2018 Executive Meeting Minutes
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Executive Meeting Proposed Agenda
February 6, 2018
Land Acknowledgement
I acknowledge the sacred land on which the United Steelworkers Hall operates. This land has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this territory.
Introductions
Namrata
Dylan
Jennifer
Kevin
Amelia Rose
l Review of agenda
l Report Back
Bears Play
l Kevin gave a brief on the Kinder Morgan play that he attended and how the table interaction went
l The play was on the American pipelines expansion project and its effect on the people living in the neighborhood
l Attendees of the play were asked to sign in their email
Aamjiwnaang Play
l A group, coordinated by 3 to 4 people is doing a play on Aamjiwaang
l The play is on the effects of the surrounding areas which has 60 chemical and oil refineries
l They scouted the place and realized there are many ill effects due to the pipelines, chemical plants and refineries
l The play might be released for the public soon. Amelia Rose suggested that it might be good for us to see and support the cause as it is in line with our climate justice
l We can may be table this event and see how it goes
l Rallies
Tim Hortons
l Amelia Rose suggested that we should not only support this rally but also try and create a rally from our side next week to support the cause and bring in our support to people from various unions
l There is no information on the location to do the rally yet but if we get volunteers we can plan this out
l If we go ahead with this we can figure the location
l Dylan and Namrata think it might come across as a disconnect with our cause but Kevin thinks that as it for the union and as far as there is no disruption with the regular work of the location we choose it should be done
l Kevin also suggested we can look at this as a rally as a green, low carbon, decent employment opportunity in the future for all. We should send out emails to our members and volunteers to check if they can be a part of this as not everyone is always a part of the Tuesday meets; Amelia Rose will send out the emails
l Amelia Rose added by saying that since we are a part of the Fight for 15 & Fairness coalition, we should do the rally. We should connect with the issue as we attend meeting by the provincial advisory committee
l Earlier this year, there were two rally dates, the first one was at 15 locations, and the second one at 50 locations across Canada and want to do another one on the 13th of Feb in different locations at different time
l The last time we did the rally one of the co workers was supportive that we understood their cause
Municipal Budget
l We are not sure on the details of this yet, as to when and if its happening. Last year it was organized by Social Planning Toronto
l The 2018 budget was released in November last year and the following week, on the 12th and 13th, Toronto City Council would be discussing the allotment of the funds for the City of Toronto for the final time.
l There might be a rally on the 12th during the day.We are not planning on speaking in the rally as if there is one there is already going to be a climate speaker but it will be good to show our support
l The discussion will be on reducing poverty, try getting more funds for public health, climate plan, transit etc
l Amelia Rose will try sending us more details on this as soon as they can
Partners
TTCRiders
l The TTCRiders is a coalition of organizations and it works on transit issues
l Last year they organized a huge summit on the transit issues and climate change
l Amelia Rose suggested we should try working with them in the future
l We can look into possible projects of getting people to shift to transit line from cars and more
l The Green Living Show
l This show is on the April 6th, 7th and 8th
l Last year is was held in the Metro Toronto Convention Center
l We can do all day outreach here if we can put up a table along with Greenpeace as otherwise it can get expensive
l It is a 3 day conference hence if do plan to go ahead and talk to Greenpeace on working
l We can make use of the opportunity to get in touch with people and spread the word about our work and also connect wit hlike mined individuals and organizations with the m we will have to get volunteers first - All day for outreach, when were asked to when possible
l Campaign Updates
l Kevin is currently looking into the possible pipeline projects that we can take up
l Amelia Rose gave a wall through on our previous works on the subject especially Line 9 where in we put up findings of the same on our website, created awareness by direct action also helped other groups that we working on this a few years ago
l The Line 9 campaign ended a year and a half back as we could not find a way around it in Toronto but there are still a few places like Montreal and Sarnia that had a few things moving for them
l We had helped a bit in the legal work around Line 9
l Dylan is looking into matters apart form the Ontario Teacher’s pension plan divestment as he things that we should try looking into smaller issue and gain momentum form there
l Also the OTPP already has a big support so may be along with this we can look into smaller companies that have their main offices in Toronto. This might work out a bit more feasible
l Amelia Rose gave a background and status update to us on the Uof T campaign
l There were many students who worked on the divestment issues brought up and finally the points were put forth to the committee from where it was presented to the president
l The president declined the points but the students took it to the higher ups they too denied it and so it ended in 2016
l The update is that a new group has taken up the issue, which works on different college levels
l The York university campaign is currently in limbo
l They had created a committee a few years ago for the proposal of divestment on two key issues; fossil fuels and weapons
l Which was at first agreed upon by the committee but when it reached the university they denied it which was followed dissolving the committee. Since then the matter is in limbo
l The Ryerson campaign has no update
