that this would be unverifiable.
A member of the exec who had not been on the list had brought this up when they discovered they couldn’t vote, and so had offered to be the CRO—thus negating their opportunity to vote. The exec had discussed this previously and decided to uphold the process, promising to correct it in the future—after all, what’s the point of process if we don’t follow it!
People wanted clarification on why there was a requirement for membership to be a voting member: that there was a multi-week process that was discussed and voted on by the membership.
Results: 18 in favour, 5 opposed, 2 abstentions
Immediate effect: Sylvia, RosemaryB, Ezra received voting tokens.
Melina did not receive a voting token, even though she had previously expressed disappointment at not being able to vote. She stood by her commitment to being the CRO, and so forego her right to vote.
The membership had previously expressed confidence that the membership survey would be an accurate way to keep track of who was a delegate (voting) member.
It was felt that this vote goes to show that people value feelings of fairness over the careful following of process, and that however careful we try to be with creating a fair process, people are likely to jettison the process if they don’t think it is fair. So why are we bothering to make policies and processes?
Others felt that the Constitution should include text to say that voting procedures cannot be modified on the fly—at least the day-of the vote, and perhaps they cannot be modified as soon as the vote is announced.
Election of chairperson
Responsible for “avoiding any apparent or actual conflict of interest….call votes on any subject...determine the result of votes” - Constitution Article 5, Section D
Klim was nominated, and elected unanimously.
A problem was raised regarding the absentee voting process, in that people were unable to record their voting
Motion was called to allow these 5 people
2 abtentions, 0 opposed, all others in favour, motion passes.
It was thought important to note that there are other people who wished to absentee vote who were not on the voting list and so did not submit their vote because they were told they could not vote, yet these people might have voted had they known this previous motion would allow non-verifiable-delegate members to vote.
Summary
There are four separate elections, we are using ranked ballot system, Melina is the CRO (responsible for collecting the votes, counting the votes with candidates and absentee voting receiver present outside of room, announce who has been elected) for the election of the VPs, the other elections won’t be secret
Communications Coordinator
One candidate - Amanda Lewis
Would anyone like to see/read her candidate statement?
Leon - “the Communications Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for communication within the organization. Their primary responsibility will be to coordinate the compilation and dissemination of information to group members on upcoming events. The Communications Coordinator shall chair the communications committee and coordinate with its members to schedule content for bi-weekly newsletters.”
Eligible voter abstentions -
Eligible voter “none of the above” -
Result - unanimous decision to elect Amanda Lewis. Congratulations.
Political Operations Coordinator
One candidate - Rhys Naylor
Would anyone like to see/read his candidate statement?
Klim - “the political operations coordinator shall have primary responsibility for monitoring and appraising the political landscape for opportunities to amplify campaign goals. They shall plan and conduct nonviolent and creative action as a way to apply campaign pressure to public figures. The Political Operations Coordinator shall chair the Actions Committee and coordinate with its members to plan and execute nonviolent actions in support of organizational campaigns. The Political Operations Coordinator shall chair the Special Activities Committee and coordinate with its members to identify and react rapidly to targets of opportunity in support of organizational campaigns.”
Eligible voter abstentions -
Eligible voter “none of the above”
Result - unanimous decision to elect Rhys Naylor. Congratulations.
Vice Presidents
Four candidates - Amelia Rose Khan, Ben DW, Katie Krelove and Tresanne Fernandes
Joanna - “The Vice President(s) shall be responsible for assisting the President(s) in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities and shall be considered Presidents-in-training. The positions of Vice President shall act as a means of ensuring the organization's executive sustainability. As such, the Vice Presidents shall be responsible for developing the skills required to successfully transition into the role of President, should they choose to declare their candidacy for the position in the future."
Clarification was discussed regarding the term “executive sustainability”. Other proposed terms were suggested, such as “leadership continuinity” or “presidential continuity”. It was suggested that this both could be interpreted to mean the whole exec’s sustainability, ensuring the specific knowledge the president has is passed on, or to ensure there is a president of the group should the existing president be unable to perform their duties.
People decided that it was acceptable to use this definition for now, and adapt it later if required.
Motions to amend the description of the VP positions? None
Vote #1
All eligible voters will have received a voting slip/paper, please rank your candidate preferences 1-4 and submit your ballot to Melina by showing her your voting token as you give her your slip
Result - Katie Krelove elected as a Vice President. Congratulations!
Vote #2
All eligible voters will have received a voting slip/paper, please rank your candidate preferences 1-3 and submit your ballot to Melina by showing her your voting token as you give her your slip
Result - Tresanne Fernandes elected as a Vice President. Congratulations!
Post-Election Updates
From now on Toronto350 will be no longer having a Voloper. Instead, people who bring Volops will be responsible for writing down, passing around, collecting and following up on the Volops they bring.
Energy East Campaign - Ben
We canvassed an NDP yesterday in Scarborough, and the ‘base’ were friendly and largely accepting of our message. We were told that our concerns (via the flyer) would be passed on to Mulcair. The flyer revolved around the need to have a real climate test for pipelines. We’re wanting to keep climate, Energy East and pipelines as a constant and important issue in the election.
Volunteer opportunities: follow up with media about articles written, Help make website more user-friendly, Design flyer to target Liberal party, Help redesign NDP flyer, Get added to pipe...@toronto350.org
We’ll also be focusing on the Rosedale Riding, as the Liberal MP Freeland has ties to the oil industry. We’ll be meeting with NDP candidate Jen Hollett next Tuesday.
White Anti-Racist Caucus - Ben
This has been converted into a White Privilege 101 Workshop, due to lack of time to organize it.
Friday July 24th at 6:30 at OISE room 8200.
People of Colour Caucus - Tresanne
People of Colour have been meeting informally for about a month, and now are opening these discussion up to other POCs in the group.
Meeting and member feedback - Louis
Anonymous feedback has been sent around. Others are welcome to give feedback, and others are welcome to process the feedback too. A word cloud was shown that had “Group” as the biggest word, and “People” also stood out. Contact Louis to learn more.
Major Proposal
Donation Policy Working Group - Stu
This isn’t ready yet but is 80% written. Please get involved if you’d like to contribute. There will still be opportunities for input by the members, before it is brought as a Major Proposal.
Events and other Volunteer Opportunities
Our event last night went well with ~45 people attending. A powerful clip from Disruption was shown, along with the speakers Emmay, Cheryl M and Joy K
A screening of Directly Affected (a documentary about Line9) happened last night. There are ways to get involved. Contact Sylvia if you wish to know more about upcoming events and actions around this film.
University-Rosedale Green Party Bike Tour Speaking Engagement 4 minutes
July 29/August 8 - Amanda HS and Jody
Volunteer opportunity -
Strategy Session - Suhail 4 minutes
Volunteer opportunity - Fill out the doodle poll before midnight tonight
Email Suhail if you wish to be involved in the planning of this strategy session.
This session will work on figuring out a collective mission, and we will use that to work out goals to work with for the next 6 months or so, and think about ways to make those goals achievable.
July 22nd Event w/ Environmental Defence - In Harm’s Way - Energy East Panel
Volunteer Opportunity - Tabling and registration help (Ben/Suhail)
July 25th North York 350 Picnic at Earl Bales Park, 4-6pm
Joint picnic with LeadNow, an opportunity to get to know people working on their campaigns too.
Vegan stir-fry will be there! It’s a social event, so come and have fun!
RosemaryB will have a car and bring a table.
There will probably be an East Side 350 picnic on August 14th.
There will likely be an West Side 350 picnic on August 15th.
July 28th potluck will be at Amanda Lewis’ house, 333 Howland Avenue, north of Dupont, across from the Tarragon Theatre
Before the meeting (5pm) Stu will be running a GTA350 training for those interested in helping with regional groups—CANCELLED
August 4 - In Conversation with Sheila Watt-Cloutier, author of The Right to be Cold 7-8:30 pm, Lakeside Terrace
Events toolkit (Tali)
We’re putting together a generic template toolkit for helping people put together and run events. If you have experience running events, contact Tali.
Glossary of terms
If you’d like to get involved with Step Up, Thursday 23rd at 6pm at CSI Spadina. Contact Katie for more details.
Events calendar - send important yearly events that are good for outreach to Ben.
Pitching Toronto350.org - Talk to Ben regarding pitching To350
If you’d like to present divestment workshop at Queens on Sept 21st, talk to Ben. Subsidy is available.
If you’d like to learn about computer security and how to protect yourself online, contact Leon. There will be a workshop in mid-to-late August.
Help Melina create a pitch for why to donate to us!
Outreach: Priority groups review, identification, re-assignment, events calendar
Could we get projection space at Nuit Blanche?
Or do something else? Perhaps around the federal election, maybe an action they could take like a video message to send to their favourite candidate, or to the new Prime Minister.
Melina will ask about the theme and how to register. Unfortunately, applications are closed for this year.
We could do a rogue installation.
We received a grant. Contact Melina for more info.
Open Streets
To get involved in Open Streets TO we’d need a hub. If you’re interested, contact Ellery. We hope to be there to give a positive message about how to create a carbon neutral Ontario, which is likely to be a undercurrent theme of this.
It takes place Bloor and Yonge. August 16th and early Sept. Deadline is this Sat, 25th.
Centred on physical activity and wellness. Family friendly, self-contained, easily assembled.
We could do a flash mob. People liked this idea.
We could have a photo op with the dino. Kids liked this at the ROM.
We could do parachute games.
Chalk paint. “My fossil free TO looks like this…”
Show the effects of climate change, appealing to people’s conscience. Maybe a slideshow that shows the destruction, both to people and ecosystems.
Projecting on buildings. Both positive and negative could be shown, to contrast these things.
Do an “obstacle course”-like thing that includes multiple things in a row that people can do, leading them through a story. Multiple “stations” along the way. Interactive display.
The brownie pipeline would be good, but let’s make sure to talk to people about what happens when pipelines spill, as well as the climate effects.
We could do something around packaging, and the negative effects of it. Often the “good” of organics is somewhat (or even more than?) neutralized by its packaging.
There was concern that showing some really negative imagery wouldn’t be considered family friendly. But then again, neither is climate change.
Solidarity and Group Endorsements
Aamjiwnaang Toxic Tour - Stu
This is happening on Labour Day weekend. Save the date. We’ll be helping to support by getting people there and potentially running a fundraiser for it. More info to come.
Exec Decision re: Endorsing Unist’ot’en - Keara
We’ll be matching donations up to $500 that are sent. We’ll send to the members list and as a blast.
Chevron Confrontation - Tresanne
Thursday July 23 10:30 am, John and Wellington St
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unistoten-Solidarity-Brigade/1631990880377883?fref=ts
Moving Forward Discussion -Stu + Tres - SKIPPED for next meeting
Next meeting
Chair: Rhys
Minutes: Milan
Location: Potluck @ Amanda Lewis’ place - 333 Howland (near Dupont/Bathurst)
Milan
Chair: Rhys
Minutes: Milan
Present: Stu, Robert, Milan, Tresanne, Ben, Amil, Amanda Lewis, Rhys, Amanda Harvey-Sanchez, Keara, Louis, Brad, Katie, Snow Cub, Rosemary, Sabrina, Klim, Phoebe, Lyn, Ellery, Sharon, Chris, Morton, Paul, Sylvia
1) Introductions, welcome and climate report
Land recognition:
* We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle Island. And so that equity is addressed checking the space you take up must be stressed but if anything else comes up, let us know. Put our principles to the test! Let's begin!
Procedure: raise hands to speak
* Speaker list will be started if necessary
* People can raise questions and clarifications, with the permission of the chair
* Objective: keep those with the loudest and most insistent voices from dominating the conversation
2) Updates
Pipelines - Meeting with Jennifer Hollett (Katie)
* Running for the NDP in University-Rosedale (new federal riding)
* Running against Christa Freeland (Liberal)
* Race likely to be close, with Liberals probably holding the upper hand
* Discussed politics around Energy East - how to raise it in relation to climate issues during the upcoming federal election
* Showed her our petition, and discussed how we will be campaigning on the issue in certain ridings
* She listened closely, and spoke openly and honestly
* She says she doesn't have influence over policy issues, or direct contact with those who do
* She talked a lot about how climate change is something she has been hearing a lot about when canvassing door-to-door
* We brought up how we want people who care about climate change to make the connections with pipelines, Energy East, and the National Energy Board approval process
* She talked about the importance of relationship-building
We should try to have as many meetups as possible with candidates: require few resources and little time, but can let us build strong relationships
Any discussion of how the NDP might reform the NEB?
* This point was specifically pressed: a comprehensive climate test
* Provided the Pembina Institute report on Energy East
* Also raised the OEB's climate test, and the problems with it
* Provided materials on this from Pembina and Environmental Defence
What would need to be included in a comprehensive climate test
* She said she doesn't have any influence over this
She also said that, in terms of policy, Toronto NDP candidates communicate with the people at the centre of the NDP via a Toronto NDP organizing team
* We asked her to pass along our petition and materials to that team
White Anti-Racist Caucus (Ben and Amanda HS)
* Following the direction of 350.org, we are trying to get people who identify as white to help dismantle racial discrimination
* Ran a workshop on Friday
* Got some critical emails in response
* While we're trying to have these conversations, not everyone's on the same page
* Some people are really uncomfortable talking about race, which can be an effective way of preserving racial hierarchies
* Many people don't see the connection
* We want to start educational programming to help people see the connections
* Some emails "alleged hate speech against white people", including from some UTSU people
At least one person didn't know the meeting was happening
"Deconstructing genocide"
* Process described in international literature, can be "from the ground up"
* Course exists at UN, including curriculum
* Snow Cub has further information on this
* We will circulate a VolOp for people who are interested?
Should we send an explanation to the members' list about why we held the workshop?
* Should we send direct responses to people who complained?
* Two people asked to be removed from the members' list
* Should we have another session?
One purpose of this workshop was to inform people about what terms like "white privilege" mean, create a common language as a first step
* Next stage, delving directly into problems
We should also consider members who didn't actually say anything
* Some people may think this has nothing to do with climate change, and their opinion of 350 may worsen as a response
Should we send a message to the members' list?
Maybe more time needs to be devoted in the next session to explaining what the connections are
* Will this work, if people who don't see the connection are unlikely to attend the workshop?
* Maybe emails about future events on this theme can start with more of an explanation
Theory of change, re: why frontline communities, indigenous peoples, and people of colour are at the head of 350 marches
* Many people would like to know more about this
3) Group decisions
Grant for paying co-presidents
* At the same time, Tresanne will lead a breakout for brainstorming an Aamjiwnaang and Unist'ot'en Fundraiser
Presentation from Stu (15 minutes)
* There has been an in-depth conversation involving the exec during the last few days
* They will get the chance to raise concerns after Stu's presentation
* This process is bigger than tonight - will extend for at least the next two weeks
How much work does a president do?
* There is always more work to be done on climate change
* Limit set by what can be tolerated without burnout
* When Stu started, before being president, he worked for 350 only a few hours a week
* Now he does at least 40 hours a week of Toronto350.org work
* At very busy times, he does more than 60 hours a week
* Hopefully, the co-presidents will be able to share the burden and to fewer total hours
* There is a lot of non-obvious behind-the-scenes work, like dealing with email threads, sending information to the right people
* Stu spent 13.5 hours on 350 emails just yesterday
How does Stu manage it?
* Web development is very highly paid, and 95% male dominated
* Thus able to get by working 20 hours a week
* He previously worked 40 hours per week, but cut back to work more for 350
* That's not something that most people will be able to do
Why doesn't he take any money?
* People have suggested it, based on the time he is committing
* Because of his privileged work, he is able to pay rent and get by without this
* This is not to say that president's work isn't valuable, or that someone else shouldn't be paid for it
What would it look like if Stu did accept money?
* The president role always involves some significant undefined parts
* If he took money, it would be to enable him to serve the group better, or to pay his expenses if he lost his other job
* "It's not about paying a president so much as allowing them to focus on their duties"
When we have events, we often bring in artists who don't expect to be paid, but for who we do provide an honorarium
* For instance, to cover expenses they would otherwise pay out of pocket, like transport
* A stipend is an ongoing honorarium - alternative to being paid for a certain number of hours
* Groups sometimes give them to board members
* Paying the presidents wouldn't be hourly, but would be an enabling stipend
What will Toronto350.org do without Stu?
* He is leaving for at least five months
* A transition plan was brought to board, exec, and membership back in May
* Idea: elect co-presidents, have them work closely with him to take on his knowledge and role
* The plan mentioned trying to make the president's position paid
* At the time, that aspect of the plan wasn't extensively discussed, but has been discussed much more lately
* After initially bringing it up, Stu made a personal project of trying to find a way to make it financially possible
Why was the fundraising done behind the scenes?
* There were many other things happening: the march, elections, many other uses of time
* Stu wanted to make strategic use of resources, by bringing on board only the people who most needed to be involved: treasurer, development coordinator, fundraising coordinator
* Fundraising plan included applying for a grant, sending several fundraising emails (one in early June doubled our recurring donations)
* Stu will send several more funding emails before he goes
* Not done behind the scenes to keep people from being informed; Stu recognizes that he should have communicated more
Stu heard about the Tar Sands Solution Network grant in March, but didn't know how to apply
* Only got the contact and specific information the day before it was due, in the week before the march
* Stu requested documents to apply, and was given a three-day extension to the Friday
* Scramble to write application - Stu and the three other people wrote a grant budget, a grant narrative
* He sent this around to the exec a week or so ago
* Our policy says that all new fundraising proposals must be raised and discussed at a meeting
* Stu failed to do this, and apologizes for that
How much did we ask for and why?
* The amount requested was based on the presidents being given a stipend to support 20 hours a week of work
* At the time, there was a discussion about the Human Resources Policy (which remains in the works)
* Debate about the lowest wage we would pay
* Minimum wage would be ethically wrong
* $14 is the OCAP recommendation; 350 has a $15 campaign; another organization calculated a living wage of $18.52
* They decided to pick the highest one for the grant application, while waiting for an overall decision
* $18.52 * 25 weeks * 20 hours per week * 2 people = $18,520
* Grant requested $10,000 and said that we would provide the rest
* Stu's contact suggested that this requested amount may be feasible
What would this enable?
* Let the co-presidents do their jobs while having to spend less time on alternative employment
Who is the grant from?
* The Tar Sands Solutions Network
* "Basically the only grant-giving agency in Canada that gives more-or-less no-strings-attached grants"
* Patagonia provides another fairly unrestricted grant program
* TSSN has a mandate to stop the tar sands, including by working with indigenous people
* We would not be allowed to use the money for direct lobbying, like taking MPs for dinner or providing them with gifts
How would we pay for this?
* Visual: $1,700 via grant; $400 in recurring donations (total current amount via NationBuilder); $200 in one-off donations (we normally get this through NationBuilder or cash); $600 in potential donations (people who Stu is currently speaking with, who are willing to donate but waiting on our Donation Policy); plus we would need to find another $200 per month
* The aim would be to pay each co-president $3,100 per month
* Joanna is preparing a report on fundraising figures for next week
A draft Donation Policy will be circulated tonight, to be discussed next week and perhaps approved the Tuesday after
Brainstorm of questions
* What's the problem? Why are we having this discussion?
* Does this proposal mean we need to raise another $200 per month, and would anything be left over for anything else
* What's the administrative structure of 350 Ontario? (there is no such organization)
* What is Toronto350's administrative structure? Has it been established?
* What is our current balance?
* Is there a way (after we have had an extensive conversation about this) we can modify the matching commitment we have made?
* What happens after April?
* How do we define paid roles to not conflict with what volunteers do?
* Could it be an hourly wage instead of a stipend?
* Exactly how much money would be left for campaigns?
* How can we ensure that future executives don't become similarly overburdened (organization too dependent on one person)
* What concerns were raised by exec members not currently present?
* What sort of accountability would be established? A contract?
* Has the financial need of the elected vice-presidents been taken into account?
* Why are we choosing to concentrate responsibility rather than distribute it?
* Should we have two-vice presidents ordinarily in the future?
* How can the fundraising coordinator be fairly compensated for their work?
* If we wanted to, could we spend this entire grant on campaigns?
20 minutes of general discussion (to 8:15)
* Rhys will be relying on hands and a list of speakers
* Is the aim to try to answer the brainstorm questions now? Stu is willing to write and circulate answers
* Stu will address some of them now
* We could go through each, and allow others to contribute to items that are of concern to them
* People can suggest postponing items until when there is more time to discuss them
What's the problem?
* Partly, hasn't yet been discussed sufficiently
* Partly, this is a lot of money
* Also, repercussions from having paid people and volunteers working together
* Issues like salary, v. stipend
This led to a very conflicted executive email thread
* Several people with strong opinions are absent
* Joanna asked Ben to raise some issues: this proposal asks us to commit all our existing monthly donations, plus more
* She was asked to provide numbers last-minute in early July -Expressed confusion via email
* Sent an email with concerns about our $8,000 commitment, which she felt was brushed off
* Felt she was "following orders" and that three women raised concerns that weren't properly addressed
* She also felt that her contribution has been misrepresented
* There hasn't been a discussion about what this decision would do to our finances, which need to be listed publicly
* Donors may object to their contributions being used for two salaries
People administering NGOs do need to be compensated
* Would paying administrators help gain access to influential people?
Can we provide the $8,000? Could this money be spread between more projects or uses?
There are a lot of people who do a great deal of work for us, but who are not compensated
* Is the way we structure the organization appropriate and effective?
* Is it a problem to require a small number of people to do too much of the total work
Do we need to provide the matching amount we proposed?
* Stu isn't sure
* Funders may be willing to provide some flexibility, but may expect an explanation
* Could look bad if we made the proposal with matching, and then pulled back from it
* Providing at least some matching could help get future grants
This may not actually be the largest spending item we've had, since it's spread over six months
* We spent about $2,500 on PCM buses
We can do additional fundraising beyond what's mentioned here, especially with two paid vice-presidents and a volunteer fundraising coordinator
* Climate change has a rising public profile as the Paris COP approaches
Part of the proposal for the grant was that during their terms the vice-presidents would establish sufficient fundraising to pay their successors, even without the grant
* These new roles would involve more fundraising than Stu has generally done so far
Are the vice-presidents taking over the roles of the development and fundraising coordinators?
Procedural issue: the grant proposal didn't go through our decision-making structure, though it arguably requires changing aspects of the constitution
* The description of the president's role does currently allow wide latitude
The decision needs to be made by the group now, as though it hadn't already been pre-made
We may want to talk to the granters
* We have asked for something specific, but may now be asking to change things
* Funders can be quite understanding
* Ideally, this should be raised with them before our next meeting, to see what kind of flexibility they have
What did the board think of this proposal?
The administrative structure of Toronto350.org will be explained by email
Our current balance is between $7,000 and $8,000
What happens after April?
* Grant application assigns co-presidents the responsibility to try to make stipends sustainable in some way
* We will also be in a different situation in April, and may have to judge it then
* They have to establish support structures for fundraising
* Melina is our first fundraising coordinator to actually create a fundraising plan
* Paid people may be more willing to do fundraising work
Does this commit us to paying a president in perpetuity?
* Future presidents could choose to reject it
How will this affect us as a volunteer-based group?
* Stu does a lot of work which is necessary to keep the group going, but which nobody else has been willing to do
* In particular, lots of admin work
The president isn't the only one during tedious, painful grunt work
Does this idea come out of the Berkeley convergence with the mothership?
"The make or break of it" when it comes to group legitimacy and volunteer motivation is to work out how paying some people would relate to that
Is the issue a lack of people willing to do work, or a lack of empowerment for volunteers?
* Stu has been too swamped to try and do this himself
We could use hourly wages instead of stipends
Is there a deadline for accepting the grant?
* It has been allocated, but we haven't yet accepted it
* Stu has let them know, and they say that waiting a few weeks is fine
* Should we set a deadline for ourselves?
* Two weeks from now? Three?
* We may want to prioritize deciding how this decision will be made
* What has to happen? Approve donation policy, apply in this case, major proposal
* Is a grant the same as a donation?
* We also have a strategy session upcoming
* What's the fair way to make this decision, given everything else happening
* Does this need to go through the major proposal process? The donation policy?
* Should we decide how to decide next week? Also set a deadline?
The donation policy should address the question of whether a grant is the same thing
Should this conversation be held within the Innovation Committee rather than planning meetings
* Many members dislike discussing these sorts of issues
* Is this the purpose for which the Innovation Committee exists
* Planning meetings may involve overly strict time commitments
* Exec members not present supported the idea of addressing this at an Innovation Committee meeting
* Anybody would be able to attend that meeting
We will set a deadline at next week's planning meeting, this will be discussed at an Innovation Meeting, the 'take-backsies' process would apply
* We should have an Innovation Committee meeting before next week, to discuss the appropriate process
* Would people actually be able to attend, given the long weekend, etc?
* Could we use a Doodle to schedule an Innovation meeting after next Tuesday? Or ask people to complete the Doodle before Friday? Sunday?
Executive decision about the mem...@toronto350.org mailing list
* "There has been an issue where too much shit is being emailed"
* Establishing a new filtering process?
* The restriction has already been put in place
This is a long-standing form of communication, and the only actual way to contact most people who have attended meetings
* Is slightly diminishing the total level of email sufficient justification for eliminating this communication channel with no replacement and restricting freedom of speech
Some people object to the amount of email they get from Toronto350.org, and would prefer more focused messages
When the message announcing the change was sent to the members list, only Milan objected and four approved
Does someone want to invoke 'take backsies' on this Innovation Committee discussion?
Could we create a second discussion list?
* Used effectively by some other groups
* Or should we create an email list for just announcements, and leave the members list as it was?
* If we create a new email list just for discussion, most people probably won't opt in to join it
* If we create a new announcement list, people may not opt into that
There are presently about 160 people on the list
* People now need approval to send a message to this list
Should we have a further discussion on this and decide later?
Would using 'take backsies' further piss people off on the members list
Motion to take the decision back
* Seconded
* Proposed amendment: tell people that the matter will be discussed next week
* In favour: 4
* Opposed: 5
We will create a committee to further discuss this and make a recommendation
4) Major proposal
For consideration next week: Energy East Election Strategy $1,500-$2,000 with possible income of up to $2,000 (Ben)
* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LramwDHqiL2YC7K5Fg3wWqis0TYiF53Wf4e0z99g4Js/edit?usp=sharing
* Election to occur by October 19th
* Many people are disillusioned about party politics
* Opportunity to raise the profile of climate change as an issue contested between the Liberals and the NDP
* We would ask for a comprehensive climate test for Energy East
* The details are still being worked out
* Spending would be on postcards to give people on the street; creating a report card for the Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives; lawn signs in high-visibility parts of ridings that are in play
Questions for Ben:
* Who was involved in making the proposal?
* Sam wrote the budget
* It was discussed at the Energy East campaign meeting this week
* They are now thinking about strategy and how to engage with the election
* The aim is to vote on this during the meeting on the 11th, after the strategy session
* People are encouraged to criticize the plan and provide comments before then
5) Volunteer opportunities
We need a VolOp enabler to bring paper and pens for the month of August
Other VolOps circulated: read through the by-laws for quality control before filing; volunteer for Olivia Chow campaign; Climate Fast; This Changes Everything book club
There will be a major strategy session on August 9th
* We're still working out how to run it, what the goals should be
* There will be a Google Doc to help plan this, access will be sent around by Katie
Possibility for cross-promotion at an event in Scarborough with Toronto Rejects Energy East (TREE)
Sign up if you want to discuss: health and motivation (Amanda L); outreach (Ben); Open Streets festival (Ellery); strategy session (Katie)
6) Events and other announcements
* If you have something about the group that you wish to work on and don't know how to move forward with, David Stember has put himself forward as a resource that we can all use. He's the groups organizer with the mothership. You can contact him by emailing da...@350.org.
* Our draft Human Resource Policy is complete, and will now be sent to members for review. Unless major concerns are raised, it will hopefully be adopted next week by a membership vote: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vhw4Z4RxhurrkPicC_RhIjDGyU8H4IpbJyrTDXwlqEM/edit
* The Donation Policy will also be circulated for comments, and raised for approval on the 11th: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V1riuEou7jU_3XZhp0sEMSUChXOUh24hWI_oA9y1_Yc/edit#heading=h.w12wdchexnud
* Tomorrow, Wed. July 29th - New Volunteer Pub Night, 7pm (Regal Beagle, 335 Bloor St. W.): https://www.facebook.com/events/1676569979244199/
* August 4th - In Conversation with Sheila Watt-Cloutier, author of The Right to be Cold 7-8:30 pm, Lakeside Terrace (235 Queen’s Quay W.)
* Aug 7th-15th: Like There's No Tomorrow at the SummerWorks Performance Festival's Theatre Series (Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.) - Play based on a trip studying opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipeline in B.C. http://summerworks.ca/2015/artists/like-theres-no-tomorrow/
* Aug 9th 1-6pm Toronto350.org Strategy Session (Location TBD)
* Sat. Aug 15th - 2-5pm Toronto350/Scarborough350 Picnic at Thomson Memorial Park (1007 Brimley Rd.)
* Sun. Aug 16th - 9am-1pm Open Streets TO (Bloor St. between Spadina Ave. and Parliament St. and Yonge St. between Bloor St. and Queen St.) - Be there at 8am to set up
7) Next meeting
Chair: Katie
Minutes: Ellery
Location: Steelworkers' Hall, 25 Cecil Street
SAT PAL
- Paul and Jody Open mic night, artists
- Sliding scale - PWYC/suggested donation + gently used market, vintage, - Ask Cam about CSI, University, or Ryerson Beach for performances
- Advertising - NOW, CSI, Social Media, TCAN newsletter, Lyn, Indigenous news media, Livestream, 3903 CUPE, OPIRG, UNIONS,
- Buses - 1 bus two ways, cost about $2,300, get sense of Friday or Saturday
thugsb
Ellery F
Introductions, welcome and climate report
Attendance: Robert, Snowcub, Amelia Rose, Katie, Amil, Milan, Rosemary B, Rosemary F, Ben, Phoebe, Rhys, Ellery, Chris (new), Suhail, Louis, Marilyn (new), Paul, Amanda L.
We are all Treaty people on indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign Updates and Debriefs 2 min each
Pipelines
Meeting tomorrow at 6pm at SLC @ Ryerson
Met with Jen Hollett and plan to talk to Olivia Chow
Steven Kelley from Kinder Morgan named new advisor to National Energy Board
GTA Groups: North York Picnic/Upcoming Scarborough Picnic
UofT Divestment
Adhoc committee has put out call for submissions, we have model letter nearly done
Want to make simple postcard to explain why students support the campaign to send to the adhoc committee
OTPP Divestment
Off for summer, hard to campaign
Summer AGMs are coming up and trying to get divestment proposals in
Proposal from former teacher through lawsuit which is working it way through group
Talked about divestment for the very first time at the last AGM
Treasurer Update Summary of Donations--Joannal
Feb: $200 recurring
March $180 recurring
April: $165 recurring
May: $230 recurring
June: $425 recurring + $596.80 in one time
July: $500 recurring, $428.25 in one time
Unist’ot’en fundraiser update
Group working to prevent pipelines being built
Pledging to raise $2000, nearly there
Please share with network - fundraiser currently advertised on facebook, twitter, nationbuilder, and already sent to the members list
Group Decisions
Won’t make decisions today due to low attendance. Documents are available to read and comment on. Sent to members interested in receiving updates. Contact Katie for access.
15 min. Strategy Session--See Planning Doc. Update and finalization of planning doc and Volops
Meeting is happening on August 8th from 11-7pm, tentatively at OISE
Lunch will be provided
Discussion of shared values of groups, creating metrics to measure our success and growth, assess whether goals align with campaigns, determine what resources need to accomplish goals, what we work on, why, and how we intended to do it. More detail in planning doc above.
Human Resource Policy is complete, and has been sent to members for review.
Plan to have a meeting to discuss and finalize policy
Board will need to vote on both policies, after it is put forth as a major proposal
Does not currently apply to grants
New policy aims to produce more rigorous approach to donations
Donations would come to planning meeting and we would vote on whether or not to accept them
Major proposals
10 min: Energy East Election Strategy $1,500-$2,000 with possible income of up to $2,000
Concerns around language, is it an Energy East Campaign, how are the budget items grounded/what are they based off of, conflicts between TO350 campaigns,
Conditional vote: If there are not any major changes to the proposal, a message will be sent to the membership to call for a vote next week
If there are major changes, a message will be sent to the membership to call for a vote for a later date.
Pressure to register as third party since we are spending over $500 to influence election
-We’ve endorse LeadNow Vote Together campaign and have generally anti-Conservative messaging, so should vote
New campaign proposals to be brought up in strategy meeting
Incorporate Divest Ryerson
Ally Squad (not campaign)
Divest OMERS/Divest City of Toronto
10 min: Divest UofT Budget Proposal--Joanna and Amanda
5 min: Communications Mapping proposal--Ben
Break Outs
Outreach--messaging-Ben
Toxic Tour Fundraiser
Health and Wellness
Open Streets - August 16th
Volunteer opportunities
Point People for Unions
Energy East Meeting--Wednesday, 6PM--Ryerson Student Learning Centre--Yonge and Gould
This Changes Everything Book Club
Saturday March Organizing Committee Debrief
Local 350 group leaders' call is next Wednesday, August 12 at 8PM and will focus on local solutions campaigns. We hope you can join us! You'll need to register (http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/…/r…/KIO4DJ1O07X5P95E). We'd also appreciate it if each group could fill out our survey on what campaigns you're running, the tactics you're using, how 350.org should be engaging on these campaigns and more. (please complete by Thursday night 8-6-15)
Short interview with Wilfrid Laurier Professor doing research on environmental activism
Events and other announcements
August 4 - In Conversation with Sheila Watt-Cloutier, author of The Right to be Cold 7-8:30 pm, Lakeside Terrace (235 Queen’s Quay W.)
Aug 7 -15: Like There’s No Tomorrow at the SummerWorks Performance Festival’s Theatre Series (Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.) http://summerworks.ca/2015/artists/like-theres-no-tomorrow/
Aug 9. 1pm-6pm Toronto350 Strategy Session (Location TBD)
Sat. Aug 15 - 2pm-5pm Toronto350/Scarborough350 Picnic at Thomson Memorial Park (1007 Brimley Rd.)
Sun. Aug 16 - 9am-1pm Open Streets TO (Bloor St. between Spadina Ave. and Parliament St. and Yonge St. between Bloor St. and Queen St.)
Send any events to be advertised via TO350 to Amanda Lewis by next Thursday
Amanda Lewis
Introductions, welcome and climate report (15 mins)
Attendance: Ellery (Chair), Amanda L. (minutes), Sylvia, Amelia Rose, Rosemary F., Suhail, Amanda HS, Rhys, Rosemary B., Amil, Joe, Ben, Katie, Marilyn, Snowcubb, Louis, Jean, Aaron, Jody, Lyn, Michael, Dave, Cameron
We are all Treaty people on indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle Island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign Updates and Debriefs
2 min: Mulcair and Trudeau bird dogging - Ben and Rosemary F.
Future direct action training would be helpful.
It went well: we even had a photo with Mulcair (while they delivered the Pembina report). Mulcair took credit for that photo: “protestors must be satisfied because they came back.”
We have never had better media for direct action. CBC National, Radio Canada, 640, Canadian Press (Globe and Mail, etc.). For direct action, confrontation works: it’s a story. Had we passively resisted the RCMP we could have had more time to ask a second question. Or we could have had more people pop up and ask more questions.
Outcome: Mulcair said he would reject Energy East if it contributed to climate change. The Conservative Party used our video in a tweet.
2 min: Toxic Tour Fundraiser Update (Katie)
Info on Toxic Tour below
August 23rd, Tranzac, 7:30 pm
Two acts playing: Fiver, Test Their Logik
Toronto350 and Rising Tide are sponsoring. Goal: raise money for third bus to go on the Toxic Tour and donate money to community.
Need people to help promote it, or who have ideas for other musical acts we can reach out to, and we need an iPhone DJ.
We’ll have an online fundraiser on NationBuilder, linked through Facebook.
Chemical Valley is the most polluted place in North America, according to National Geographic.
SAVE
THE DATE: September 4 - 5th LABOUR DAY WEEKEND
Ten years ago, a report surfaced that showed two
girls were being born for every boy in Aamjiwnaang First Nation due to toxic
chemicals emanating from industry in Chemical Valley. The news made
international headlines and shamed the Canadian government. Since that time,
more refineries have been built, more pipelines have spilled, and the community
continues to be poisoned day after day, week after week, year after year.
But Aamjiwnaang has fought back. Grassroots
members have done speaking tours, petitions, lawsuits, rallies, blockades,
scientific testing, and built networks of supporters to help share the story of
what is happening to our lands, and our people.
We are asking for you to experience for one day what many of us experience our
whole lives. Come and see the miles of petrochemical plants. Witness the
pollution with your own eyes, ears, noses, and feel what it has done to our
land and our people.
Chemical Valley is the climate and pollution crisis of Southern Ontario. It is
where fracked gas is processed. It is the place of all of the environmental
crises of our times. It is a place of environmental racism: the Valley exists
on stolen land, and its people are being slowly killed by pollution.
Join us in our fight against environmental racism, climate chaos, and extreme
pollution.
Welcome Feast and SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED
Friday September 4th 5:00 pm
Aamjiwnaang First Nation Community Centre: Maawn Doosh Gumig
1972 Virgil Avenue,
Sarnia Ontario
Toxic Tour Saturday
September 5th 12:00 pm
Aamjiwnaang First Nation, Sarnia Ontario
Please register at http://aamjiwnaangsolidarity.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AamjiwnaangSarniaAgainstPipelines
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TakeActionASAP
Email: asap1491 AT gmail DOT com
#ToxicTour #FrontlineExperience #BringTheFightHome #IdleNoMore#AamjiwnaangSolidarity
30 min: Strategy session debrief (Suhail)
Should we send out a debrief after the minutes are sent out?
How do we intend to move forward with what came out of the session?
We had a discussion at the session about the importance of debriefing and how the person bottom-lining needs to lead the debrief after.
At the Strategy Session, there was a lot of confusion about Toronto350’s mandate, if we’re grassroots, etc. We didn’t settle anything. There is mixed messaging across the website, our constitution etc. Problematic: we need to decide on our mission. There was a recommendation to emphasize debriefing and the process around actions and events, more so than we have been doing. Debrief docs have been accessible only to those invited to contribute. There was an invitation to develop debrief procedures, establish standards around debriefs, and a repository so they don’t disappear into the ether. It shouldn’t fall to one person…should be a group effort.
Divestment and working against pipelines are our two major focus points as a group, and all should revolve around a commitment to climate justice.
We set organization goals: movement building, fighting fossil fuels, climate justice. We need to ask our campaigns to put together goals for the next 6 months. We need to determine if goals are achieved and then report back. We need to ask our campaigns to take stock of how they are fulfilling organizational goals and report back. We want to double membership levels…but what does it mean to be a member of this group?
Suhail’s recommendation: set up a post-strategy session working group and make these goals concrete. Volop: Operations Committee. To be continued!
Group Decisions
10 mins: Vote to adopt the following
documents. Has been in review for a few weeks. Links below:
-Human Resource Policy
- Katie: we might want to look at it again through the lens of potentially having employee-employer relationships. Inherent legalities.
- Suhail will send email to membership and schedule a vote on the HR policy.
- The board has to approve it, and the board won’t meet again until October. No great rush.
- Board has to approve it, and the board won’t meet again until October.
- More urgency: we have an offer of funding on the table that is waiting until we approve the policy. This is monthly funding, not a grant.
- Donations Committee (Stu, Milan, Robert, Tresanne) can present it at the next meeting and then we can vote on it. Also email out the proposal on the day of the presentation so people can review it that day.
- Ellery to contact Milan and ask him to present it next week, and circulate the policy.
- General: We should have documents (proposals, agendas, etc.) circulated at least an hour before the meeting.
10 min: Energy East Election Strategy Proposal - Ben
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GurhlVUHKStyRdQA2QePqhDUB6VXGB4F3O9ZMgo6ChU/edit
Backstop: If UTSU doesn’t fund an event, Toronto350 will step in and supply that funding. But shouldn’t be more than a few hundred dollars by the end of the year.
Wednesday’s Energy East meeting went through it line by line and reworked or took out problematic parts of the proposal. Budget was explained and detailed line by line.
Joanna: a lot of budgets that we allocate to campaigns are not spent fully, so keep that in mind.
In favour: 18
Opposed: 0
Abstentions: 0
Motion carries
10 min: Divest UofT Budget Proposal - Ben, Joanna, Amanda HS
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-jqBhHP7FSEsIzSV1Xq1NzEppW9Qu88AHeW3GHeFSto/edit
Katie has concerns that the entire budget might be covered…Divest UofT might give $1500 of $2000 back to Toronto350. The Divest UofT campaign might be over in December. Should we approve $1000 now? They might get money from UTSU or UTERN. Strange to approve a budget that is up in the air, and decreases incentive to get funding from elsewhere. Wait and see if other funds come in? Divest UofT is in a unique position of being able to get funding from UofT.
Suhail: what is unspent allocation for funding for DivestUofT?
Joanna: $373 already approved.
Propose allocation of $1000 or another fixed amount to use over the summer. We should vote now on the money that is needed now, and vote again later in the year about funds that might be needed then.
Joanna: UTSU and UTERN use reimbursement funding. We need money to pay for the event to get receipts to get the money. UTSU needs to pre-authorize the expenses. But sometimes UTSU and UTERN approve funding only a few days before the money is needed. A lot of expenses (A/V, security) are not fundable. Our campaign won’t be ending in December even if divestment is approved, as the purpose of the campaign is to build a fossil-free movement on campus.
Ben: UTERN meets on a two-week basis. If they don’t get through everything in a meeting it’s pushed to next meeting. UTSU funding not approved until November.
Should we vote on $1000 slush fund? Would that require rewriting the proposal or would it be an amendment?
Amelia Rose: UofT350 is becoming their own entity and it’s becoming hard for people to plug into Toronto350.
Joanna: UofT350 is making changes to internal structure, but it’s still a campaign of Toronto350. UofT350 has consistently plugged high-capacity volunteers into Toronto350. We want to keep working together…a lot of our volunteers work together. What does Toronto350 have to offer to UofT350, etc.?
Ben: UofT350 is not breaking away!
Katie: Minimal budget, but it’s increasing a lot and the written proposal doesn’t have the amount listed.
Ben: we spent a lot but those expenses went through over the year and were then reimbursed by UTERN and UTSU.
Katie: Too much in the air. Do it by need, with a stipend now.
Why would campaigns submit budgets then?
Katie: Move to amend it to a stipend of $1000.
Voting on the question (voting to vote):
In favour: 10
Opposed: 5
Abstentions: 3
Voting on the proposal to allocate $2000 funding to DivestUofT
In favour: 11
Opposed: 3 (Snowcubb)
Abstentions: 5
Motion carries
5 mins: Ryerson Interns - Katie K.
A few months ago we applied for a couple of interns from Ryerson. Stu sent in job descriptions for those interns. Katie is going to start interviews next week. Needs help with interview process or finalizing what we want these interns to do. One intern will be assistant to volunteer coordinator. Volop: come up with tangible work for interns. We’ll have two interns from September to April. Volunteer coordinator intern: Help manage NationBuilder, outreach, tabling, revamping NationBuilder, creating information package for volunteers.
Steelworkers Hall
- - can we make booking the space easier?
- - Or find a space that is more responsive? UofT sends confirmations when
space is booked.
- - Meetings and potlucks are listed on the website.
- - Katie and Suhail will speak about John Humphreys and best contacts.
Major proposals
10 min: Presidential Remuneration Major Proposal
Stu has been asked to
bring a major proposal to the group regarding the subject of the grant money
that we can receive, that was granted for the intended purpose of providing the
future co-presidents with remuneration
Please note that the treasurer is the chair of the finance committee, so if you wish to be involved with the decision-making process around the specific logistics of payment, please talk to Joanna to be included in the committee at this time. I have suggested this be decided by a committee so that the legal responsibility does not rest on the membership, given not everyone will be interested in doing this kind of research. If accepted, the idea is that the group will entrust the decision to specific people, and that yet still allow for any interested member to be able to participate in the decision.
Proposal doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18aaQvzW1TwCaPp9yrxfgd5wwEtLykKheV2yBuk5oyKw/edit?usp=gmail
Stu wanted to present the proposal online, as he is away. Stu wants to move forward with the proposal and vote on it tonight.
Joanna wasn’t clear that we would be voting on it tonight. Questions about how people will be paid, what we’re voting on, etc. Joanna wasn’t contacted.
Katie: we had a planning meeting and discussed the lack of prior discussion of the proposal, and then had an innovation meeting. This proposal hadn’t been presented as a major proposal through the proper policy. There are a lot of unknowns we need to research: whether or not membership wants to pay to provide stipends/pay co-presidents. Need to research legalities of doing that and what it means for TO350 to become an employer, and how that meshes with the grant. Stu needs to create a much more detailed description of what co-presidents do/could do.
Snowcubb: Every member/exec should be compensated.
Katie suggests that we not discuss details of the proposal until we have a proper proposal presentation.
Should we have another innovation committee meeting to discuss it outside a planning meeting? We did that already and no one took on the tasks. We know the questions we need to answer and we have been looking into them. Anyone can make a major proposal: they have to submit it online to the full membership at least a week in advance, and that hasn’t been done. So we can’t officially vote on the proposal tonight.
We could have a place where people can submit questions about proposals, so we can avoid having this situation at a planning meeting where we don’t have the answers and we don’t have Stu to answer the questions.
Nothing resolved.
5 min: Communications Mapping proposal –
Ben (NOT a major proposal)
Research proposal
Research Proposal: Create a visual graphic of how communication flows in the group. Identify what is working, what major gaps we have, recommendations to improve communication.
How: Ben will take ethnographic field-notes and interview key subjects. I will not make field notes or interviews public. Because most data will be pen and paper - not electronic, theft would be the largest privacy concern.
Privacy: Ideally a visual of communication will need to name key positions in the organization. I will run any potentially sensitive information by subjects so I can know what information they do not wish me to make public.
Ethics: I will use my discretion to know what is sensitive and actively gain subject consent when dealing with any information I feel could be sensitive. I will regularly tell people they can talk to me privately if they wish to be excluded
Due date: I honestly don't know. But hopefully less than three months.
Use of data/ Outcomes: map, and on the off chance I'm super nerdy I may want to write a research paper. I will give a formal action list of recommendations, gaps, and successes to the group.
Ben needs
consent from people for his notes and possible future publications. Ben needs
to circulate it to the membership to get their consent or just have the
proposal outlined in the minutes. Should be a separate email, NOT just in the
minutes.
Joe: this type of research has been used by government and police to track and surveil social movements. How are you thinking about that, especially as networks of communication are super important to the work that we do.
Ben: Keep it internal to Toronto350 but security would probably be limited to Google Drive.
Joe: networks are mapped and infiltrated by RCMP and CSIS. Long history of how this info is tracked.
Ben and Joe to talk about it after the meeting/within
the next week.
Break Outs (10 mins)
Communications Committee - Amanda Lewis
OpenStreets – Ellery
- We need bodies and volunteers! This Sunday at Matt Cohen Parkette, 9 am to 1 pm.
Toxic Tour Fundraiser - Katie K.
Volunteer opportunities
(10 mins)
Energy East Banner Art Build - Amanda Lewis
Half day direct action training - Ben and Rosemary F.
OpenStreets Volunteers - Ellery
OpenStreets Art build - Ellery
Local Leaders 350.org phone meeting - Katie K.
- August 12, 8 pm
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan meeting at 4pm on
Friday - Amelia Rose
Movie screening with Snowcubb
Events and other announcements
Announcements
OpenStreets materials - Ellery
Climate Fast - 1 min
Calling all candidates to endorse Climate Fast pledge.
TO350 Materials List: please update the spreadsheet so we know where materials are. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ntXmU-o6v8eYED7gzjlHdjrLgZd3PWPV4edtIQuxuZw/edit#gid=0
Canada’s Conservative
government spent several million dollars on a tar sands advocacy fund as its
push to export the oil faltered, documents reveal.
In its 2013 budget, the government invested $30 million over two years on public relations advertising and domestic and international “outreach activities” to promote Alberta’s tar sands.
The outreach activities, which cost $4.5 million and were never publicly disclosed, included efforts to “advance energy literacy amongst BC First Nations communities.”
Events
Aug 7 -15: Like There’s No Tomorrow at the SummerWorks Performance Festival’s Theatre Series (Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Ave.) http://summerworks.ca/2015/artists/like-theres-no-tomorrow/
Sat. Aug 15 - 2pm-5pm Toronto350/Scarborough350 Picnic at Thomson Memorial Park (1007 Brimley Rd.)
Sun. Aug 16 - 9am-1pm Open Streets TO (Bloor St. between Spadina Ave. and Parliament St. and Yonge St. between Bloor St. and Queen St.) - TO350 will have booth at the Matt Cohen Parkette at the SE corner of Bloor and Spadina
August 27-29 - Climate Camp Opportunity
When to have next Energy East campaign meeting? Direct action discussion, etc. Email Katie AT toronto350 DOT org or ben AT toronto350 DOT org to be added to the list.
Leadnow: “Storm the Riding” in Joe Oliver’s riding. Sign up voters to vote strategically in key swing ridings. Aug 15, 12:30 – 5, Glen Long Park, 25 Glen Long Ave.
Jennifer Hollett meeting was productive. Rhys and Morton are working to set up meetings with other federal candidates.
Etobicoke: Vote Together. Conservatives underfunded transit for Eglinton Station.
Send any events to be advertised via TO350 to Amanda Lewis by next Thursday
SAT PAL
Planning Meeting Minutes in 2015. See the first half of 2015 minutes here.
Milan
2015-08-18 Planning meeting minutes
Chair: Suhail
Minutes: Milan
Present: Suhail, Lyn, Joanna, Milan, Amanda HS, Snow Cubb, Alex (first meeting), Katie, Amelia Rose, Marilyn, Ben, Ellery, Rhys, Naveed (first meeting), Sandra (first meeting), Rosemary, Amil, Phoebe, Jody
A) Campaign updates and debriefs
1. Islington Stop Harper Canvass report (Ben)
Involved LeadNow and Toronto350 people
31 pledges to vote strategically
Above average, for the number of people who they had involved
Lessons learned: people hesitant to give out food, so much was left over
Signs were not good (lined paper)
2. Open Streets Toronto report (Ellery)
The Open Streets Festival is car-free on Bloor and Yonge, promotes healthy lifestyles
We had games which attracted lots of kids
Lessons learned: signage and promotion (we should have had a 350 banner there), flyers were out of date
Fancy booth not necessary, but could do better on advertising and promotion
About 70 people stopped by
We could make a life-size version of the “trees and pipelines” game
Many of the adults who stopped by were interested in the election and the positions of the various parties
Some were interested in coming to Toronto350 meetings
Next time, we should have a way to collect signatures and email addresses from those attending.
For such hot weather, we should bring the canopy we own (which could also be decorated)
The 350 balloons have holes in them, and should be replaced
The possibility of wind should be taken into account when choosing signage
3. Give feedback on pipelines flyer for Liberal Party events
First set of political fliers - targeting Liberal Party
Designers are looking for feedback
Done last-minute, so about $0.50 each for double-sided and dual colour
Would be cheaper if done earlier, and at lower cost per unit if a larger number printed
Is this connected to greater involvement in the election by the 350.org mothership?
They are providing the framework and doing some publicity, but leaving events principally to local groups
The pipelines group is meeting tomorrow on the 5th floor of OISE at 5pm
Focus is on stopping Energy East
The design for lawn signs is still being finalized
4. Report from Monday’s Trudeau rally (Rosemary)
Location: Daniels Spectrum
Security people quickly recognized people who had been at previous rallies
Plan was to bring a photographer, elephant costume, and sign
They were searching bags at the door
It would have been possible to heckle, but security would have ended it very quickly
Is it possible to learn about these events with more notice?
Perhaps someone could volunteer with the campaign?
Suhail and Rosemary B. were identified by security people before even entering the event: “You’re the Energy East people”
At a previous event, we were allowed in the lobby. This time, the entire ground floor space of the building was reserved and nobody was allowed in with signs.
We need clearer information on what our rights are in these situations.
Can building security eject you, or only the police?
When holding a banner, handing out materials is too unwieldy
T-shirts may be the easiest thing, since it lets people keep their hands free
We need to get new people involved in these actions, who will not be immediately recognized
How people dress is important: look the part and you are less likely to be picked out
There is a training event happening on the 29th
Signs printed on cloth or plastic and folded up small could be hidden in places that won’t be easily searched
5. Debrief of 350.org local leaders call (Katie)
Aaron was on the call last week, and will hopefully report next week
Call consisted of local 350 leaders, mostly from the US
They are trying to focus more on solutions, which we have not especially done
Local-level solutions
Going into the fall, the Climate Council of the City of Toronto will be having a lot of town halls about city-level solutions
TCAN is also starting to do a lot of work on local city-level proposals
Stu has worked a lot with them on this
“Beautiful Solutions” website: https://solutions.thischangeseverything.org/
6. Ben wants to resend one-on-one sheet for people in ally group outreach
He will recirculate a how-to document on how to conduct one-on-ones with other groups
7. Toxic Tour Fundraiser Update (Katie)
This Sunday, we are co-hosting a fundraiser for the Toxic Tour on the weekend of September 5th
We are organizing buses to take people to Sarnia
Fundraiser would be to help fund a third bus, as well as music for the tour
Being organized by youth activists in Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Six musical acts will be performing at the Tranzac club
We need volunteers to help set up and run the event, at around 5:30 to 6:00pm
Posters have been designed and should be put up and circulated online
Right now, two buses are scheduled to leave on Saturday morning and arrive in time for the tour
Aamjiwnaang is hosting a dinner and music on the night before
Some Toronto350 people will be going in time for that
The planned 3rd bus is meant to leave on Friday in time to arrive for the dinner
If the bus doesn’t work out, Joe Curnow may be able to rent a big van to transport people who want to be there on Friday
There is still room on the buses for Saturday
They want people to register for the tour via their Facebook site: Canada’s Chemical Valley Toxic Tour 2015
There is another Facebook site for the buses coming from Toronto, where people should also register
The drive is about three hours, so the Friday bus or van would be leaving around 1pm
The Saturday buses are leaving about 7am
Can we budget $50 for snacks at the fundraiser?
Katie moves
Ellery seconds
Approved unanimously
8. Update from Stu re: Presidential remuneration, Policies and Hiring Committee
Donation policy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V1riuEou7jU_3XZhp0sEMSUChXOUh24hWI_oA9y1_Yc/edit?usp=sharing
Lyn spoke with Stu last night about calling in for this item
Stu sent out an email last week: “On forests, climate victories, policies and hiring the presidents” (14 AUG)
He wanted a few specific points shared with the group
Regarding the Donation Policy, Stu wants to withdraw the policy from consideration by the membership
The policy describes recognition of donations and what donations we would decline
Once the policy is adopted, we are expecting an increase in donations
In a comment on the agenda, Stu said that the donation and HR policy should go to the board for approval
Traditionally, everything comes to the membership, so the process here isn’t entirely clear
Can this be done via a motion? Or does someone want to adopt a motion calling for the membership to be able to consider these policies?
Katie: Maybe it should go to the board eventually, but the membership should still vote on it
Suhail had the same sense, but it conflicts with what Stu is proposing
In a phone call with Milan, Stu was very clear that he didn’t want him to discuss this policy at this meeting
If the membership does nothing, is the policy automatically adopted as Stu said?
Katie moves that we vote on adoption of the policy
We would expect the board to review the policy subsequently
The draft policy has been circulated several times
Stu’s comment on the agenda: “Because this is not something that many of the members desire to be involved with or have invested sufficient time to be able to make an informed decision (and do not wish to do so), and after giving time for the members who wished to do so to weigh in on the policy, the policy now rests with the Board. The board wishes to review it, and will do so at its leisure. I do not think this should be discussed tomorrow, and think it would benefit the group to focus on working on campaigns and the many other important things that require the group’s attention.”
There is a risk of the membership and the board reaching different conclusions, if they both vote on this.
Do we need to vote on approving the draft before it goes to the board?
Does anybody second Katie’s motion?
Ben wants to speak against voting on this
He hasn’t read it, and thinks others in the group have not
He would prefer for it to be considered by the board first
In this organization, the membership has traditionally voted on things and sent them to the board
This is a pretty basic donation policy. It lays out how we as a group would go about accepting donations, by means of a proposal being presented and a vote
This came up because there is a company that wants to give us money
The policy is meant to allow the membership to have input into how we get donations
This donation has been pending for some time now ($500 / month)
People who haven’t read the draft policy should consider not voting
Katie: Anything that goes to the board as a proposal should be approved by the membership
Joanna: “I am confused about whether we should vote on something where the person who put it on the table has explicitly asked us not to discuss this or vote on it at all”
The policy has been discussed
Suhail put it on the agenda as an item to be discussed and voted on as a major proposal
Stu has proposed that we withdraw it from discussion, but that it be adopted anyway
Suhail is unclear about the appropriate procedure here
Options: send this as a proposal to the board, adopt the policy and send it to the board, or do neither
No motions have been seconded so far
Only delegate members would be able to participate in any vote: not those who are at their first meeting
Lyn’s attempts to contact Stu by phone have not been successful
Is there a second to Katie’s proposal to adopt the policy as-is and forward it to the board
Seconded
People can propose amendments or call the question
Lyn suggests a friendly amendment: that we approve sending the donation policy as currently worded to the board for approval
Are we allowed to ask the board to review the policy within a certain timespan?
Since they are the highest authority within a non-profit, the membership cannot generally tell the board what to do
Could we approve the $500 donation directly, as a separate matter from approving the policy?
Could it be approved under the old policy?
That would go against the purpose of establishing this policy in the first place
The next board meeting is scheduled for the first Wednesday in October, but the board is considering meeting earlier to consider several issues
Further amendment to the motion: call on the board to review this as soon as possible
“When you say ASAP to the board, it means something different from when you say ASAP to you”
Vote on the motion
9 in favour
4 abstentions
Motion carries
Human resource policy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vhw4Z4RxhurrkPicC_RhIjDGyU8H4IpbJyrTDXwlqEM/edit?usp=sharing
This has also been circulated, and Stu also wants it to be not discussed but rather sent directly to the board for review
Motivation? People don’t care, this is taking too much time
People not clear on what the motivation for doing things this way is, especially given that the group usually functions differently
Katie — The HR policy is not on the agenda, though the donation policy was
Stu asked Suhail to read out the points from his “forest” email
This is also a values-based policy that people are encouraged to read if they will be involved in hiring
Stu wants the membership to no longer participate, but for it to go to the board and for it to be considered adopted if the board does nothing in a week
Suhail doesn’t think it is valid to consider board inaction as approval
Katie — Either way, we need to vote on the HR policy
Katie moves for us to vote on this policy, which has also been circulated for a long time
Contents: statement against discrimination in hiring, process for hiring decision (advertising, hiring committee, process for interviewing), statement regarding conflict of interest, statement related to rate of pay
The policy incorporates lessons learned from previous cases where we have hired people
Statement proposes that we not hire anyone for over 20 hours per week, but also says we should pay a living wage. These two statements are arguably contradictory.
If we vote to adopt this now, will the board still need to decide on it?
We don’t know what the board will want to do
There hasn’t yet been a meeting to discuss the policy, because Suhail could not schedule one
When is the next executive meeting? Making decisions this way could set a bad precedent
There is frustration about things not being voted on, but there needs to be an approach in place that we can use in the future
There is a motion on the floor (unseconded) to treat this in the same way as the donation policy
How does Katie want to word this motion?
“As a proposal to the board”
Seconded
Suhail suggests an amendment: remove the section about not hiring someone for more than 20 hours per week, because it conflicts with the conception of paying a living wage
Current draft text: “Toronto350 is committed to reducing over-consumption and over-work, and in keeping with principles of frugality, we strive to ask for no more than 20 hours per week from any staff person, or 30 hours per week during exceptionally busy periods. We prefer to hire more people than to ask for more time from a smaller group of people.”
The pay would still be $15 per hour, even though it’s part time. It would still be part of a living income with someone who is also working part time in another way.
Do we want to say that we will essentially only hire people part time?
Would it be better to have multiple part time people or fewer full time people?
Katie seconds Suhail’s amendment about removing this text
Are we all clear that this will need to be approved by the board subsequently? Yes
A recent CCPA paper said that Toronto has a living wage of $18.50. If we are concerned about paying a living wage, should we use that rate?
We paid $15 per hour for our most recent contract
The HR policy originally included the $18.50 rate, but was amended by Stu after discussion
There was discussion around this definition of a living wage being based on someone with a car and a family of a certain size
Does anybody want to call the question?
Lyn moves that we change the wage rate in the policy to $18
Does Katie want to incorporate this as a friendly amendment? Yes
Proposal now: forward HR policy with the endorsement of the membership, with two changes
Replace: “Toronto350 further commits that all staff positions will pay (at least) $15 / hour.” with “Toronto350 further commits that all staff positions will pay (at least) $18 / hour.”
Remove text regarding maximum hours
Joanna: Regarding process, this came up at an Innovation Meeting and was voted on there — setting the level at $15
The exec voted on this, so a different procedure needs to be used for changing this
Take backsies?
How does that work? Membership voting to send something back to the exec for reconsideration
Does take backsies apply to executive meetings? Or only innovation meetings?
Would we be recommending that the Innovation Committee hold another meeting to reconsider this — “long, drawn-out process”
Was this an exec decision or an innovation decision?
Joanna thinks there was a vote to hold that meeting as an exec meeting, not an innovation meeting, because they didn’t want people to be able to take it back later
Can meetings be partially exec and partially innovation? Yes, but that meeting wasn’t
Does this obligate us to use the $15 level?
Has the executive approved the HR policy in full? No
The discussion was only about $18.52 versus $15 versus minimum wage
The majority vote was for $15
Should we withdraw the amendment about changing the rate to $18
If we vote down the whole proposal, it will not go to the board
Since the $15 rate was set at an exec meeting
Suhail — We really need to figure out how this stuff works: what can be decided by the membership and what cannot be
Proposal as it stands now: forward this proposal to the board with the approval of the membership and with the text about 20 hours per week struck
Seconded
Amanda HS calls the question
13 in favour
3 abstentions
Motion carries
Hiring committee
Meeting to happen this Friday (the 21st) at 1pm Toronto time to discuss the hiring of future presidents and associated logistics
Suhail was asked to tell everyone that if they want to be on this committee they should email and text Stu at 647-235-2322
Who is the chair of this committee?
Normally, chaired by the Operations Coordinator, but Suhail wasn’t informed when this was scheduled
Will those who show up decide?
Suhail doesn’t think hiring committees can be formed without a vote of the membership, so this committee does not have a mandate to act
Lyn — “This is irregular and not in right order”
There has to be consultation about timing with those who want to be on that committee
Ben, Sam, and Amelia Rose have indicated interest so far
Anyone else who wishes to take part can
Should the meeting be rescheduled to a time that Suhail can attend?
Last time there was a hiring committee, the meeting was just announced to the membership, not voted on
This is when Jody was hired for the march
Suhail did chair
Lyn — We are getting into bigger hiring decisions, so the meeting should happen at a time when people can make it
Joanna — Alternatives to this committee were proposed, such as having the Finance Committee consider the feasibility of whether we can afford to hire any people now
This was suggested to Stu by Joanna and Milan before Stu chose the Hiring Committee approach
A Hiring Committee may not be the best mechanism to deal with the issues at hand
Whichever committee considers this, a member of the board should be included on the committee
Katie — “None of these things are on the agenda, so I don’t know why we have spent an hour talking about them.”
Suhail disagrees
Lyn — If someone is proposing items for the agenda, they should be present or provide a written report
Suhail isn’t clear on what this committee may or may not be empowered to do
Lyn proposes re-scheduling via a Doodle
Ellery — A Hiring Committee may not be the best approach, since it seems to presuppose that we will hire / pay people
Not everyone agrees that a Hiring Committee is actually the best choice
Joanna moves that we do not have a Hiring Committee on Friday “because that body is not a recognized body”
We should add to the agenda for next week the formation of a committee that will consider these issues
Question called
10 in favour
0 opposed
3 abstaining
Motion carries
Katie has to leave — asks that all her subsequent items be struck from the agenda
Break-outs cancelled because people are absent, there is little time, and there is a pipeline meeting tomorrow
C) Overview of campaigns for new people
Five campaigns: Divest U of T, Stop Energy East, Divest the OTPP, Build Pressure before the Paris COP
Energy East will be having 6pm meetings on Monday, which will also be accessible via Skype
Are there committees aside from the campaigns?
Amanda Lewis is in charge of both the Communications Committee and the Health and Motivation Committee
Lobbying meeting with Jen Hollett recently
Sign up if you are interested in future such meetings
D) Volunteer opportunities (10 mins)
1. Write article ready for Energy East rejection — Ben
First Nations people who are being accepted by the NEB are starting to get notice
People who get rejected should start finding out soon
We are accepting 300+ people to be rejected because they only want to talk about climate change
We will need to reach out to the media immediately when this happens
Ben circulated an email asking people to write op-eds and blog posts
Some nice critiques have already been published: http://hamilton350.blogspot.ca/2015/05/economist-robyn-allan-withdraws-from.html and https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/sites/all/files/NEB%20Transmountain%20Hearings%20Withdrawal%20-%2012.08.15.pdf
2. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan meeting at 4pm on Friday — Amelia Rose
Biggest pension plan in Canada
3. Full day direct action training — Ben and Rosemary F.
From 10am - 4pm on August 29th
Seven people have signed up so far, though the capacity is 60
Angela Bischoff from the Clean Air Alliance will be sending an invitation to everyone on our list
Food Not Bombs will be providing food for up to 40 people for $40
If someone with a car could help transport groceries it would be good
4. TransformTO Survey
Possibility to launch Divest Toronto campaign?
City Climate Committee — Survey
Takes about 15 minutes, and feedback will be incorporated into the city’s climate plan
We are thinking about a campaign for engaging with the city on divestment and other issues
E) Events and other announcements
1. Announcements
TO350 Materials List: please update the spreadsheet so we know where materials are.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ntXmU-o6v8eYED7gzjlHdjrLgZd3PWPV4edtIQuxuZw/edit#gid=0
2. Events
Keep Hydro Public Rally — Thursday @ 3:30
200 Bay Street, RBC Plaza
Send any events to be advertised via TO350 to Amanda Lewis by next Thursday
COP Actions Planning Call - Suhail Barot
Climate Action Pledge for candidates (Lyn)
Big launch on October 1st
Climate Fast is leading on this, with the support of 350
Contact her if you are willing to help: lyn.ad...@gmail.com
F) Next meeting
Chair: Ben
Minutes: Rhys
poli...@toronto350.org
Toronto350.org planning meeting minutes: 2015-08-25
Present: Ben, Ian, Michael, Yusuf, Amelia Rose, Katie, Aaron, Rhys, Emmay, Lyn, Cathy, Bronwen, Tali, Milan, Marilyn, Rosemary B, Ellery, Amanda L., Amil, Ezra, Amanda H.-S., Sno Cubb, Sylvia, Paul
Chair: Ben
Minutes: Rhys
Welcomer: Ben
Introductions, welcome and climate report
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign updates
Debrief--Toxic Tour Fundraiser
for Sep. 4-5 tour to Aamjiwnaang First Nation
120-150 people attended
8 performers
made $750
included donation from CUPE 3902 and website donations
--also, Toxic Tour itself.
new 3rd bus is leaving on Friday (for the night before the tour)
dinner being put on by Aamjiwnaang
camping
sign up for bus on Facebook and Toxic Tour Reservation Page (Bus - https://www.facebook.com/events/922747637781452/) (Tour - http://aamjiwnaangsolidarity.com)
2 minutes each
Pipelines
Meeting yesterday
Lawn sign design sent around
“Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground” approved
Finalizing flyers
Starting lobbying candidates
Going to start canvassing around Sep. 11
Reply from NEB on Energy East expected soon
working on media campaign
pitch to journalists who’ve written on energy issues
call out for connections to journalists
Divest U of T
Update
getting ready for frosh
outreach to get more students
developing alumni strategy
possibly getting them to call into President Gertler
possible alumni letter/more substantial asks
possible collaboration with Jeff Rubin
he will write op-ed
tied into alumni strategy
Call for submissions to U of T
working on draft letter
COP21
step up can update
working with Climate Fast to get candidates to take pledge
lots of signups from Green, NDP, some Liberals
want Trudeau and Mulcair to sign
release of results on October 1
trying to get prominent people to fast
Transition to post-election strategy
push to get climate into leader’s debates
working with Avaaz to get petition
developing humorous short videos
hoping for 3
“Fun”raiser tomorrow in Kensington
“A Date with Destiny”
storytelling night
$10 online/$15 at door or comp ticket from Emmay
Divest OTTP
Met last Friday
No long term plan yet
working to respond to OTTP acquiring oil and gas mineral rights
spent $3.3 billion
invested in Cenovus
Might do labour day parade
Group Decisions
New proposal (not major) Solidarity Squad--Katie (5 minutes)--Volop
get calls for action from local social justice groups
goal of March was to create networks between climate and social justice and frontline communities
people interested in responding to attend rallies, events, pass petitions with other allied groups
form email list
can also work on articulating the connections between climate action and a just transition and other struggles
Upcoming actions--need to decide whether to participate--Sept 26th Day of Action, November 29th Marches. --5 minutes Discussion.
important few months coming up for climate
group should decide where to plug into
big actions with unified messages globally
350 (especially 350 Canada) are not very plugged into these events
they are having a teachin
could have a live broadcast
Sep. 26 - 3 Days of Action
Solutions-focused
November 29
beginning of COP21 conference in Paris
biggest thing in Ottawa, maybe something complementary in Toronto
people are doing walks in other parts of the world
could do something similar
Blog writing party after next tuesday, laptops, red-room
be ready for NEB rejection
1. Invitation for toronto350.org to be co-presenter at Planet in Focus--5 min. discussion
environmentally-focused film festival Oct. 21-25
we would help promote the movie
would get our logo associated with that
“Wrenched”
about Edward Abbey and the Monkey Wrench Gang
Engagement with City of Toronto Climate Committee--Katie (3 minutes)
Committee is having series of townhalls (expert panels) in the fall
Sep. 24 7-8:30 Innis Town Hall
asking people to weigh in on climate mitigation and adaptation
feedback to be funnelled to City staff
have a survey up for people to fill out (https://cityoftoronto.fluidsurveys.com/s/TransformTO/)
look for a place in the survey to plug divestment from fossil fuels
Toronto Climate Action Network wants to start engaging with the City
may be opportunity for us to launch City of Toronto divestment campaign
Possibility of our own roundtable
Research on other cities that have divested/how their investments work
Discussion about Communication styles and processes that avoid conflict
5 minutes for the pie chart - simple explanation (and in this case we have a conflict about information, what information is relevant (COI) and how to understand that info) as well as values, interests, structural and relationship dimensions to the conflict.
15 minutes - to look at p. 3 and 4 of the styles handout - styles strengths and weaknesses, styles under stress, and how to flex to another style. I would not do the full bit that we do in a training which involves people figuring out through a q'aire which style they are - but I would explain how styles is, in my view, making the current conflict worse (escalating) and how it could be shifted to a path of understanding. My point is that judgement or questioning people's commitment is not the way to go with a conflict, but we should be figuring it out and building understanding - and agreeing on process steps.
reviewed sources of conflict
information conflicts (misinformation, etc.)
interest conflicts (conflicting needs/objectives)
structural conflicts (unequal power, etc.)
clear/not clear structure
relationship/communication conflicts (strong emotions)
mediation is helpful
personal/value conflicts (want different things)
reviewed people styles
they all have things to offer
can clash with other styles if positives are not acknowledged
how to flex to people with different styles
Major proposals
Major Proposal--Accept TSSN grant to give remuneration to co-presidents. --Katie will introduce (vote following week). Please allow for 15 minutes of discussion.
Exact compensation details--ie: number of hours/week, wage/hourly or stipend, whether to commit to fundraising more money for this purpose, method of evaluation and reporting for co-presidents shall be discussed at an innovation meeting called for September 3rd to which all members are invited. A recommendation from that meeting will be brought back to the membership. If approved or amended that recommendation can then be passed on to the next board meeting (currently called for sept.10).
Major Proposal
1. a) To accept the grant money from TSSN of $10,000, to be used (as applied for) to compensate co-presidents over a six-month period starting at the beginning of their terms in the fall (exact date tbd).
b) Exact compensation details--ie: number of hours/week, wage/hourly or stipend, whether to commit to fundraising more money for this purpose, method of evaluation and reporting for co-presidents shall be discussed at an innovation meeting called for September 3rd to which all members are invited. A recommendation from that meeting will be brought back to the membership. If approved or amended that recommendation can then be passed on to the next board meeting (currently called for sept.10).
Stuart applied to grant without following major proposal process in June
led to concern over whether to accept or not
did a presentation to membership a month ago
led to Innovation committee meeting where it was decided that much information was missing
much information has come since from granting body
Katie declares possible conflict of interest
since she stands to be compensated should she be elected in the fall
does not preclude her from being in meetings
she will not vote
Pair-share discussion
Feedback
What kind of precedent does this set?
Granting body doesn’t create one, but there would be one internally
Are there conditions to accepting this money?
Granting body is flexible both on whether we raise the extra money, whether it’s a wage/stipend, etc.
Process of having Toronto350 employees? Evaluation process?
Title should be considered
confusing to say co-president are also employees
could be coordinators
leaving executive as an unpaid role
method of evaluation/reporting will be discussed by innovation committee
unpaid person with “President” title should also be evaluated
Asked for job description at last innovation meeting
to know powers, roles
President has no more power than any other member
not on board
Can membership override board decisions?
Who’s chairing meeting?
Already exec meeting on that date, could be turned into innovation meeting
Could money be used for campaign purposes instead of payment?
Grant was for paying co-presidents, could possibly contact them to ask
Sustainability issue
will decide how much work future presidents can put into organization
no other proposals put forward for dealing with this sustainability issue
Lyn chairs discussion of this major proposal
At Tuesday meeting next week
Should we vote to accept the money before innovation committee has decided on the terms of use for the money
Possibility of using next week for discussion, then innovation committee, then voting in two weeks (Sep. 8)
answers to questions will be given to membership before vote
Can questions be put somewhere for people to read before next week discussion
also Lyn can know people’s considerations
Katie will send out Google Doc
Board will make final call. This is, in effect, a recommendation from membership
Motion to incorporate Divest Ryerson as a Toronto350 campaign. Rules surrounding Toronto350 campaigns would apply to Divest Ryerson.
Ryerson has applied to be a campus club, will be funded eventually
Concern that few details have been provided, or who is involved in the campaign
Students at Ryerson are trying to get Ryerson to divest
similar demographic to U of T Campaign
Should be able to be fully-funded once it becomes a club
hopefully 2 weeks
Detailed proposal will be circulated
Volunteer opportunities
Divest OTTP labour day
To hold banners, hand out things, etc.
Shadow outreach (Ben)
Volop--someone to run new people pub night
Katie will help organize
Good for people interested in becoming Volunteer Coordinator
Next meeting’s Chair: Tali
Minute taker: Aaron
Welcomer:
Events and other announcements
Announcement: Keep it in the Ground Panel Discussion and Linda McQuaig is Right Facebook Page (1 minute)
2. Event: Black Lives Matter Teach-In--tomorrow, August 26h, 7PM "A Different Booklist" 746 Bathurst.
On Monday, July 20, 2015 at 10:46:55 PM UTC-4, pres...@toronto350.org wrote:
Amanda Lewis
Toronto350.org planning meeting minutes: 2015-09-01
Present: Ben, Aaron, Brian, Snow Cub, Michael, Jo, Milan, Mica, Amelia Rose, Lyn, Amanda HS, Ellery, Amanda Lewis, Marilyn, Amil
Chair: Ben
Minutes: Aaron
Welcomer:
Introductions, welcome and climate report
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign updates
Pipelines
● T-Shirts have been made (“Energy East=Climate Change”)
● Canvassed with Leadnow near Islington Station on Sunday
● Ordered lawn signs (“Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground”)
● Canvass for Energy East Sept 10
● Greenpeace warehouse confirmed for Artbuild Sept 13
Divest U of T
● Draft letter for submissions update?
● Frosh planning mode for next week. Student Union printed a couple thousand pamphlets to stuff in Frosh kits. Made postcards to send to ad-hoc committee on divestment. Students are going to write personal messages on them and send them in.
● Model letter is ready to go to send to Faculty Association to send to members, First Nations House. Deadline is Sept 30
Divest OTTP
● Response to OTTP’s acquisition of oil and gas rights update
○ A couple productive meetings were held, but there’s a need to go bigger. There was some modest success in the spring getting divestment on the agenda for the meeting set up by managers for pension holders. But there was also a huge slap in the face when the fund invested $3.3B in mineral rights in lands owned by Cenovus. Cenovus has said it would allow them to exploit the oil in the tar sands that they own.
Other updates
● Art Build - we made t-shirts! (Amanda)
● Unist'ot'en Camp update (Amanda)
○ NW BC. Defending territory from pipelines encroaching from several companies. Non-violent, land-based resistance. Threat of RCMP raids. They’re allegedly camped out in nearby towns. But people in the camp are continuing with the fight. Several members of our group are there. Police haven’t raided. Anxious atmosphere. RCMP might be tiring everybody out as a tactic. Did a fund raise for them in August.
● Sheila Watt-Cloutier Talk (Aaron)
○ Inuit environmental activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier published a book this year The Right to be Cold and was in Toronto to discuss it in August.
○ The presentation was wide-ranging: Watt-Cloutier shared life experiences from her early childhood, the traumas of residential schooling, and her leadership role as International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council during which she was instrumental in signing the Stockholm Convention preventing the manufacture of persistent organic pollutants that bioaccumulate in the Arctic food chains.
○ She sees parallels between these pollutants and the climate crisis. In both cases, distant pollution is experienced most severely in the north and both threaten Inuit health and cultural survival.
○ The arctic climate is the one under which Inuit culture has existed and thrived for thousands of years, and Watt-Cloutier describes it as an educational institution where people learn a variety of invaluable life skills through cultural practices adapted to the environment. Hunters, for instance, learn not just to hunt, but also to develop patience and the ability to make decisions under pressure. To put it in terms that non-Inuit people of the south can comprehend, she asks them to imagine all post-secondary institutions suddenly beginning to crumble.
● 350 call-in (Aaron)
○ North American local chapters of 350.org had a call-in in August. We know what 350 is saying no to. There is a push to encourage chapters to add “solutions” to their campaigns.
○ We know what 350.org chapters are saying “no” to. Solutions are what we’re saying “yes” to.
○ Some examples from the call-in:
■ Los Angeles has been doing solidarity work for the past year with labour groups in an attempt to build a “just transition” narrative. This has included securing a $15/hour minimum wage, thinking about job training for a post-carbon economy to encourage workers to move into those sectors, particularly as jobs are lost due to automation and fracking offers employment.
■ Massachusetts: Raised the cap on amount of energy that can legally be provided by solar. Solar companies would try to enter an area where people wanted solar energy, but couldn’t provide it to them.
■ Bay Area: Organizing to support Senate Bill (SB) 350, which will make 33% of energy from public utilities come from renewable sources.
■ Global Day of Action website to see more
● Yes In My Backyard Festival (Amelia Rose)
○ Tabling of different groups across issues. Including programming like walking tour of the space or do creative workshops or whatever you want. Workshops and programming. Group wants to get involved in tabling. Being held at Ryerson on Halloween.
○ Put on by Shape our City
○ Do we want to do it?
● One on One’s Plan (Ben - 5 minutes). Ben will send this out for comment and wants to try.
○ https://docs.google.com/document/d/12X7UY8ZcttrQ6TB4VV32IQiO1AWCAp3GQx9DboDEPhk/edit?usp=sharing
○ please comment!
● Facebook event for the Lecture (in camera)
● Report on the non-violent direct action training on Saturday, Sept. 29 led by Maggie Helwig and Lyn Adamson
● More than 20 people attended the basic NVDA training expertly led by Maggie and Lyn. The attendees included several TO350 members, as well as people from churches and other organizations across Toronto and elsewhere in Ontario. Lyn and Maggie covered the theory and practice of NVDA, examples of successful and inspiring actions they've been involved in over the last several decades, and how to anticipate and deal with fear and/or anger during an action. They led us through three practice action scenarios, and answered all of our questions about how to carry out an action, the legal implications of various types of involvement and why NVDA can be an effective way to make change. The feedback was unanimously positive and almost everyone who attended the training would like to become involved in planning future NVDAs; Rosemary F. will send them an email to set this up.
Ezra De Leon from Toronto350 and Food Not Bombs provided invaluable help in the shopping for and preparation of the lunch, and Sylvia Grady and Amelia Rose Khan also helped with the food preparation at Friends House on Friday night. The $100 subsidy from Toronto350 covered the cost of the food and some of the materials for the workshop such as the aluminum containers for the food.
There will be another direct-action training session, this one from 1-7 p.m. on Sunday, September 20, led by Dave Vasey and another expert in NVDA. It will be held at the Steelworkers Union hall on Cecil Street and the cost again will be $10 and will include food. Can this information be sent out to TO35 members? They should RSVP to me at frei DOT rosemary AT gmail DOT com.
● We would like a $113 subsidy from Toronto350 to cover the rental of the room at the Steelworkers on Sept. 20 (I'll give Ben a copy of the email showing the cost of the room rental).
Major proposals
a) Incorporate Divest Ryerson
Proposal: Incorporate Divest Ryerson as a Toronto350.org campaign the same way Fossil Free UofT is a Toronto350.org campaign.
Who is Divest Ryerson: Great question! Right now Divest Ryerson is mostly made up of myself and students in the Urban and Environmental Sustainability program. Many of us know them personally because they went to the Hart House Farms retreat with us. You can see pictures of them on the Divest Ryerson facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Divest-Ryerson/401648180002358?fref=ts
Why does Divest Ryerson want to join? All the Divest Ryerson people I know admire Toronto350 and the work we do. They want to be more plugged into the Toronto Climate Activist community.
What would Toronto350 gain: Divest UofT right now contributes tremendous person power to Toronto350. Half of the Exec including myself got involved because of Divest UofT. Adding Divest Ryerson would diversify our pool. We would also gain the right to book rooms at Ryerson for our events and meetings. The people Divest Ryerson signs up would go into our nationbuilder, which could be useful when we sign up profs and people who may donate to Toronto350. Divest Ryerson contributed volunteers to our Sit-In at Joe Oliver's. CESAR, the part-time student union, regularly endorses external events and may blast their list for major mobilizations we do that Divest Ryerson supports. That's an extra 10,000 people we could reach.
What would Toronto350 give: Right now Divest Ryerson is applying for RSU club status. We will get it and recieve $500/semester, which should meet our needs. The only cost Divest Ryerson may ask for is support with printing outreach materials before we are approved as an RSU club. Once we are approved as a club we should be able to get funding from the RSU and Sustainability Commission. We also don't have a website and wish to set up toronto350.org/ryerson as a link so we can send people to a website.
Why haven't we seen Divest Ryerson people: Well, you see me every week. Divest Ryerson is now made up of 4 active people who have been pre-occupied with getting Divest Ryerson off the ground. They mobilized Ryerson people for the March for Jobs, Justice, and the Climate. They want to get involved in more than Divestment though, and think they could be a strong, useful bridge between Toronto350 and Ryerson.
Discussion and Results
Ben will talk to Joanna about coordinating funding with 350 if they are going to incorporate because when we set up the five campaigns, we decided all revenues of all campaigns go into the central coffers of Toronto350.
Comment from group: We need a formal structure because we are open to auditing. Their reporting right now would be to send receipts to Joanna. They need receipts for incomes as well as their expenditures.
Question from group: Do we know who Divest Ryerson is targeting?
A: Goes through Board of Governors because Ryerson has never divested before
In Favour: 10
Abstention: 1
Group Decisions
● Divest Ryerson - $150 for Frosh printing - literally just petitions and flyers.
In Favour: 10
Abstentions: 1
● Emergency Unist’ot’en action budget - We expect Unist’ot’en to face RCMP siege imminently. We thought of supporting an action by using large strips of fabric to embody the two-row wompum. We are contacting indigenous activists to let them design the action, but feel that it would be better if we had pre-approved funds to give them support such as for materials or a speaker system. Ask $450.
○ Discussion and Results
■ Q: Is anyone responsible for media?
■ A: Yes. Might reach out to reporters, but we need suggestions for which reporters might cover it.
■ One strategy for finding reporters would be to Google to following in order to eliminate search results from the Toronto350 website itself:
● toronto350.org-site:toronto350.org
■ Motion Passes
● In Favour: 10
● Opposed: 0
● Abstentions: 2
● Three by-elections coming up.
○ Development, Communications, and Fundraising co-ordinators stepping down. By-election in 2 weeks.
Grant proposal discussion
a) Context given by the facilitator
b) Quick open discussion
c) Each member present given space to speak in order
d) Facilitator’s Summary of Discussion
a) Context (Facilitator):
A major proposal for a $10,000 grant came up in July. A variety of issues have come out about it. We dedicated time tonight to talk about the proposal. On Thursday the 3rd, there is an innovation meeting. Questions brought up tonight will amalgamate and will go to board for recommendation.
Stu is stepping back from duties as President. He put in 40 hours per week, which he was able to do because he had a well-paying part-time job. He found a grant to pay people to step into that role. Turned into 2 positions of 20 hours/week. Tresanne and Katie were chosen as future co-presidents according to a vote.
Ours is a bit of an unusual situation, and that’s probably where the bad feelings come from. Non-profits typically have a non-paid board that makes decisions and paid staff who don’t make decisions. In our situation, the paid exec does make decisions. Conflict of interest comes up around decision making. We’d be paying people who make decisions. In other non-profits, they’d be “coordinators,” but not part of board.
b) Open Discussion from Group:
Speaker: There was a decision to incorporate as not-for-profit federally. Legally, the board is responsible for everything. But the process of incorporation is incomplete. We haven’t satisfied reporting requirements, financial practices aren’t up to standards, constitution not in line with by-laws yet. Lots of internal thinking has to happen within group if we want to continue at this incorporated level. We have to work out how we’ll reconcile our democratic approach with legal requirements.
Question: The board is legally responsible. Usually boards are for broadstrokes, not day-to-day. Is that the case in our situation?
● Answer 1: Toronto350 is a grassroots organization with a board. Governance of a non-profit usually has an unpaid board and a paid staff. Do we want to stay all-volunteer, hire people occasionally, have coordination that’s paid but stay largely volunteer otherwise, or have a large paid staff as an NGO?
● Facilitator: None of us have to make a decision tonight.
● Answer 2: Some additional information about the board. We’ve never had formal legal advice on anything. This is an amateur interpretation of the Not-for-Profit Act. Based on that Act and guides, the board is legally responsible. Has to maintain functions according to act. Structures have become subordinated to board. A structural reform that could be considered is making general members’ meeting a decision making body.
Question: What motivated us to become incorporated?
● Answer: There were two motivations
a) We could raise more money and access funds we wouldn’t otherwise be able to
b) Being simply a U of T club was too restrictive. Toronto350 is meant to represent the whole city. The U of T club meant a lot of members who had joined couldn’t technically be members if they weren’t at U of T.
Question: There will be a vote on whether to accept grant. What is the alternative. If we voted not to accept, how would things continue now that Stu is leaving?
● Answer: We wouldn’t have the 40 hours/week set aside. Our coordination would suffer or we would get more effective about delegation if we don’t accept the grant.
Question: If we decide not to accept the grant, how will it accept our relationship with the granting body?
c) Go-Around: Comments from Individual Members
Speaker 1: We should have concerns about what precedents this sets. What if we’re not in financial position to pay people a grant in the future? Should we make the decision on whether to pay the grant this time non-binding on whether we pay co-presidents in the future?
Speaker 2: It is an unusual situation. It would make more sense if we didn’t pay presidents but paid coordinators in the same way we paid one in preparation for the March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate.
Speaker 3: Does the work of keeping us in line with our legal requirements have to fall so heavily onto the President? We could delegate better instead. Where have the 40 hours per week been going? That part could be more transparent, not because I distrust what the President says about the hours, but so we can see if we can delegate those hours better. Should the president have to spend all these hours singlehandedly?
● Comment in reply: A lot of the 40 hours seems to be communication. The President seems to be a necessary part of the process for getting a lot of things done.
● Speaker 3’s reply: Can communication be made more efficient, then, if that’s what’s taking so much time? But if the grant is going towards labour, then the money is useful. If it allows people to put more time in that’s good. On a further note, I have concerns because this whole process has been full of conflict and uncomfortable.
Speaker 4 [read from an email from member who couldn’t attend]: The proposal to pay the presidents $18,000 [$10,000 in grant money + $8,000 we would have to raise] would commit us to spending all money we raise in donations over the next year assuming they stay at consistent levels, meaning no monthly donations go to campaigns. If our income grew, would all our money go towards paying those two people?
● Comment in reply: I thought we don’t have to contribute anymore. Can’t we take the 10,000 without contributing $8,000?
● Comment in reply: The modification to take the $10,000 without an $8,000 contribution hasn’t been made to the proposal yet. That would need to be done Thursday.
Speaker 5: The process we use is more important than the decision we make. There are two matters to think about
1) Do we want to be an incorporated non-profit? Working with senior decision makers has been really difficult and unpleasant. I’m not feeling the support and benefits that incorporation was supposed to mean.
2) It has been our policy with the exception of a couple tasks to be an all-volunteer organization. The biggest thing to come out of this process so far is the level of conflict. So we need to consider whether paying officers in the future will trigger this again. We need to consider staying 100% volunteer to prevent this.
Speaker 6: Why did we incorporate? It might not be working for us. This question of incorporation has been coming up a lot. Professionalization of NGOs is really problematic in terms of accountability to grassroots, of power, and use of resources. Incorporation is maybe not in our best interests and I’m wary about going down this path. We’ve spent too much time talking about structure and pay. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Speaker 7: We have to decide on whether we’re going to continue to be all-volunteer. That’s the bigger conversation, bigger than the grant.
Speaker 8: There’s an issue with perception about who is paying not who is paid. Our decision-making structure is already less than ideal, and this is making it worse. There are ways to be incorporated and to make general members be the decision makers. That’s not the case now, so we might need to rewrite the constitution to do that. Throwing in payment at this point might dedicate us to a structure we don’t want. Being incorporated is fine as long as we retain a general members decision-making system. If we’re going to be incorporated, then it requires a different structure.
Speaker 9: When there was something contentious in other meetings of other NGOs I’ve been involved with, it was handled simply. If consensus hadn’t been arrived at, then it would be tabled. No change was made.
I am concerned that some donors won’t contribute unless they can write it off on their income taxes, which might require incorporation. At the same time, creating power structures might lead to people taking shortcuts and becoming more controlling.
Speaker 10: Does the grant have to go towards paying people? If a firm plan for a campaign were presented, could that grant fund that plan?
● Comment in reply: To do that, we probably couldn’t accept this grant, but might have to apply for a different one.
Speaker 11: Lack of involvement and participation might be because everyone is overwhelmed. Feels like there is no introduction of new and supplemental roles or just a reconstructing of organizations. So we need to be more transparent about everyone’s involvement, fulfilments and expectations. That way no one will be overwhelmed.
Speaker 12: This grant was introduced with the best of intentions but there have been unintended consequences that have not been beneficial. [The member described a past incident in which having the support of Toronto350 as a non-profit entity helped enormously in the planning and execution of a Toronto climate event. To protect anonymity, the details have not been included.]
The idea of paying someone—will it continue? The money has muddied the water. That can’t be good. I really like the idea of whether we can organize so that we can pay for extra effort as we did during March for Jobs, Justice, and Climate. A hybrid arrangement would be great if possible. Money helps, but the question is how do we get it and how do we use it?
Speaker 13: I’m really grateful for this grant. It’s a large amount—$10,000—given to a small organization. I’m thankful for those who stepped up to get it. I’m also grateful for what it exposed: Transparency in our group. It highlighted that our identity is still being decided.
But we’re not working through this as a group. I’ve felt as though exec members have criticized or stayed silent (bearing in mind that silence is valid), but at the same time, they have not contributed to solutions. There have been problematic side discussions. That’s not working through things as a group. There’s also been calling of people’s work habits and character into question. That’s been really stressful. I’m really concerned with how things have been muddied and with the accusations.
It’s too soon to incorporate. If we step back from it, what then? In the last year, the process of incorporation is slowing us down. People come to meetings wanting to get involved with the climate cause, but we’re bogged down in process. Incorporation is not meshing with our identity. This grant could help us get ahead by rewarding volunteers. We’re not rewarding our volunteers. Exec work is hard. The rewarding does not need to be monetary. People put in a lot of hours.
We got the grant thanks to the vote and the transparency. The granting agency valued that.
● Question: A matter of clarification: The granting body appreciated how the co-president selection process was working so they offered money because of that?
● Answer from group: They might have invited us to apply for the grant because they were impressed by that transparency.
Speaker 14: I very much appreciate our process and transparency. As a group, things will become harder as we get bigger. Should a constitution have the potential to work if it’s modified and quickly? If so, let’s go for it. But there are so many factors that have to be considered. If we benefit from doing this, we’ve moved ahead. But we may lose people as a result of this conflict if they can’t live with what the group decides. There still needs to be some modification.
d) Facilitator’s Summary of discussion:
· Side conversations are not the way to deal with conflict. It should be done in decision-making bodies
· People should not be harmed in the process
o Last week, we discussed sources of conflict.
§ Information
§ Structure (A factor here)
§ Values
§ Relationships
· Due to incidents and feelings of having been disrespected
§ Conflicting interests
· Conflict happens in groups. That’s normal. The thing is how do we deal with it. There aren’t just two options. The job of the meeting on Thursday is to figure this out. Report back to the group next week. Did you come to consensus? What were the results?
· In a group, you have to balance between outcomes (climate change) and psychological interests (the need to feel engaged and respected. Process has to feel fair and transparent). That’s all part of how people experience conflict. If you get a satisfactory result, that’ll let the group move forward.
· Personal styles: Some are extremely expressive, high energy, high vision. Some people are careful, thoughtful, and need the process to be right. Some care about people and are here for the group. Some people are all about the task. A healthy group has all of these and uses the best from all of these styles. You have to come together. We have our step-by-step process now. That allows people to step back and disagree respectfully.
Question from the Group: Are there places to submit questions after this meeting to the innovation committee?
· Answer: lyn.adamson9 AT gmail DOT com
Question from the Group: What would a non-incorporated group look like? What were the other options? Can we explore them before we go into the meeting? It makes the meeting more productive. Is there a better way to entertain the questions before the meeting so we have options before the meeting? Can someone work on this tomorrow, on developing options?
· Sylvia volunteered to explore these options and send something to the group.
· “Grant Options” email going out to active members.
Volunteer opportunities
Next meeting’s Chair: Ellery
Minute taker: Amanda HS
● September 3 - Innovation Committee Meeting (re: paying co-presidents)
○ Friend's House, 60 Lowther St (1.5 blocks north of St. George Station)
● September 29 - Direct Action Training by Rosemarie and Lyn
Amanda Lewis
What would Toronto350 give: Right now Divest Ryerson is applying for RSU club status. We will get it and recieve $500/semester, which should meet our needs. The only cost Divest Ryerson may ask for is support with printing outreach materials before we are approved as an RSU club. Once we are approved as a club we should be able to get funding from the RSU and Sustainability Commission. We also don't have a website and wish to set uptoronto350.org/ryerson as a link so we can send people to a website.
● September 20 - Direct Action Training led by Dave Vasey
On Monday, July 20, 2015 at 10:46:55 PM UTC-4, pres...@toronto350.org wrote:
Amanda Harvey-Sanchez
Introductions, welcome and climate report
Attendance: Lila, Alex, Aunders, Stu, Fiona, Lyn, Milan, Sam, Marilyn, Dawood, Amanda L, Joanna, Amelia Rose, Amanda H-S, David, Dix, Katie, Sno Cubb, Suhail, Michael
Chair: Lila
Minutes: Amanda H-S
We are all Treaty people on indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle Island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign Updates and Debriefs
Pipelines: Lawn signs have been ordered, we are launching an electoral strategy in Scarborough Centre - a swing riding - to make climate an election issue, Toronto350 Voter Contact Training--Wed + Friday Sept 16 + 18th, 7-9 pm, also phoning volunteers to ask them to get involved in our election strategy
Step Up: working with Climate Fast to get climate into candidate meetings, campaign meetings every Wednesday at 7pm - contact Emmay for more information
Divestment: frosh outreach: tabling at Graduate Students’ Union Intro Fair, Kinesiology Frosh, Clubs Day, Street Fest; strategy session Thursday the 17th, 6:30-7:30, OISE, elections Monday the 14th at 7pm, weekly meetings for first semester will be Mondays at 7pm, OISE room 11-115; call for submissions - model letter has been circulated to a few email lists
Group Decisions
Upcoming By-election
There will be a by-election for Fundraising, Communications and Development Coordinators on Sept 15th.
Descriptions can be found at http://www.toronto350.org/governance
These are the shared Exec Responsibilities (please read them out):
To frequently participate in Planning Meetings or read the minutes.
To participate in Exec Meetings.
To check exec email accounts twice a week or more.
Potentially create a core group of volunteers to work in your committee.
Develop your own skills.
Work on avoiding burnout.
Develop other people in the group.
Ask for support when needed, and support others when they ask for it.
Pro-actively look for gaps in the group to fill, and ways to improve the group.
Encourage someone to shadow you, and train them in the position.
Complete a transition document before you leave the role, to smooth the transition for the next person who enters the role.
Stu: I propose we rename and change the mandate of the Development Coordinator (this can’t be decided now, it’ll have to be changed at the by-election, if members/the people running think it’s a good idea) as follows:
From: The Development Coordinator oversees Toronto 350’s outreach strategy in terms of social media communications, crowdfunding and liaising with individual donors. The Coordinator will sit on the Outreach Committee as well as co-chair the Development Committee with the Fundraising Coordinator to establish an organisational development strategy.
To: The Social Media Coordinator oversees Toronto 350’s outreach and engagement strategy for social media communications. The Social Media coordinator will sit on the Messaging Committee, and will work to ensure memes and posts are frequently created and distributed on social media.
I also propose the Media, fundraising, and Comms roles are changed (again, to be decided on at the by-election) as follows:
From: The Fundraising Coordinator shall manage relationships from organizations and institutions who donate to Toronto 350, as well as reach out to such parties. The coordinator will co-chair the Development Committee with the Coordinator of Development in order to establish an organisational development strategy, as well sit on the Finance Committee in order to collaborate with the Treasurer to establish budgets.
To: The Fundraising Coordinator shall oversee all fundraising efforts. This includes managing recruitment of individual, organizational, and institutional donors, as well as maintaining relations with these parties. The fundraising coordinator will chair the Development Committee in order to establish an organisational development strategy, as well sit on the Finance Committee in order to collaborate with the Treasurer to establish budgets.
From: The Communications Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for communication within the organization. Their primary responsibility will be to coordinate the compilation and dissemination of information to group members on upcoming events. The Communications Coordinator shall chair the communications committee and coordinate with its members to schedule content for bi-weekly newsletters.
To: The Communications Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for communication within the organization. Their primary responsibility will be to coordinate the compilation and dissemination of information to group members on upcoming events. The Communications Coordinator shall chair the Messaging Committee and coordinate with its members to create consistent and frequent communications with group members, the media, and the public.
From: The Media Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for communicating with media outlets on behalf of the organization. The media coordinator is responsible for promoting campaigns and activities to the media and for managing media relations. The Media Coordinator shall chair the media committee and coordinate with its members to compile a press contact list as well as to review all releases before they are sent out.
To: The Media Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for communicating with media outlets on behalf of the organization. The media coordinator is responsible for promoting campaigns and activities to the media, for managing media relations, for creating a press contact list, and reviewing all releases before they are sent out. The Media Coordinator shall sit on the Messaging Committee.
De-Growth Collective Partnership Proposal: Alexandra Simpson--10 min. description and question: Alex is interested in the role of the arts in the activist/climate movement, Alex is using interviews from her degrowth project that she conducted in Spain to form the ‘degrowth collective’ which will be exploring issues in degrowth using performing arts; there will be a performance in late May/early June, looking for ways to collaborate with TO350, possible location for the performance is the Evergreen Brick Works
would TO350 be a partner in writing a grant for the project? Open to discussion, it could be a collaborative partnership
Google Drive Proposal: Ben--10 minutes Can we have one google drive to organize the TO350 campaigns, information about past actions etc.
We already have some folders but they are not organized, anyone with a TO350 account has access to these folders - clean up is much needed - Stu, Katie and Ben are admins and can give others access to folders
Ben, Stu, Amanda and Lila will work on creating a TO350 folder
we should also work on updating the website - people run for communications coordinator!
on the topic of storage, Katie has a lot of TO350 stuff and she is moving so if people can volunteer to take some things that would be great
Request to send out email blasts inviting people to orientation + volunteer events--Sam (3 min) We need to be careful to not send out too many email blasts - while many proposals are amazing we should try and group asks together to not spam people
Sam will send the request to Amanda Lewis and she will send out the blast
Major proposals
Voting on the Grant
Vote 1:
Recap of reasons for this vote: this grant was applied for without proper process - membership was not informed, we are now voting on how to proceed
Discussion: maybe we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to other organizations? who does Stu believe that he reports to? Stu: the membership, the executive, the board
How many hours does Stu spend/week for TO350? Would you go back to that at some point Stu: as of a year last May, I quit one of my part time jobs and worked 30-60 hours/week for TO350 (volunteer), can’t say at this time that I would come back to the role or that level of time commitment
Would Stu be able to pass on his knowledge to the co VPs? Stu: Yes, passing along information, contacts, ideas
Is this money really a stipend? It may be a stretch to call it a stipend; the way Stu originally intended this as a way to enable people to pay for basic expenses while contributing to TO350
*discussion without people with COI*
Clarification: when we say not pay officers we mean executive, we can still hire people for other tasks
it is worth recognizing the time Stu has put into TO350, we should not assume that there will be another person who is able to commit the same amount of time - concerns raised that without paying people to put in the same amount of time, TO350 will be unable to continue at the same level as before
reasons to be all-volunteer: this process has been the most difficult time in the group and would likely be difficult in the future, why pay some officers and not others?, paying co-pres would reinforce the notion that a huge amount of responsibility is on the president - we should be working on how to better delegate tasks
people are curious about how Stu spent so much time in his role as president; we should be better organized to be more efficient and not let so much work fall on one person, if we accept the grant, we need to make sure the money is used for efficient and effective work
the intention of having two co-vps was to better spread out the work of one president - even without pay
we have not decided how much executive power to give the president - are they leading or guiding the membership? conversely, we have money and this may enable us to amplify our capabilities and so the grant may be a worthwhile investment regardless of the form it takes
we have high turnover at TO350, if we accept the grant we should work towards being sustainable after the ‘contract’ ends
concern raised that this discussion has been very conservative and fearful, Katie: this job is a lot of work, nobody has ever asked me that, lots of meetings, required thinking outside the box, Stu has done more work than the membership realized, Stu is the only president who has secured a grant for the organization
if we pay co-presidents, would this discourage/demotivate volunteers from being involved? they would see the co-presidents getting payed 20 hours/week and themselves getting nothing for 10 hours/week (for example)
maybe we should view this grant as money for the co-presidents to use to develop a better delegation model; the problem with this is that that is a very expensive delegation model
it might make more sense to pay a staffer rather than co-presidents; we could apply in the next granting period for this
two advantages of option B: we no longer go through this painful process, by accepting the grant we maintain a good relationship with the granting body
it should be noted that it’s not a bad thing for people to do lots of work
let’s affirm that we are making a difficult and democratic decision
We will vote using a ranked ballot system
Full report of the discussion by Lyn
Decline the grant, commit to never paying officers in the future (stay 100% volunteer, as far as the executive goes)
Accept the grant, but commit to never paying officers again (take the money on offer, but avoid going through all this process in the future)
Accept the grant, do not decide now about whether or not to pay officers in the future
Accept the grant and commit to paying presidents in the future
Result: tie of 6 votes for A and 6 votes for C
Second vote result: 6 votes for A and 5 votes for C; the membership votes for A, this is its recommendation to the board, the board will make the final decision. It is noted that this vote occurred after 9pm once some voting members had left the meeting.
Vote 2 (if we decide to accept the grant):
Use the $10,000 from the TSSN to pay co-presidents for just under 11 hours per week for 25 weeks
Commit some of our resources to pay them for more hours
8 for A, 4 for B.
Break Outs
New People Break out
Volunteer opportunities
Organize Ontario is having a training on Sept 13th. Please contact CaitlinA if you are interested in attending (Stu).
Be on the monthly 350 North America call, Wed at 8pm: Please register for the call here. It will focus on 350.org's fossil freeze campaign. We're pleased that 350.org's Duncan Meisel will join the call to brief us on this exciting new campaign. We'll also get more details and updates regarding the September 10th "Off + On" event & livestream, as well as the September 26th "Power through Paris" workshops.
Digitize ~35 oil train petition signatures (Stu).
Get materials for the art build this Saturday (Ben)
Come to the Art Build this Saturday at 3pm at the Greenpeace Warehouse (10 Busy Street)
HELP PIPELINES CAMPAIGN DEFEAT HARPER
Events and other announcements
Pipelines, Climate Change, and the Election: Toronto350 Voter Contact Training--Wed + Friday Sept 16 + 18th, 7-9 pm
Bill C-51 Protest Sept 12--Request for Toronto350.org to participate. Possibility of getting a table..Interest?
Food Justice Day of Action Sept 12--Jane and Finch
All Candidates Meetings/Debates: From Rosemary B: Catholic Voice is holding 3 candidates meetings that will have a strong climate change focus:
The Catholic Voice† voters’ education group will host all-candidate meetings for several Toronto ridings between September 13 and October 4. These meetings will include:
Sunday, September 13, 1:30PM – Don Valley East & Don Valley West
St Bonaventure Parish, 1300 Leslie Street, Toronto M3C 2K9Saturday, September 26, 6PM – York South – Weston
St Bernard de Clairvaux, 1789 Lawrence Ave. W., Toronto, M6L 1E3
Sunday, October 4, 1:30PM – Spadina-Fort York & University-Rosedale
St Patrick’s Church, 131 McCaul Street, Toronto M5T 1W3
Sept 29th: There will be an all candidates meeting (St Paul's Riding) focussing on the intersection of climate and democracy. Location: Toronto First Unitarian Congregation, 175 St Clair Ave West (at Avenue Rd)Time: 7 - 9 PM
Green Pachttp://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=75269a84af55792a8e18fa98a&id=25000b1081
APPRECIATION w/Amanda L
we will be upstairs next week
Next Chair: Sam
Minutes: Lila
Lila Asher
Toronto350.org planning meeting minutes: 2015-09-15
Present: Sam, Lila, Monica, Milan, Jean, Amelia Rose, Marilyn, Lyn, Vive, Miriam, Alex, Ellery, Tali, Amanda, Rhys, Stu, Amil, Rosemary B, Jade, Snowcubb
Chair: Sam
Minutes: Lila
Welcomer:
Introductions, welcome and climate report
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Update from the Board
Toronto350’s Board has made a decision regarding the presidential grant. Some of the Board will be in attendance to explain this decision. (30 min)
Emergency Meeting Last Thursday: written statement, summary--
Accept Grant, find sources of funding to pay Pres and possibly add’l ppl
Not top up funds
No election for Co-VP, there will be only one VP who will then become P.
REASONS:
Turnover makes things challenging, we need a stable core. The Grant will help ensure stability by supporting the president and other key roles. This is an opportunity for us to grow and accept our identity as a major player. The president is an important role, and compensation can help them deal with the workload. This will help enable talented persons to step into the role. Payment is not uncommon in non-profits, and commitment to paying people should help stop the issue from being drawn out in the future.
Questions:
**Who Are the Board Members: Jean, Monica, Milan, and 3 other members not present (Brandon Fenton, Heather Milton-Lightening, and Dmitri)
**The next board meeting will be in October, so they can discuss things that we bring to them!
**Has Tres agreed that she can take on the whole job of VP: Yes, she has.
**Why are we not having an election for President when Stu leaves, is VP automatic, was there a previous decision to have another election: according to the board’s understanding, there is not going to be another election. If someone can find in the minutes etc an intention to have another election, then we should have that in order to not bypass process that we have previously agreed to.
**How are we handling the paying part, technicality-wise: we have to amend the bylaws about paying staff, Dmitri is a lawyer but is prevented from giving advice because reasons. The board is in the process of getting the bylaws amended and getting appropriate advice from treasurer, accountant, etc., to make sure that the bylaws are legally up to par.
**What are we committing to in the future--we are committing to paying key roles, at least setting the intention of paying them, but we have to find out if we can do this, fundraising-wise.
**We can’t pay another VP right now because we’re not topping off the grant.
**The board didn’t want to make a firm commitment to paying presidents, but they did want to assert that President is an important role and should be paid, though that is not enforceable beyond the grant.
**Note that last week it was a split vote, and this is what the board thinks is best, because we need to make a decision on this.
**With the treasurer stepping down, how are we actually accepting the grant: Joanna is still functioning as treasurer until the election, and Stu has sent in all the forms about the grant, so the money should be going into our bank account soon.
**According to the options we presented last week, why did you choose D, since that wasn’t one of the top 2: because it’s similar to C, except it takes the conflict off the table by deciding things.
**The board would like the payments to continue beyond 25 weeks if possible.
THANKS BOARD MEMBERS :)
Campaign updates
Pipelines
Test canvass on Sunday
In the Annex. It was very successful for a short amount of time. We will see if it goes as well in Scarbs ;)
Scarborough orientation tomorrow, 7-9
30 RSVPs yayy!
Downtown orientation friday, 7-9 in OISE 5150
Please come! Help defeat Harper!
70 RSVPs yayy!
Update on election strategy
We are making a snowflake structure with team leaders, around the election, so that we can bring in as many people as possible for work on the election. Hopefully soon there will be voter outreach events happening many nights of the week because the election is SOON :0
Also, Rhys is sending out a survey to candidates, but they probs won’t answer because they’ll just send it to the party higher-ups, so we can just contact the parties. Sam has been in contact with Emmay, and so between pipelines and step-up there will be cooperation.
Divest U of T
Signed up 150 new people at clubs day
Also, 50 people at street fest. We are working on integrating all these new people at our new people meeting on Monday!
Meeting last night elected new roles
See FB page/campus email for details! I don’t feel like typing them again . . .
Strategy session on Thursday 6:30 OISE 11-115
A few people have written letters to the Ad Hoc committee. Milan has been working on getting quality submissions from people.
COP21/Step Up
Working on getting speakers in outlying areas to talk about climate change, also flyering, trying to collect climate people. Oct 15th in North York Civic Centre there is an event with candidates, in cooperation with Climate Fast
Divest All the Things
OTPP Divestment
OTPP AGM
More volunteers
Outreach to teachers
It’s hard to outreach to teachers, we need volunteers, there will be a high-scale action at the AGM in APRIL . . . however, April is rather far from now and in the meantime it’s boring. Rosemary has been talking to some teachers, and they seemed super sympathetic, but the beginning of the school year is a bad time to ask teachers to do anything. A few of them might join, but there is a widespread lack of knowledge. If we get the word out, teachers will help!
Fossil Free Futures
This is not a campaign, it should probably come off the agenda template.
Group Decisions
Lawn Signs (2 min): Take one! Suggested donation: $3-5
Jokes, this will be next week.
Can we work on list building? (5-10 min): Upon emailing the TO350 email list with invite to pipelines training, we immediately got 30 RSVPs. Here are some election climate sign up sheets and pipelines petitions. Bring them with you everywhere!
There are many people in our database who are on the list. Could we try and raise the number of people on the list? It’s helpful because people respond when you send them emails! JADE and SNOWCUBB will go to the Wednesday screening of TCE and get signups! We can make it an organizational norm to bring signups when we go places.
ROSEMARY and AMANDA and STU may have clipboards that you can borrow, or you can buy one because they’re cheap. The soft copies of the petitions will be in the google drive, we will send out access to the google drive with these minutes! Yay talk to more people about Climate Change.
Do we want to endorse the "This Changes Everything"" LEAP Manifesto? http://www.leapmanifesto.org/
It has been in the Globe and the Guardian, it’s really well worded and powerful. Rhys is going to read it out loud :) [discussion about voices that need to be heard] VOTE: 2 abstentions, everyone else in favour
We will try and get our endorsement of this published in media things
“Linda McQuaig is right: keep tarsands in the ground"
Panel, including Andrew Nikkiforuk (he’s an awesome anti-tarsands journalist http://andrewnikiforuk.com/).
Sept. 29th at Steelworkers, 7-9pm.
Do we want to have our planning meeting from 6-7pm and then go to this?
Katie has been helping to organize with a bunch of organizations. Will Toronto350.org endorse? Sponsor? ($100)?
This is an important event. We should go to it, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT’S HERE. So that would be mildly awks to NOT GO if it’s literally in the same building . . . Will it be ok to have a short meeting, especially because we have to present new exec structure stuff then.
MEETING WILL BE 5:45 FOR A 6pm START, SO WE CAN GO TO THE EVENT AT 7.
Worry about endorsing in case it’s seen as a political event . . . nah that will probably be ok, we endorse policies, not parties. All in favour of endorsing? Yes. Should we sponsor? Yes, all in favour, 2 abstentions.
YIMBY Toronto (2 mins) - (Contact Amelia Rose)
Register and pay for table online.
They have asked us to table on Halloween, it costs $35. We need to have someone table and register because you need a credit card to do so. We agree that we can do this, for $35, Amelia Rose can get in touch with Joanna to arrange this.
ELECTIONS **sidenote for laughs, I couldn’t find this on the agenda and got very confused :/ Thus the extra enters and colours now . . .
How are we doing this, constitutionally? We can like create these and disband the old ones and figure it out later. . .
Election for Social Media Coordinator (Sam is only one running) [unanimously elected]
Election for Communication coordinator (Tali is only one running) [unanimously elected]
Election for Fundraising coordinator (no one is running as of now)
Held off til the TGM. SNOWCUBB is announcing his intention to run for this at the TGM.
Transition documents (Stu)
For those who are leaving Exec roles, you should fill out this paper, Stu can send you a hard copy or a digital copy.
Health and Wellness Committee, talk to Stu afterwards?
Major proposals
Our Termly General Meeting will take place 3 weeks from now, on Tuesday Oct 6th.
There will be an Innovation/exec meeting on Sunday Sept 27th, that will discuss changing the group structure. This may result in us adding, removing or changing several of the exec positions. If you’re interested in running for an exec position, please consider attending.
The innovation meeting is open to everyone, at Stu’s place, at 6pm, contact him for address.
Volunteer opportunities
1 person: Help stopping spammers from attacking our site (and communication with NationBuilder support) (contact Stu)
1 person: Be point person with Cam for potential DA in the next few weeks, i.e. short time-frame (contact Stu)
Request for social media content: Sam (5 min)
(whenever you’re doing TO350 things, send Sam a picture of it)
Request for help facilitating breakouts at friday’s event (3 min)
Come 15 minutes early and we’ll talk about it, likely segmented by night of the week free
Enter data from election test canvass on Sunday night (10 names) [NEXT WEEK]
Giving out lawn signs at next TIFF screening on TCE (Wed 2 @ Bloor HotDocs, Fri @11:45 @ Tiff Bell Lightbox. The time is when the movie starts, run time=1.5 hours)
Rosemary will help with this because she has a car. Stu will ask Brian bc he has a car too.
Search for a task delegation tracker software (Stu)
Request for participants in ClimateFast’s Fast for Climate Leadership event on Oct. 1: Rosemary B. and Lyn (5 min)
Need to have a special event, a vigil perhaps, in front of Mickey Mouse’s office. 17 hours, 7am-midnight, to represent the 17 days left to campaign for climate policy. Climate Fast is organizing this, can people volunteer to come and fast somehow, and sign a pledge and stuff, for a few hours at any point. Can we endorse: YES! :)
1 person: Update the “Our Team” and “Governance” pages. (Stu)
1 person: Learn the administrative user controls and set up the new exec (great for anyone who is interested in running as Administrative Coordinator) (Stu)
Attend TCAN this Saturday, 2-4pm at CSI Spadina (Stu)
Attend a Climate Assembly (Stu)
Two little ones (Stu)
Also, the Munk Debate thingy, Amanda will be in contact
Next meeting’s Chair: Tali
Minute taker: Jade
Welcomer:
Events and other announcements
SHD.ca direct action training:
Another direct action training, September 26th, OISE 2286 details to follow
SUP: Community Building for Sustainable UnProfessionals
Thursday, September 24at 6:00pm - 9:00pm
TalkTransformation!
Events are being held in the City of Toronto to generate meaningful discussion about climate change and carbon reduction in the City of Toronto.
The events will feature innovative, knowledgeable speakers from a diverse range of fields, hosted by a member of the City of Toronto Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.
The first TalkTransformation! event will take place on:
Thursday, September 24, 2015, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm,
Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Avenue
Greening Sacred Spaces: GREEN CHOICES FOR FAITH COMMUNITIES ANNUAL FORUM
Date & Time: Thurs. Oct. 1, 8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Location: Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Drive, Toronto ON M1P 4N7 (McCowan Road and Ellesmere Road)
Registration Fee: $20/person or pay what you can. Includes a delicious lunch.
Jade Wong
Toronto350.org planning meeting minutes: 2015-09-22
Present: Tali, Cathy, Amil, Amanda, Milan, Katie, Matthew, Tresanne, Stu, Paul, Amelia Rose, Ellery, Alex, Jade, Miriam, Katie, Lila, Sam, Lyn, Graham, Ben, Snowcubb
Chair: Tali
Minutes: Jade
Welcomer:
Introductions, Welcome and Climate Report
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Campaign updates
Happy Anniversary of the People’s Climate March!
Pipelines
Election Day of Action on Oct 3rd (Sam/pipelines)
No update on it yet
Lawn Signs (2 min):
Take one! Suggested donation: $3-5
And let’s get them out, esp in Scarb Centre!
Thursday -- formed a new group to canvass in Scarborough
Friday -- pipelines/election training
Need to prioritize giving them out to people
Any birddoggers out there? Wanna write a blog or make a video? (Stu)
Rosemary and Stu went to Trudeau event; half the questions posed were about climate
Carolyn Bennett meeting -- Katie and Brian
Talked about pipelines, Justin Trudeau’s infrastructure plan, gave her a lot of literature to read up on, and seemed interested in it -- candidates don’t have the information on pipelines and are usually shocked at information presented to them
Divest U of T
Update on Monday’s meeting
Had our new member intro meeting with 37 people!
Eight days left in the call for submissions (ends September 30th)
Talk to Graham and Milan for more info
Graham and Milan scheduled a meeting with Tony Gray (President Gertler’s secretary) for Friday
Progressive faculty gathering at Tranzac on Thursday at 7pm - Can anybody go?
Contacts: Deborah Cowen <deb....@utoronto.ca>, Andrea Muehlebach <andrea.m...@utoronto.ca>, Judy Han <judy...@utoronto.ca>, Mariana Valverde <m.val...@utoronto.ca>, Bhavani Raman <bhavan...@utoronto.ca>, E. Natalie Rothman <rot...@utsc.utoronto.ca>
Deepening Knowledge seminar this Thursday at 7pm, OISE, Floor 11, Room 115
On teaching educators how to educate using Indigenous knowledge and teachings
COP21
- No updates
Divest All the Things
No updates
Group Decisions
http://peoplesclimate.org/ are planning a National (US) day of action on Oct 14th. This is just 5 days before our election. Is there are way we could leverage this day to further put the spotlight on climate in the election? (Stu)
Breakout (see below)
Oct 3rd is Nuit Blanche. Who wants to do something (unofficial)? (Stu)
Breakout (see below)
Messaging proposal: going easy on centre-left parties on social media and in general messaging for the next 30 days, and then taking a hard left on October 20th. (5-10 min depending on how controversial this is)
Sam: steer clear of bird-dogging centre-left candidates in order to elect a government other than the Conservatives, so that we can work with a government and civil servants -- essentially do not repost mothership’s posts criticizing all candidates’ environmental platform
Ben: focus on vote together tactics
Lyn: NDP needs help, numbers are declining; timing is key -- do the criticizing after the election
Milan: NDP and Liberal do not have a plan to meet the targets, media has a bad record of calling them out on their word
Graham: parties will not change their platform now
Katie: we haven’t been very critical on social media other than the bird-dogging of Mulcair, we’re overestimating our capacity and influence, wary of adopting a Leadnow strategy now
Motion: steer clear of bird-dogging centre-left candidates in order to elect a government other than the Conservatives, essentially do not repost mothership’s posts criticizing all candidates’ environmental platform
12 in favour, 2 oppose, 6 abstentions
Proposal for fundraising email around elections (Stu)
N/A
Who will bottom line lawn sign distribution? (5 min)
Katie: several events to give out lawn signs to; need people to manage coordination of events and how to get it to people as well as the events
Ellery: offered to drive signs to events
Lawn signs will be available at next Tuesday’s meeting! So come out and pick one up!
November 29th Day of Action--Launch of COP21--Do we want to participate? Ottawa or Toronto?
Katie: idea is to get thousands of people out to Ottawa, does 350 want to go to Ottawa/encourage others to go? Or stay and help with Toronto action?
Lila: coordinate with UofT350 to tie event with Divestment decision, which November 29th is the target date to get a recommendation from the ad-hoc committee
Lyn: better to organize buses to Ottawa
Amelia Rose: we don’t have to do anything except recruit people to go
Stu: for people who cannot go, you can make signs and
Ben: busing people to Ottawa relationship building
Katie: we should sit on this idea and decide when we have more info on the event
Major proposals
(Tali) Change the constitution to improve the use of volunteer time by eliminating planning meetings and doubling up innovation meetings to twice a month
This discussion has been moved to the Innovation Meeting
(Tali) Change the constitution to add Campaign Directors as executive positions elected by their respective campaigns
This discussion has been moved to the Innovation Meeting
Milan: also need to rewrite the constitution to fit with the by-laws
(Sam) Divestment campaign getting its own bank account so they can keep track of things: The UofT divestment campaign wants to get their own bank account to hold funds from campus sources. The finance coordinators for the campaign will manage the budget & reimbursements. All money from Toronto350 will be paid directly and not sit in the campaign’s account. This is:
Easier for the accounting of the campaign finance coordinators
Campus groups will be apprehensive to funding us if it goes to off campus accounts
There will be less to report and audit for To350
This is not allowable under Toronto350.org’s by-laws (Milan)
Alternatives? Separating U of T 350, switching to non-incorporated non-profit, others?
Milan: setting up this bank account contradicts Toronto350.org’s by-laws if the account is set up under Toronto350, UofT350 is really a separate entity rather than a campaign
Graham: UTSU gave UofT350 $2000 dollars, not Toronto350.org; we don’t have separate bank accounts for different campaigns, overlapping just means we can get resources from both places
Stu: opening of bank account can just happen, it is going by the group to to get a blessing
Ben: this doesn’t change anything, the campaign is still the same
Lila will bottomline the discussion that will follow
Volunteer opportunities
September 24th
All candidates debate--lawn signs distribution and petition/Flyer for Sept. 29th event
September 29th
Andrew Nikiforuk keynote panel. Table-petition and lawn signs distribution, happening here at Steelworkers from 7-9pm - our planning meeting will be from 6-7pm instead
September 30th
Environmental Defence Talk on Pipelines at Toronto Reference Library--tabling--lawn signs?
NationBuilder is updating, and will bring significant changes. It’d be good to have a few people play around with the new features, and then run a training for the rest of us. Contact Stu if interested in learning more.
Breakouts
October 14th Day of Action
Do a Stop Harper, Start Climate Justice action with a bunch of different groups across the city, interesting banner drops from interesting locations across the city
Nuit Blanche
High visibility and fun to do! Theatre piece with dinosaur
Health & Wellness
Three things to get started: health support (identifying issues with resources), having more fun (appreciation party), do some research avoiding burnout and high turnover
Deeper dialogue with sharing format
Munk Debate
Action for foreign policy debate, work with No One Is Illegal
Next meeting’s Chair: Stu
Minute taker: Lila
Welcomer:
Events and other announcements
Wednesday, Sept 23, 6:30pm The Air Up There
Thursday, Sept 24, 6pm Community Building for Sustainable UNprofessionals
Thursday, Sept 24, 7pm A Foray into the Food Industry
Saturday, Sept 26 Direct Action training at OISE 2286
Saturday, Sept 26, 10AM Understanding Toronto’s Ravines
Sunday, Sept 27, 6pm Innovation meeting at Stu’s house to discuss changing the
group structure (to be approved at the Termly Meeting)
Tuesday, Sept 29, 7pm Erasing the past, silencing the present
Wednesday, Sept 30, 6:30pm Pipeline Trouble: Saying No to Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
Thursday, Oct 1st, 8:30am Greening Sacred Spaces - Green Choices for Faith
Communities Annual Forum at Scarborough Civic Centre on McCowan and Ellesmere
Thursday, Oct 1st Day of Action - brainstorming session (Lyn)
Sunday Oct 4 & Monday 5 Provincial cap and trade training and lobby day (Lyn)
Tuesday, Oct 6th Annual Termly Meeting
TalkTransformation! Check out the site for a bunch of events to have a
meaningful discussion about the future of sustainability in Toronto
Sunday, Oct 11, 10AM Understanding Toronto’s Ravines
Tuesday, Oct 13, 7pm Fracking and its hazards for the environment
Things are missing. If you have TO350 banners etc, please tell Lila after the meeting.
All Candidates Debate Schedule:
Center, 79 Bramsteele Rd, Brampton.Sept 23rd - Mississauga Malton @ 6pm, Canadian Convention- Sept 24th - University-Rosedale and Spadina - Fort York @ 6:30pm, Miles Nadal Centre, 750 Spadina Ave, Toronto.
- Attendee registration required in advance. Go here to register.
- Sept 26th - York South-Weston @ 6pm, St Bernard de Clairvaux, event page.
- Sept 29th - Don Valley North @ 4pm, Seneca College
- Sept 29th - Richmond Hill @ 6:30pm, Langstaff Community Centre, 155 Red Maple Rd., at Bantry, event page.
- Sept 29th - Parkdale-High Park, Fern Avenue Public School, 128 Fern Avenue.
- Attendee registration required in advance. Go here to register.
- Sept 29th - St. Paul’s @ 7pm, First Unitarian Church, 175 St. Clair Ave. W., event page.
- Sept 29th - Beaches-East York @ 7pm, St. John's Norway Church, 470 Woodbine Ave., event page
On Monday, July 20, 2015 at 10:46:55 PM UTC-4, pres...@toronto350.org wrote:
Amanda Harvey-Sanchez
Toronto350.org planning meeting minutes: 2015-09-29
Present: Stu, Amil, Cathy, Merlyn, Lila, Tresanne, Elery, Amanda, Anna, Sheila, Boyd, Tali, Paul, Lyn
Chair: Stu
Minutes: Amanda
Welcomer:
Introductions, welcome and climate report
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Group Decisions
Innovation Meeting debrief (30mins) (Tresanne and Lila)
A new group structure, including executive roles and responsibilities has been created: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vc8LSElxYjki7LKVhn74FXGXeFjBgbt_ngCtWTK6ATE/edit#
Most of the strategic work happens in campaigns so it makes sense for campaigns to be fairly autonomous with a central exec to provide support and liaise with board and other organizations; proposed changes:
Replace Tuesday planning meetings with bi-weekly innovation/exec meetings – would help bring new volunteers into campaigns and give exec more time to discuss management; have quarterly general member meetings to elect members, discuss major proposals etc.
Establish five campaign leads as exec – would facilitate coordination between campaigns
Campaigns would be responsible for outreach, volunteer coordination, equity and reporting financial and legal information
Dissolve outreach, political operations and operations as central roles – would be done by campaigns instead; if a big event came up that required central organization in this capacity, committees would temporarily form
Establish communications hub: internal communications, website, social media, media ,creative (communications would be elected, portfolios such as social media and media would be unelected)
Establish volunteer hub: NB admin, welcome, trainings and education, health and motivation
Put fundraising under the responsibility of president because the president is paid and fundraising is an essential task – if and when we have enough funds, fundraiser would become its own role again and be paid
Suggestions and thoughts from group:
have regular social events where whole group comes together – maybe have social climate related events (eg. movie screening and discussion) every other week when innovation meetings aren’t happening
website will need to be updated to make all these changes clear – Tali will do this once she’s done at her job
people are used to Tuesdays being the time for 350 things, maybe we should make a point of putting socials on this day of the week
three of the five campaigns are tied to an institution (divest UofT, divest Ryerson, OTTP), people may not feel comfortable joining those campaigns so we should have something happening Tuesdays for these people to engage in
there will need to be a transition period – will probably take a month to implement this plan
we need to think about who will be responsible to planning socials on Tuesdays if we go that route
campaigns bringing their work to Tuesdays should not happen as it defeats the purpose of eliminating Tuesday planning meetings – Tuesdays will be for fun and education!
The document will be sent out to the members, deadline to comment will be next Tuesday at noon
Presidential responsibilities survey deadline Thur midnight
Election of President discussion (5mins) (Stu)
There is an irregularity between an exec discussion in May and a Board motion that passed in September.
From May 11th Planning Meeting Minutes:
The exec discussed and thought that a good way to move forward would be for us to hold a by-election on June 9th that would elect one or two Vice Presidents who would shadow him and train to become the President(s) to be voted in at the elections in Oct.
From Sept 10th Board Meeting Minutes:
Motion: There shall be no by-election for the position of co-vice-president. The current co-vice-president shall be vice-president from now on, and shall take over as president when the current president departs. (motion passed)
Some Board members present at a planning meeting in Sept subsequently said that they thought this was the original intent of the suggestion that had been made in May (to not hold a vote for president), indicating that they believed the intention was to create a smooth transition from VP to president.
Stu admits that his initial suggestion of having a vote for president in October was perhaps poorly thought through. The VP has received information, been introduced to contacts, and been trained by the president over the summer in preparation for this role.
Question regarding by-laws: is a vote for president even allowed, given the Board passed a motion declaring otherwise?
If so, do the members wish to conduct a vote for the position of president at the TGM?
Decision from members: no by-election for president
Volunteer opportunities
Oct 21, 7-9pm at St. Andrew’s Church - Ecojustice Presents: Environmental Rights from the Local to the Global. On October 21, join environmental rights activists, Ada Lockridge and Ron Plain, Ecojustice lawyer Margot Venton, and Ecojustice senior scientist Elaine MacDonald in Toronto as they discuss the environmental injustices facing residents of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation, located in the heart of Ontario's notorious Chemical Valleyand how the recognized right to a healthy environment could set Canada on the path to a brighter environmental future. EcoJustice is looking for a couple of volunteers to help with logistics. Register here. (Tali)
Nuit Blanche (Saturday) - contact Paul if interested in participating in an action with the dinosaur and black tarps
Oct 14th action
bring thank you cards for board members - Lila/Tali
Next meeting’s Chair: Lila
Minute taker: Jade
Welcomer: Amanda
Amil Davis
Toronto350.org Termly General Meeting minutes: 2015-10-06
Present: Lila, Rhys, Aaron, Amanda, Tresanne, Matthew, Elery, Amil,
Cathy, Leon, Alex, Amelia, Robert, Stu, Milan, Emmay, SnowCubb, Marilyn, Rosemary, Sam, Suhail, Katie
Chair: Lila
Minutes: Amil
Introductions, welcome, and Land Recognition (<1 min talk fast!)
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin!
Identification of eligible voters: those who can vote will receive a token of that ability.
Campaign updates--are not happening
Urgent Financial Update + Vote (Joanna, 7 min)
The accountant we have cannot legally sign a review engagement for our year-end financial statements, but he can complete a compilation which is seen as equal to the review engagement in the laws of Corporations Canada. HOWEVER, he can only complete a compilation instead of a review engagement IF the membership votes that a compilation would be acceptable instead. Again, a compilation and a review engagement are seen as equal financial documents to Corporations Canada, the only difference is who can sign off on them.
PLEASE HAVE A VOTE ON WHETHER OR NOT A FINANCIAL COMPILATION WILL BE ACCEPTABLE, and if not, then we need to find another account who is certified to perform review engagements (which may cost money). **
Our accountant can still perform our corporate tax filing though, and is working on this as well.
Motion to say that a financial compilation will be acceptable : Votes: For: 19 Opposed:0 Abstention: 0
Intro to Conflict Debrief Process (Tres, Lyn, and Henry, 8 min)
We need to decide on the process by which we will proceed with this.
Everyone has 5 minutes to write down:
On a scale of 1-10 where do you think the group stands now
Suggestions for Moving Forward
Rhys will compile answers and we will continue this discussion next week.
Constitutional Amendments (20 min)
- Discussion and voting on adoption of the proposed Draft Constitution v3.0 (Stu/Tres)
Toronto350.org was established as a UofT club. The clubs was created with UofT requirements. We created a shadow constitution to deal with the UofT requirements. The current constitution have bylaws that contradicts the UofT rules. Stu and Tresanne worked out a new draft constitution to be discussed and voted on.
Suggestions:
- Include text about executives learning the legal responsibilities of the board and working to support the board in meeting those responsibilities; this should happen before the next board meeting.
- Being an officer of a non-profit carries legal responsibilities. Execs should understand their legal obligations and the legal obligations of the board.
- Create an exec agreement that the exec should sign saying that they will learn their own legal obligations and the legal obligations of the board.
- Should the board draft the document outlining the legal obligations that the exc should know?
- There are concerns that the exec agreement may discourage people from joining the exec committee.
- We can have a by-election in the near future to establish an agreement for the execs to familiarize themselves with the legal obligations of the board and the officers of the organization.
Motion to adopt the constitution as outlined in the “Draft Constitution v3.0” document. For: 19 Opposed: 0 Abstention: 0
Discussion of Significant Changes to Group Process (30 min)
- Changes to the Executive Structure; see the Structure Proposal document
- New text for the duties of all the Executive
- Establish the Leads of the 5 Campaigns as Executive Positions [mc]
they will facilitate discussion between campaigns at exec meetings.
- Dissolve the following as central roles: Outreach Coordinator, Operations Coordinator, and Political Operations Coordinator.
More responsibility will be moved into campaigns so the aforementioned positions will be dissolved
- If members or the Exec decide to undertake an action outside a campaign, a short-term team may be created to handle the details of the action.
- Consolidate the following into a Communications Hub: Communications Coordinator, Social Media Coordinator, Media Coordinator, and Creative Coordinator.
- Following the model as above, create a Volunteer Hub, to be managed by the Volunteer Coordinator. Portfolios within the hub would include NationBuilder Administration, Training and Education, Health and Motivation, and Welcoming.
- Dissolve the Fundraising Coordinator role, and add Fundraising and Donor Relations to the President’s portfolio, since the President is getting paid [mc]
- Discussion on revising Presidential Role Description
See above Structure Proposal document (Presidential Role Section)
Roles should be a bit more flexible.
Since the president will be paid, the dusties should be a bit concrete.
Having a checklist of duties can stifle the position
Other positions have a list of duties so the president's position should be consistent with the other positions
The president can also delegate tasks to other members to ensure that the responsibilities of the position is being met.
Motion: To adopt executive positions as detailed in the Structure proposal document. Votes: For 23 Opposed: 0 Abstentions: 0.
- Discussion of what this means for Volunteers who aren’t in Campaigns, Theory of Change, ways to move forward with this POSTPONED
- How we are going to replace Tuesday planning meetings and associated topics [mc] POSTPONED
Elections (30 min)
- Procedure:
- Post papers for each position on the wall.
- Candidates will put their names next to the positions for which they want to run
- People can nominate others as well
- Sign up if interested in a position, even if someone else is running, as people might get elected to other positions and so remove the 'competition'.
- Starting with the positions that have the most interest/names:
- Discuss who is going for it, why they want to do it, what they'll bring, etc.
- Vote, by secret ballot only upon request
- People who don't get the position they are hoping for may add their names to other positions as the night progresses
- Positions:
- Treasurer
Ellery elected to position of treasurer. Votes: For 22 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Administrative Coordinator
Lila elected to position of administrative coordinator. Votes: For 24 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Communications Coordinator
Tali elected to position of communication coordinator. Votes: For 24 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Volunteer Coordinator
Katie elected to position as volunteer coordinator. Votes: For 25 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Campaign Lead, Divest UofT
Amanda Harvey-Sanchez elected to position of Divest UofT campaign lead. Votes: For 24 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Campaign Lead, Divest Ryerson
Ben elected to position of Divest Ryerson campaign lead. Votes: For 24 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Campaign Lead, Divest OTPP
Amelia elected to position of Divest OTPP campaign lead. Votes: For 24 Opposed 0 Abstention 0
- Campaign Lead, Step Up
Emmay elected to position of Step Up campaign lead. Votes: For 22 Opposed 0 Abstention 2
- Campaign Lead, Pipelines
Motion to postpone election for pipeline campaign lead until next by-election : For: 18: Opposed 0 Abstention: 2
- Do we want to vote for the hub Officers? (If time allows. Stu wrote this but doesn’t need to lead the discussion. This discussion can be postponed if time is short.) POSTPONED
- Disadvantages:
- Potentially reduces flexibility? Tho we can always switch roles around later.
- Removes the “power” from the hub chairs in selecting who they wish to work with.
- Advantages:
- Gives the electees a mandate that would likely increase reliability
- Gives the electees the knowledge that they were voted in and have group support
- Gives the group clarity on who is in the roles
- Gives the group the chance to decide who can be in the roles
- Allows them official status as Officers, instead of arbitrarily assigned titles.
- Hub Officers Include: Internal Comms, Media, Social Media, Web, Creative, NationBuilder, Welcomer, Trainings, Health
Other Business and Volops (13 min)
- Poster (Marilyn)
Can we distribute poster highlighting Canada’s GHG emissions and Harper’s ties to oil sands?
There are concerns that image on poster targets oil sands workers. Also, the information on the poster highlighting Canada’s GHG emissions is incorrect. Poster can be workshopped and corrected for the future maybe.
- Leadnow volunteer signup and request to blast list to support get out the vote (Ben)
- There was concern we are nonpartisan
- There was also concern that this might violate our obligations as a registered elections thing. It was affirmed that this would not do so.
- Post-election actions in Ottawa Nov 5-8th
- Save the date! www.climatewelcome.ca
civil disobedience action to welcome new prime minister at 24 sussex. Are we going to send people.; they want people who are willing to risk arrest. there will be training sessions before the actions. There will also be a march and rally for people who are not willing to risk arrest. Do we want to organize buses? Or buy a bunch of tickets (greyhound is currently around $30 one way)? Or rentals?
- Who wants to be involved?
- Who will bottom-line? Who will connect with Aurore/Cam?
Volop: Ottawa Bus Taskforce
- Discussion around an Oct 14th event (this was discussed in a breakout two weeks ago)
- What are people doing on election day? Where will people be on election night? Postponed
Events and other announcements (2 min)
- Workshop: How to Facilitate a Great Meeting, Date: Wednesday October 7th, Time: 6pm-9pm, Location: U of T email tools....@gmail.com
- Workshop: *IMPT*Avoiding Activist Burnout, Date: Thursday October 22nd, Time: 6pm-8pm, Location: U of T email tools....@gmail.com
- Workshop: Navigating Conflict Resolution, Date: Saturday October 24, Time: 1- 4 PM, Location: University of T email opirg....@gmail.com
- Workshop: Art for Actions, Stencils etc Date: Saturday October 25, Time: 1:00pm - 5:00pm, Location: 33 Cecil St email laura.s...@greenpeace.org
- Workshop: Feeding Groups for Change, Date: Sunday November 1, Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm (with a shared meal at 4pm), Location: TBC, email laura.s...@greenpeace.org
- Workshop: Winning Change at City Hall, Date: Saturday, Nov. 14, Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm, Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, email jessic...@gmail.com
- Workshop: Graphic Design Fundamentals, Date: Saturday November 28, Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Location: U of T, email opirg....@gmail.com
Next meeting’s Chair: Katie
Minute taker: Amanda
Welcomer: Tres
Milan
Chair: Tresanne
Present: Stu, Anna, Tali, Miriam, Katie, Robbie, Kathy, Katie K, Aaron
== 1. Climate news (30 min) ==
Liberal victory
* Losses among prominent NDP supporters
Events in the next few weeks?
* Ben organizing a Ryerson climate welcome for a likely incoming Finance Minister (Bill Morneau)
* What should our strategic response be to the Liberal majority situation?
* Do we coordinate at all with Cam Fenton / Canada350? No
[Amelia Rose arrives]
[Lyn arrives]
Other likely cabinet ministers?
* Christa Freeland?
* Kenora MP may be natural resources of aboriginal affairs
Divestment victories: Oslo, the UK Environment Agency, University of Surrey
Problems with FPTP
* Early, when calculating Quebec, Conservatives and NDP looked close, but there was a 15-20 seat difference between them
* NDP lost by narrow margins in many places
Reversal of Liberal / Conservative vote efficiency
* "The Liberals also had unexpected vote efficiency. They had the momentum, but the party did not seem to have the electoral map to give them 170 seats. In 2011, the party earned 82,000 votes for each of their 34 MPs, whereas the Conservatives needed about 35,000 votes per seat. In 2015, the Liberals were the vote efficiency victors, needing under 38,000 votes per seat. The Conservative requirement ballooned to 57,000 votes per seat, far higher than it has been in any election since before 2004."
* Possibly partly a product of strategic voting groups in 13 ridings
Joe Oliver defeated, in a riding where the NDP got only 1500 votes
2 ridings went NDP by 150-200 votes, against the Conservatives
* NDP did win in some places where they endorsed Liberals
Rob Ford now lives in a Liberal riding, while Stephen Harper lives with a left-wing mayor, NDP provincial government, and Liberal federal government
The LeadNow campaign has put together a big block of people to push for real electoral reform and climate action
* Campaign wasn't just about defeating the Conservatives
* 500K people in database
* Not totally clear what this campaign will look like
Oshawa went Conservative, even though the Liberals and NDP collectively got a lot more votes - Classic vote-splitting
* Other candidates lost by less than what the Green candidate got
Is there any reasonable prospect of electoral reform and proportional representation under a Liberal majority?
* Catch-22: would a majority government dismantle the system that elected them?
* They favour ranked ballots, which would be good for them
2007 Ontario proposal: mixed-member proportional
* The NDP was committed to this
* People would cast two votes, some geographically bound and others not
* Meant to make the vote share proportional to the seat share, by topping up seats for parties that get fewer seats than their vote share
* The number of people in the legislature would therefore be variable
With PR, you would probably double the Green vote by preventing strategic voting
* Could also let people distinguish between supporting a local candidate and supporting a party platform
== 2. Message from Ben ==
A bunch of high school students want to go welcome James Maloney in the Otobicoke-Lakeshore riding, and they want a $50 budget from us
Are there guidelines for the action? Are they getting direct action / legal training?
350.org has called for "welcome parties" for new members of parliament
Would happen this Friday
Use for the money?
* Receipts would be submitted
* Balloons for making it festive and friendly, maybe a "Keep it in the Ground" cake?
* Possibly subsidies for transportation
Are they getting direct action training?
* Not really a direct action
* Pre-agreed with the MP
Are there guidelines for the action?
* This is a lobbying meeting, based on talking points
* Objective of guidelines is mostly to alert everyone about the bounds of acceptable participation in the action
Are we going to organize anything similar in other ridings?
* Is the motivation here just that these particular students happen to live in this riding?
* Divest Ryerson is planning something similar at Bill Morneau's office, as he is expected to be Finance Minister
* Eglinton North is another possibility, but Ben won't plan it
Any objections to allocating them $50?
* It's likely to actually be less: $20 or so
* No objections
== 3. Quick updates ==
U of T divestment still working on the letter answering three questions for the ad hoc committee
* Will finalize and submit it soon, with input from Dimitri
[Rosemary B arrives]
== 4. Breakouts (45 minutes) ==
350 mothership is going to Ottawa to camp outside the Prime Minister's residence for November 5-8
* Planning to block streets, undertake arrestable actions
* Do we want to run buses up? Make banners? Assist otherwise
November 29th, 100% Possible Ottawa March (Tali)
* Do we want to Toronto350 bus? Suhail is working on this
* Promoting the event, filling the bus,
* Someone from the communication hub should take part
Group vision / theory of change
* Planning a workshop on this topic
Toronto action on Nov 29th
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Amelia Rose)
== [BREAKOUT] 5. Group vision / theory of change ==
Objectives: design of workshop, length, location, etc
None of us are familiar with this proposal
Presumably the aim is to discuss and refine the vision of this group and our theory of change
More specific than strategy sessions so far
Would we organize it using our internal resources, of bring in outsiders to help?
"System change, not climate change" -Implications?
To what degree do we agree internally?
* There are totally pro-capitalist and totally anti-capitalist climate change activists, probably including in the group
* We can't resolve it, but we need to consider
* The 350 mothership has been shifting toward a social justice / anti-capitalist focus
* LEAP manifesto; March for Jobs, Justice, and the Climate; $15 minimum wage; outreach to labour unions
Reasonable length of time?
* Precedents: Visioning workshop at Ryerson (5 hours long), strategy session at OISE
Including variety in exercises is important
Breaks at least every 90 minutes, and preferably more like 45 minutes
People have good memories about exercise for creating their ideal communities
People could prepare and deliver short presentations, like at Ignite! events
* Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD2z44kP36k
* See also: http://scottberkun.com/2009/how-to-give-a-great-ignite-talk/
Presentations could also be longer: 10-20 minutes
Main purpose of the visioning exercise was to establish the five campaigns
How would we address disagreement about our vision / theory of change?
* Find a way to work together, rather than split because we disagree
* Would affect what tactics we consider appropriate and where we want to spend our time
* Just support renewable energy, or want for it to be cooperatively owned?
* What about carbon capture and storage / nuclear as low-carbon options?
* What about confronting politicians versus the Citizens' Climate Lobby strategy of becoming trusted advisors
At present, marches can unite capitalist and anti-capitalist approach
* Pro-market: sees climate as a market failure and sees carbon pricing and the operation of markets as the solution
* Anti-capitalist: climate is a growth problem, and naturally produced by a capitalist system
Conceivably we disagree about objectives, strategies, and tactics
Volunteer management -Our main source of labour, but we have never seriously researched how to do it
* There is an academic literature, and accounts of other groups
* Dovetails with our theory of change -Using people well
Attractiveness of revenue-neutral carbon pricing
* Aids initial implementation, and makes rollback by a future government less likely
The "350" in Toronto350 is meant to symbolize an ambition
* Now over 403ppm
* Government carbon budgets often exclude unintentional and induced emissions, like from melting permafrost
* The number does stress our exclusive focus on controlling climate change
Whose idea was this? Do they have a plan?
* Anna, a bit, at the Sunday exec meeting
* Meant to be open to the whole membership: what do we think the mission/vision is/ought to be
* Give everyone a chance to give their input
* Disagreement will definitely happen, but you need to have a vision as an organization to build a movement
* There is basic agreement on some things: the group needs to be exclusive, we will take action in Toronto to build pressure for action
350.org may also have a problematic vision
* Lacks "guts"
* Should be something that lets you easily evaluate whether a set action advances your objectives, and where you can undertake this process in a democratic way
Not necessary to please everybody and come to a conclusion in one workshop, but a structured way to start the conversation
Would presentations make sense? On a whole theory of change? Or on aspects of it, like allyship
* Do you want to confront people with fully-formed ideas, before general discussion?
* Would let people who generally talk the most dominate, as self-selected individuals
Breakout groups
* Possible: allyship (being a continual ally, position within the broader climate movement); volunteer engagement and management; position on capitalism; climate justice; poverty, development, and climate change
* How do we feel about these things? Where do we disagree? How can we move forward?
* Is a capitalist society with technical solutions like mass renewable deployment, without de-growth or major political change?
* Integrating resolving climate change into a social justice agenda, versus approaching a cross-partisan consensus for action
* If we do feel differently about these issues, how will we work together?
Scheduling?
* Depends on how much preparation is needed
* Could be a Tuesday meeting
* Bottom liner? Anna will do it
We need to be able to deal with a certain amount of uncertainty
How definite about a vision do we want to be?
* We need to figure out what we can disagree on
* Would let us define what unites us, and what makes us diverse as a community
Meetings are action/bureaucratic focused
* New people don't know how it works and so don't have a voice
* We are experimenting with changing the structure of meetings: adding semi-social time, monthly workshops / education pieces, concentrate bureaucratic items in one monthly meeting
* People come to a number of meetings, but take on no actions
Operating as a non-profit constricts the options for how we can organize ourselves
* In part an issue of volunteer management - We need people to do the work which governance requires
Anna will send an email to members@ or active@ asking if people want to participate in planning this
== 6. Report back: climate welcome (Stu) ==
Stu to write email blast will go out about a possible convoy, Katie researching buses.
Research on accommodation - including billeting - is being done
Various art projects being planned, including: pictures of people for climatewelcome.ca website (collecting water from places which could be affected by bitumen sands pipelines); who you are taking climate action for; people holding a sign (we will provide a printable template)
* Expect an email in the next day or so (active@ list)
Uses for art: making a 5 foot high card plastered with a collage of these pictures; making a page-a-day calendar for Trudeau for the month up to COP21
== 7. Report back: communications (Katie) ==
How to draft an email and make an event on NationBuilder
Email about Ottawa event going to entire NationBuilder list tomorrow with sign-ups for buses
There are opportunities to table at environmental events
* Was a successful strategy for recruiting people for the Peoples' Climate March in New York
How many here might go to Ottawa on Nov. 29?
Being organized by a coalition - global day of action
There is a social media 'thunderclap' ongoing
* Has already gone out through @Toronto350
== 8. Report back: vision / theory of change ==
Have a workshop where everyone can contribute their ideas about what they believe the Toronto350 vision is or should be
* Possibly at a Tuesday meeting
* Bring out as many members as possible
Identify the five or so main themes, and then do breakouts to discuss those in more details
Going from vision to theory of change; objectives to strategy and tactics
A start to continued visioning
== 9. Report back: OTPP (Amelia Rose) ==
Largest pension plan in Ontario
Small committed group took part in the AGM, pressing them to divest from fossil fuels
Discussed ways to build support
Next meeting: 4:30 this Friday at OISE, 5th floor
Next pipelines meeting
* Strategy meeting on Friday, time not yet set
* "A big one"
* Katie will send an email about it to the members@ list
Planning meeting for Peoples' Climate Assembly: 7pm next Monday in Toronto
* Similar to the Peoples' Social Forum
U of T divestment meets Mondays from 7-9pm on the 11th floor, room 11-115
Step it Up Canada? Meeting time unknown
Divest Ryerson meets every other Friday
== 10. Group decisions ==
Deferred to next week
* Donation from Pure and Simple
* Whether to keep paying for Bullfrog Power
* Constitution text about execs familiarizing themselves with our legal obligations
== 11. Volunteer opportunities ==
Tali - Communications Hub
* Exciting new group
* Email her to join
* First task: looking over content on the website, reorganizing for simplicity
* Opportunity to learn NationBuilder
Milan - Health and Motivation
* Wants to start some systematic research on volunteer management
* If you are interested, please contact him
Tomorrow between 5-7pm, Ecojustice has an event teaching people about the work they do for youth
* Non-profit environmental law firm
* Representing people at the Unist'ot'en Camp
Board
* Write a posting for board election at Volunteer Toronto
== 12. Next meeting ==
Chair: Anna
Minutes: Milan
== 13. Forthcoming events ==
Forthcoming media and communications workshop - Saturday at 2pm
* Writing emails for all campaigns; making memes
* Information from the 350 training in Berkeley
* Location will be announced soon
Avoiding Activist Burnout - Thursday, October 22nd 6-8pm
* Email has circulated
* At U of T
Workshop: Navigating Conflict Resolution, Date: Saturday October 24, Time: 1- 4 PM, Location: University of T email
Next Mtg: Tues Oct 27th 7-9pm Steelworker’s Hall 25 Cecil Street
Tues Oct 27th 6-7 Something Fun (details to be sent by Lila)
Milan
Chair: Anna
Present: Leon, Milan, Laurie, Matthew, Snow Cub
By telephone: Stu, Tresanne
Agenda
1. Introductions, welcome, and Land Recognition
2. Quorum
3. Extended introductions
4. Donation from Pure+Simple
5. Bullfrog Power
6. Climate Welcome budget (minor proposal)
7. What to do about other items?
8. Upcoming events
9. VolOps
== 1. Introductions, welcome, and Land Recognition ==
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let's begin!
Quorum for an electoral meeting is 10
* Nobody attended the planned social event prior
Intended tasks: elect pipelines liaison, elect administrative coordinator, amend constitution
* Nobody from the pipelines campaign is here
* Nobody intending to run for AC is here
* We don't have quorum to amend the constitution
We have specifically decided to concentrate administrative matters into this meeting, and people have had notice
Matthew has completed the survey and is a delegate member
== 3. Extended introductions ==
Matthew's third meeting
Milan involved for about three years, mostly on divestment
Laurie has been wanting to come since July 5th, this is her first meeting
* Interested in being involved in the lead-up to Paris
* Informed about Step Up, Canada! and the Climate Welcome in Toronto
Toronto Climate Welcome — Ryerson350 and Ben are doing a climate welcome with the MP in that riding
Climate Welcome mostly Nov. 5–8 in Ottawa
At the end of November, there is a Climate Assembly
* Big action in Ottawa and Toronto on the 29th
* Amelia Rose and Bryan seem to be most informed about this, possibly Emmay and Katie
* Anna will put them all in touch
Leon involved since April, elected as Communications Coordinator at his first meeting
Anna has been involved for about the same length of time
Stu and Tresanne are in Chicago, in part to drop off Willow
== 4. Donation from Pure+Simple ==
Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XAiNPNrG-URkbm0Ia13PQsLTZFoRhVlC6JyzRFoCRCU/edit#
Pure+Simple wants to donate $500 per month
* Jean Eng is on our board
* Tresanne has met with her to discuss this
Meets the conditions of the Donation Policy
* The donation is not helping an environmentally irresponsible organization to appear green because Pure and Simple has built its business model to be environmentally responsible.
* There is nothing in accepting this donation that would make * Toronto350.org appear hypocritical
* Pure+Simple is not engaged in unethical activity related to climate change
* Pure+Simple is not engaged in unethical activity
* There is nothing about the donation that would corrupt Toronto350’s internal decision-making processes
* Toronto350 would have to be aware that the donation may stop at any time and when looking at our finances, Toronto350 would not become dependent on this donation
* There are no foreseen unacceptable legal obligations or repercussions to accepting this donation
Their logo would appear on our website
* Also: "I propose that we create an 'Our Supporters' page that would appear under the “About” tab in the navigation on our website. This page would be used to list supporters whom we wish to highlight, and initially would include the logo of Pure+Simple and a brief description. Other supporters could later be added to this page, as we desired. The 'Our Supporters' page would also include a link to a separate "Pure+Simple Supporter Profile" page (title TBD), which would include a bio and picture of Jean, as well as an expanded description of Pure+Simple. Additionally, it could include some extra images, and text to describe the history and supportive nature of the relationship between Pure+Simple and Toronto350. I have discussed this with Jean and she is open to this proposal."
Some concerned that the owner is a board member
* Could this be a conflict of interest?
Motion to accept proposal
* Approved unanimously
Who will make the changes on the website?
* Tresanne and Jean will produce the content
* Tali, Lila, and Tresanne are updating the website more generally
* Leon is also willing to help
== 5. Bullfrog Power ==
Somewhat an offset company and somewhat a renewables company
* Spend some money on developing renewable energy
* Customers pay more for power, on the basis that the company adds renewable power to the grid
We have been paying them the minimum amount to maintain a relationship with them, about $11 per month
* Initial idea is that they might help us share through social media, or that they might help fund events
* They would only consider such proposals as long as we were paying them
* We have never applied for anything from them
Should we try submitting something? Or stop paying them?
It wouldn't take much funding to recoup the $11 / month
* A $500 grant would be equivalent to three years of payments
Would anybody bottom-line such a grant application?
* Would require an event that is planned several months in the future to give them the chance to consider it
* Maybe we could do another big Do the Math screening
Does buying offsets make ethical sense?
* We undertake activities that involve greenhouse gas emissions, but presumably do so with the view that they are net beneficial from a climate perspective
* There may be no ethical benefit for us offsetting as well
We have been paying since February, but the person whose credit card it was on has left
* No penalty, but we have missed the last four months
Do corporations have credit reports? Personal credit reports record when you are behind on a payment
Perhaps we should only keep paying if someone is going to actively request social media assistance and apply for grants
[Snow Cub arrives]
They would be unlikely to fund a direct action of march
* Maybe a film screening, tabling in the Green Living Show?
We included fundraising as part of Tresanne's presidential agreement
* Will she apply for a grant?
* There needs to be an idea for an event
* If someone has an event, Tresanne will write the grant proposal
Nobody feels strongly about proposing to continue paying or not do so
We could review it in 2016
== 6. Climate Welcome budget (minor proposal) ==
Running from November. 4th or 5th to 8th at 23 Sussex
* Escalating action
* It was being planned regardless of who got elected
* Though we now know that he won't actually be living there: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-24-sussex-1.3289102
Toronto350 is putting together buses and art
$400 to help with costs of the Climate Welcome
Rough Breakdown:
* $150 to help low-income with travel costs
* $150 to help low-income with accommodation
* $50 for art supplies
* $50 for other expenses
The mothership may pay some of this back
An email blast was sent, 13 people have said they are interested in going
* 2 have cars, we may rent one more
Aurora at 350.org says we have 10 accommodation spaces available
* Others may couch surf
Who is bottom-lining this?
* Stu and Katie Powe
What are our unallocated funds in the bank?
* We don't know. Waiting for an update from Ellery
* A few weeks ago, it was around $7,000
* Joanna and Ellery are still working on the transition
* It's not clear if some of what was committed to campaigns in August have been paid out
We estimate that this represents roughly 10% of our available funds
Anna calls a vote
* Approved unanimously
== 7. What to do about other items? ==
Is this how many people will normally show up at administrative meetings?
Tresanne is planning another exec/innovation meeting
* Could we amend the constitution there?
* Yes, with unanimous consent from executive members present
What about electing an Administrative Coordinator and Pipeline Liaison
* Both important positions
Notice has to be provided for a by-election
* "For Electoral Meetings, Executive Meetings and Board Meetings, notice of the time and place shall be given to each Member entitled to vote at the meeting by telephonic, electronic or other communication facility at least thirteen (13) calendar days before the day on which the meeting is to be held."
On November 3rd, we have a working meeting with break-out groups
* No decision-making
* Hopefully some campaigns will be there...
The next Tuesday, November 10th, is an executive meeting
The current plan is to have monthly decision-making meetings
== 8. Upcoming events ==
Becoming A Socially Inclusive Organization: Wednesday October 28th 2015 at 6:30pm
* http://www.volunteertoronto.ca/events/event_details.asp?id=698414&group=
* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yfx4eP4LN5I2BygKbPzAxRvunDIVodOZbFNEMeNCqUU/edit#
Paris Organizing Call: Thursday, October 29nd at 8 pm ET*
* Register Here: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/DI3HXKBV625IL7
* Access Running Notes Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7ir6J8qlgS2f_Q-i6dfi1U5WLABube84z-w6T94GPA/edit
Media and Comms (by Stu): Sat Oct 31, 2015 time tbd location tbd contact S...@toronto350.org
Workshop: Feeding Groups for Change, Date: Sunday November 1, Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm (with a shared meal at 4pm), Location: TBC
* http://www.toolsforchange.net/ (calendar on the right)
Conflict Support One on Ones
* Lynn Harrison will be available for one on ones on Tues Nov 3rd from 6-7 pm (at Steelworkers) to discuss conflict that occurred over the summer. She is available to provide a listening ear and an opportunity for reflection without judgment.
Paris Organizing Call
* Thursday, November 5th at 8 pm ET
* Register Here: http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/DI3HXKBV625IL7
* Access Running Notes Here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q7ir6J8qlgS2f_Q-i6dfi1U5WLABube84z-w6T94GPA/edit
Workshop: Winning Change at City Hall, Date: Saturday, Nov. 14, Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm, Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West
Workshop: Graphic Design Fundamentals, Date: Saturday November 28, Time: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Location: U of T
* http://www.toolsforchange.net/ (Calendar on the right)
[In the future please write out basic events details, instead of making people click through a bunch of links]
== 9. VolOps ==
1. For the Climate Welcome, we need someone to help put photos together.
2. For the Climate Welcome, we need someone to make a DVD case for Do The Math (you can use an existing case, just print out a cover)
3. For the Climate Welcome, let us know if you want to get involved in the art/planning. And sign up if you want to go, esp if you can drive!
* https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MI1CZKPHx_dSbk2Tls-rClWAs0qFw37r_nLFAU2c5us/viewform
== 10. Next meeting ==
Meant to be a working meeting
* Should there be a chair?
* Will Katie and Alex handle it?
Anna will find someone to serve as chair
Leon will take minutes
Milan
2015-11-10 Toronto350.org electoral meeting minutes
Chair: Milan
Minutes: Tali
Present: Tali, Milan, Erin, Stu, Lynn, Snowcub, Leon, Katie, Tres, Sylvia, Lila
2. By-election: Administrative Coordinator and Pipelines Campaign Lead
3. Constitutional amendment: legal obligations of officers
5. Debriefs: Climate Welcome, etc
6. Toronto People's Assembly on Climate Justice: endorsement and donation (Amelia Rose)
Name go-around
The electoral portion of this meeting will be conducted according to the procedures in section 5 (“Electoral Meetings”) of the constitution: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EJr1xpWQAfnXP61EturtrIXX9cgtvfKNIIyjrPh5Y_A/edit?usp=sharing
The quorum requirement is from section 21 (“Quorum at Meetings”) in the by-laws: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19_sJUyGHabxtxgCEApWQVjuojEVM2qjAbxtTeQOIeeY/edit?usp=sharing
* “Unless a greater number of Delegate Members are required to be present by the Act, a quorum at Electoral Meetings is the lesser of ten (10) people or 20% (rounded up) of Delegate Members.”
* “If a quorum is present at the opening of a Meeting, the Members present may proceed with the business of the meeting even if a quorum is not present throughout the meeting.”
Re: quorum
The new meeting structure seems to have already interfered with our ability to make major decisions. Not only are most meetings not available for making such decisions, but people seem unwilling to attend the meetings specifically for that purpose.
It is expected of executives to come to Tuesday meetings or at least read the meetings
A number of executives are boycotting Tuesday decision meetings. This is problematic for a number of reasons, including the fact that it makes it more difficult to reach quorum and the friction it creates.
Another issue with this is that in December a large number of our voting members will lose their voting rights (because they are only valid for 1 year)
Perhaps make it easier for people to Skype or call into the meeting?
Tali to create a Toronto350 meetings skype account for this purpose and share the meeting with other members of the exec so that everyone can use it
Possible options
Reducing the quorum amount
Adding a 20 minute set amount at the beginning of each meeting for major decisions
1. Land recognition
We are all Treaty people on the indigenous land,
of the Anishinaabe and other nations who protect Turtle Island
And so that equity is addressed
checking the space you take up must be stressed
but if anything else comes up, let us know,
put our principles to the test!
Let’s begin.
2. By-election: Administrative Coordinator and Pipelines Campaign Lead
Eligibility for voting
No need for an interim chair, since the chair is not running for a position
* We could elect an interim chair for the constitutional amendment portion if people feel that it’s necessary
Note: http://toronto350.org/constitution link leads to out-dated text for executive officer positions
* Can someone commit to fixing this? TALI COMMITTED TO THIS
* Newer document is at: http://toronto350.org/execroles
a. Administrative coordinator
The Administrative Coordinator shall be responsible for:
* Taking minutes at Exec meetings
* Taking minutes at Board meetings and reporting important developments to membership by means of a public summary of the meeting.
* Managing Google Groups, including the members@ list, permissions, and email accounts
* Keeping track of where things are using the Quartermaster Spreadsheet.
* Booking space for meetings and events
* Send out required notice of meetings to the required people
* Maintaining organization of the Google Drive so that Communications people can publish relevant documents for members on the website.
Nominations: Jade
Voted in unanimously
b. Pipelines campaign lead
The Campaign Leads shall be responsible for:
* Working with members of their campaign to develop goals and strategy
* Ensuring that their campaign has an internal structure to deal with, at least:
a) Volunteer Coordination (integrating new signups, reaching out to people on NationBuilder to keep them engaged, and providing opportunities to help out)
b) Equity (making sure that the campaign works towards climate justice in solidarity with allies and is diverse and fair internally, and planning educational events relevant to campaign work)
c) Outreach (attracting new volunteers to the campaign through tabling, trainings, flyers, etc)
* Run events and actions
* Debriefing events and reporting updates from the campaign, as well as reporting financial/legal developments, to the rest of the Executive
* Update the website with meeting times/location so new members know when/where to go
Nominations? None so far. This has been postponed while the campaign works out candidates.
3. Constitutional amendment: legal obligations of officers
Proposed text from Milan
* [Specific executive officer] in collaboration with the Chair of the Board shall prepare and maintain a briefing package for new officers and directors. This package shall describe the legal obligations o Toronto350.org as a non-profit, as well as the legal responsibilities of both officers and directors.
* All officers shall proactively provide the board with all information necessary for them to succeed in their oversight responsibility, and shall promptly respond to requests for information by the board."
Which exec member should be responsible? In consultation with the chair of the board?
Some possible sources:
* https://corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs05004.html
* https://corporationscanada.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cd-dgc.nsf/eng/cs05007.html
* Book: The imperfect board member: discovering the seven disciplines of governance excellence
* http://garberconsulting.com/governance%20models%20what's%20right.htm
* Milan has some additional PDF sources
Stu came across this, which he thinks could be helpful: http://www2.deloitte.com/ca/en/pages/public-sector/articles/effective-not-for-profit-board.html
Climate Justice Policy
* Included on the website, but has it been discussed / approved? This has been voted on and approved several months ago.
* http://www.toronto350.org/policies_and_procedures
4. Electing our second board
Report from Tresanne, re: who intends to run again
Approaching candidates
* Looking for experienced candidates with knowledge of our group’s aim and functioning - not people mostly looking to pad their resumes, or who are unlikely to be active or effective
* Reach out to allied groups to find possible board members
Potential Candidates
Dimitri Lascaris
Stu Basden
Tali Chernin
Monica
Taylor
Brandon
Keara
Jesse
Milan Ilnyckyj
Maggie Sinclair
Must have a minimum of 3 board members at all times. If a board member chooses to leave before the end of their term, Toronto350 may choose to hold a by-election within 60 days to replace the board member leaving.
There were issues last year with board members having to meet more often than anticipated. They were told they should meet quarterly but ended up meeting monthly and were asked to take on additional work. We need to be more accurate about what we need from them:
6-12 times per year meetings
Fundraising
Background:
Experience with non-profits, especially in the environmental field
Willingness to be actively involved: meet monthly, help oversee the activity of the group and set direction
Provide advice and build professionalism in terms of finances, corporate governance, and legal understanding
Good communication and management skills
Enthusiasm :)
Volunteer Toronto allows us to have 6 free postings per year
Tali to write the posting and email the draft by the weekend to:
Tres, Katie, Milan
5. Debriefs: Climate Welcome, etc
Climate Welcome in Ottawa, Nov. 5-8
* Experience of participants
* Effectiveness of tactics
* Significance going forward
6. Toronto People's Assembly on Climate Justice: endorsement and donation (Amelia Rose)
Looking for endorsements from as many groups as possible (Already endorsed by orgs such as Council of Canadians)
Katie moves to endorse the Assembly
Tres seconded the motion
Motion passed unanimously
They are also looking for a donation of $100
Sylvia moved to approve the donation
Stu seconded the motion
Motion passed unanimously
7. $250 funding request by Katie towards COPP
This money will be used to rent a room for a large event relating to COPP. The event will be a social/informative event around COPP. It will have the theme of “An Evening in Paris: Fantasy COPP” with art, climate games, skype-ins with activists in Paris.
Katie is also actively looking for funds from other sources to cover other costs. e.g. She will be asking Environmental Defense to cover the rest of the room costs (likely up to $600 total for the room)
December 8th, 7-11pm.
Emmay seconded the motion.
Motion passes unanimously.
8. Ellery is looking for any outstanding receipts that have not been reimbursed.
9. Lynn would like Toronto350 to sponsor a ClimateFast letter to the new parliment.
Tres, Tali, and Katie were the executive approvers on this. Toronto350 will sponsor it.
10. Climate Welcome debrief
There may have been too much emphasis on the arrestable action
Most mainstream media coverage was on the first day
A lot of blog and regional media coverage throughout
The government is not allowed to accept presents over a certain amount of money, which is why they couldn’t accept the solar panels - this is something that should have been looked at prior
350 refused to give some of the presents because the persons accepting them were not senior enough in the government
We had approved about $400 for this event, but will likely be well under $100. We can use the remaining money to reimburse members for their travel costs. Stu will send out an email to the membership notifying them about this.
For future events, charge a nominal amount to make the commitment to actually attend stronger (you can always offer exceptions if people cannot pay it).
Canada350 and 350Canada have been referenced in the media but the domains were not purchased, so Milan bought both for safekeeping.
X. Breakouts
Y. Upcoming events
24 Hours of Reality Watch Party
* Saturday, November 14, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
* General Hardward Contemporary, 1520 Queen St W(near Sorauren) Toronto, Ontario M6R 1A4, Canada
* Join us for a day to make climate change history! Come (and bring some friends) for breakfast and stay for some great ideas (and a few petitions). Hearty Catering is providing gourmet organic breakfast items (vegan friendly) and fair trade/organic tea and coffee. We'll also be raffling off some goodies from our sponsors at noon (each guest will be given a free raffle ticket upon entry).
Everyday Acts of Resurgence: Lecture by Prof. Jeff Corntassel
* First Nations House , Toronto, ON
* Thu, 19 Nov 2015 at 12:00 PM
Z. Next meeting
Annual General Meeting
December 15
We will be voting on the following:
Board Members
Creative Coordinator
Divestment Campaign Lead
Chair: Emmay
Minutes:Milan
== Land recognition ==
Chair: Tresanne
Minutes: Milan
Present: Tresanne, Ellery, Milan, Brandon, Katie, Taylor, Jonathan, Snow Cubb, Robin, Aaron, Chris, Anna
== Breakouts for tonight ==
Dec. 8th - engaging Torontonians in Paris COP (Katie)
* Semi-social event at CSI
* Will include art and general discussion
Meeting board members (Tresanne)
* Elections on the 15th
* Prospective board members will get a chance to speak then
* People are also submitting written statements, by next Tuesday (Tresanne will circulate on Wednesday)
== Updates ==
Campaigns seek different levels of support from Toronto350, from just a website to money, volunteers, and other resources
Pipelines
* Meeting on Saturday
* Current focus: Energy East pipeline
* Largely focused on the election during the past few months
* Now re-strategizing, at several meetings since the election
* Saturday's meeting will be especially important
* Likely to be at Katie's place, time not yet set
U of T divestment
* Timeline for ad hoc committee representation
* Strategy for response
* Delegation of decision-making to campaign lead
* Spreadsheet gaming out possible committee recommendations and responses to each
OTPP divestment
* Featured on the UNFCCC official COP website, as a responsible investor
* Despite having recently invested $3.5B in Cenovus energy
== Statements from board candidates ==
Taylor
* Personal background and what she would bring to the board, along with feelings about NGOs
* Have been working on tar sands and indigenous solidarity for 10 years
* Started with the Rainforest Action Network (less complex organization than Toronto350)
* Royal Bank based in Toronto - San Francisco based organization was seeking to target them
* Did training with Ruckus and Clayton Thomas-Mueller
* Learning about how people in urban settings can be in solidarity with frontline communities
* Post G-20, has been concentrating on fundraising
* Spent some time at the Unistoten camp - gave direction to her activism
* Trying to go beyond recognizing the need for indigenous people and marginalized communities to lead to empowering their voices
* Works in film and television as an assistant director
* Has developed coordination skills, including communication with the police
* Film sets are an especially privileged location - police are paid to do what film-makers say
* Working on remembering that not everyone experiences this relationship with police
* Today she read a response to the "unfortunate lateral justice" from the climate movement in London
* Indigenous people were meant to lead the march
* "Wretched of the Earth" contingent had traveled from places most impacted by climate change
* "Banner stand off" between NGOs and this contingent
* Some wanted to remove signs about colonialism, empire, etc
* Has never done paid work for an NGO, in part because she wants to make her own decisions about which campaigns to participate in
* 350 is one of the NGOs that is taking these issues seriously - doesn't shy away from attending events that might be "a little bit rowdier" or more confrontational
* Some people feel that climate change is violence, and some difficult conversations have arisen in response
* Within this group, she would want to make sure we are constantly asking ourselves if we are taking this as the priority
* Being generally concerned about the environment doesn't mean we are allied with indigenous peoples, especially if we allow other NGOs to undermine them
* We may need to distance ourselves from problematic groups, or pressure them to change their behaviour
* We need to have reflection and ask communities we are working with whether we are still in a good working relationship, and hold other environmental NGOs accountable
* 350 has a recognizable brand name, and an ability to affect other NGOs
Another participant attends indigenous reconciliation events
* Indigenous peoples should be "first in the pecking order" and at the start of marches
* We need to criticize those who disagree
Robin
* Excited to be here after being in the Ottawa march over the weekend
* This movement is really picking up
* Has been involved with environmental organizations out west, primarily in Victoria
* Worked for almost four years in face-to-face fundraising: Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, Greenpeace
* In school studying volunteer management and leadership
* Believes in what 350 and this whole movement stands for
* It starts from the bottom, we need to gather people together to create action
* Sees a platform for the growth of this organization going forward
Brandon
* Was on the board for the first year
* Background in philosophy - course director
* Involved with West End Against Line 9, Rising Tide Toronto
* Taking direction from indigenous communities is front and centre for responding to climate change in a respectful way
* Must recognize colonialism and capitalism
* Would bring to the group: critical oversight which is a natural part of being a photographer, some sort of role in visioning directions for the future which are conscious and cognizant of the history of NGOs
* Toronto350 is a young group, recently established as a not-for-profit NGO
* Happy to contribute and share whatever input he can and make sure everyone gets a chance to be heard
Milan
* 5 years for Fed, Env Canada
* But impossible under Harper to do much on CC
* PhD student
* Involved with 350 from beginning
* Served on board over last year
* Setting up for not-for-profit
* The capabilities and obligations/responsibilities as a not-for-profit
* Focus on volunteers. All the work is done by volunteers
* But haven't been systematic in what brings people in, what brings someone from attending meetings to being leaders,
* Will do research on this. Perhaps some organized experimentation and apply lessons to broader group.
Relationship between Toronto350.org and the "greater 350 world"
* There is a relationship, but it isn't necessarily well understood
* 350 emerged in the United States
* Decentralized concept - movement building, support grassroots organizations all over the world, largely through social media
* US leadership: Mae Boeve, Bill McKibben
* Have sometimes given us limited funding, learning opportunities
* They are very hands off with their grassroots affiliates, who choose their own structures and campaigns
* There are shared areas of focus: divestment, pipelines, etc
* There is a very loosely configured Canada350 emerging, including 6-7 employees
* We have sometimes worked closely with some of them
* From the outside view, "we are all painted with the same brush"
* We could play a role in shaping 350Canada, and establishing a role for active Canadian chapter
* 350Canada provided money for a retreat of all Ontario 350 groups over the summer
== Board candidate breakout ==
Organizational history of Toronto350
* U of T club to non-profit
* Splitting off of UofT350.org, now managing the U of T campaign
* Previously a lot of overlap between the membership of the Toronto350 executive and people active on that campaign / in the new student group
* Other campaigns also have a limited connection with Toronto350, such as Step Up Canada
What time commitment are people willing to make?
* Last year, we said that we expected the board to meet 4 times per year
* This time we are asking for 6-12 meetings per year
Toronto350 has one paid employee
* Paid through Toronto350 via a TSSN grant
Main sources of revenue?
* Monthly donors, one-time donations
* Current donations about $600 per month, waiting on an additional monthly donation of $500
* TSSN grant ($10,000) was specifically for paying the president
What long-term visions are in place for the group?
* Working out how we want to structure ourselves - really complex now
* It's rare that all five campaigns provide regular updates
* Planning visioning sessions for January / February
* The new meeting structure is in a trial period
* Campaigns have an entrepreneurial basis - if you have an idea which is compatible with our goals, we will try to provide support
* People aren't necessarily presently aware of this approach within the group, don't realize that they can bring forward new ideas
What support do we provide to our campaigns?
* Money, NationBuilder access (tracks everyone who we have electronic contact with), provision of volunteers
* We haven't done a lot of effective follow-up with people who have asked to volunteer yet
What benefits does the 350 brand bring to our campaigns? Have we seen benefits from being incorporated?
* We aren't a charity and aren't planning to become one because political advocacy is our main purpose
* Incorporation was necessary for the TSSN grant, is now necessary for keeping our bank account
* The 350 name does bring people to us, and help attract media attention
* 350 helped fund the big march over the summer, hired someone to help coordinate it
* Being a non-profit also helps with some of our web services, unlimited Google Apps users, etc
* Helps keep us entirely focused on climate related work
Future of Canada350.org? Do they intend to strengthen ties with us?
* We can ask them to engage more
* We could reach out to other active Canadian 350 groups
* They have four employees: Cam, Aurore, Clayton, and Atiya
* They are hiring a Canadian divestment coordinator
* When interviewing candidates, 350.org said that they would be liaising with Canadian 350 groups, but that doesn't particularly seem to be happening
* They seem to be choosing strategy unilaterally, not consulting with Canadian groups
What happened to the Toronto-area regional groups we tried to establish?
* About 6-8 months ago Stu wanted to reach out to other parts of the GTA
* Our most active members have generally been from downtown
* The attempted groups were largely dominated by a single person each, didn't develop a critical mass to keep going
* It might have been more effective for us to send out a larger team to try to establish these groups
To what degree is Toronto350's programming focused on divestment?
* We have three divestment campaigns, along with pipelines and Step Up Canada
* Is there strategy for after universities have decided?
What will be the purpose and approach of forthcoming visioning exercises?
* How do we decide which campaigns to support?
* Tresanne has been working with Anna to plan this - We need a more solid visioning statement, beyond doing what 350.org does
* Regular meeting participants will be invited to take part in visioning
Where do we expect to be in three years?
* This is one of the major purposes behind the visioning
* What's happening in Toronto? Where can we fit in? What are our values?
How do we develop people into active organizers?
* Value in doing more research on the experiences of our participants
* Could be useful to have an experimental campaign with a set goal where success or failure could be assessed in less than a year, to test new forms of volunteer engagement, and potentially develop strategies that could be useful throughout the group
* Possible experiments: ceiling for maximum weekly hours of work, direct reporting relationships between volunteers and organizers
Managing volunteers
* Developing a system or structure to give volunteers immediate means of getting involved with the organization
* How to avoid cases where people attend an event or two but never really become involved
Possibilities for media outreach - live streaming, production of independent news
* Storytelling as a way of demonstrating climate change impacts on communities