l Kevin suggest we should try getting in touch the alumni and see how we can take these issue up
l Amelia Rose gave an update on the Provincial project which is happening on the 6th of June. The campaigns team wants us to discuss on the proposal and work on something around it
l We can work with a few groups like the labor group, local environmental group and people who are more diverse
l They want us to provide them with funds around the campaign to move forward to with Amelia Rose suggested we first get a clear understanding on how the campaign ties into Toronto along with getting details on their budget and how they plan to use the funds provided
l They would also have to give us a more detailed report on the way forward and have this on an official document
l New Website
l We need a new look for the website make it more visually appealing. So that it can attract more audience and keep the current visitors more involved
l If anyone has suggestions or can help with this can get in touch with Amelia Rose
l New Space
Meetings
l We need a more permanent space for our meetings as it can some times get difficult to extend the time if we are at Steelworkers or if Greenpeace has other commitments or no staff to stay back
Holding Material
l It would also make it easier for us to store our campaign material and other outreach props
l We currently do all the art work at the Greenpeace office or in their warehouse, when they had their warehouse space, which can get tricky at times as we need to give them advance notice
l If anyone has any place in mind they can share it
l Meetings
February -
l 1st Tuesdays of every month are going to be the Exec. Meetings
l 2nd Tuesdays are going to be educational meetings
l 3rd Tuesdays are for campaigns
l 4th Tuesdays are for outreach
l This month we will have an educational meeting on the provincial cap and trade system by someone from Environmental Defense on the 20th of Feb
l The following week we can have the campaign planning meeting
l For this month we can skip the meeting on the 13th
Meeting Schedule -
l The same agenda is proposed for the month of March where in for the 2nd week we will be having a talk on climate justice and how we can involve Indigenous people in our group
l There has been a proposal put forward by the board for a change in our meeting schedule. As suggested in our previous meeting, it gets a little difficult for everyone to come every week for the meetings, we can decrease the meetings to 2 in a month from April on wards
l Executive has suggested we experiment with the meeting change in April
l This might also help us increasing the number of attendees for the meetings
l Kevin and Amelia Rose suggested that we can meet separate for the campaign meetings if its needed if we feel that the 1 hr that would be allocated for campaigns will not be enough
Action Plan for 2018 priorities
Key Dates
l We need to work on the international dates along with other important dates for 2018
l Earth hour is end of March and we have already planned on organizing a film screening for Earth day which is in April
l We need to plan out the dates allocated by the UN
Side note : Kevin mentioned about the Mining and justice solidarity network which is group that organizes awareness about the negligent practices of Canadian mining. They are planning to meet this Thursday if anyone is interested to be a part of this, they can get in touch with him
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Executive Meeting Proposed Agenda
March 6th, 2018
Land Acknowledgement
I acknowledge the sacred land on which the United Steelworkers Hall operates. This land has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this territory.
Introductions
Review of agenda
Report back from Board meeting
Board had to take immediate action to cease paying an employee in light of our financial situation, and wanted the Exec to be aware. Before looking for/applying for grants to pay an employee, the Board is seeking the Execs thoughts on whether or not they wish for them to do that. The Exec doesn't need to decide/vote on that right now, they just need to be aware that the Board is seeking their feedback, and they can take a little time to reflect on it.
Board proposed looking into disbanding our registered not-for-profit status in the interest of administrative ease, but all Board members are new, and need time to investigate this status and its pros and cons. The Board would like the Exec's thoughts on this and they don't need to decide/vote on this right now, this is simply about sharing what had been discussed at the most recent Board meeting and seeking feedback.
Discussion on Board Meeting Recap
Freeze on funds that was reported before
Administrative issues were top of mind
Paying the president
No longer paid employee because of lack of funds.
Research into paying an employee by researching grants and operating funds.
Stressful for president to fundraise for their position
Most of the budget of the overall group goes to president.
This will be decided at a later date if we want to continue to pay an employee.
Keeping the non-profit status
Board researching into keeping or dissolving the non-profit status.
What are the pros and cons of keeping non-profit status?
Get rid of this for half a year and if nothing changes then we can continue.
This costs money to get nonprofit back.
The treasurer and president was doing tons of work to keep nonprofit afloat.
The board will figure out later.
More joint meetings with exec/board.
The exec says we might need a board.
Talk about both issues at next exec meeting.
Board will be doing their own fundraising.
Campaigns and Project Report Back
Divestment campaign and provincial election project
No updates
Fossil free future
Line 9 pipeline
Two paths to move forward and people have volunteered to help.
Intravires campaign
Trying to get a bylaw passed by Toronto city council.
Go through one of the councillors where Line 9 pipeline crosses their ward.
Provincial environmental assessment (EA)
The argument for this is that Dilbit did not exist when the EA was conducted for line 9 over forty years ago so another EA should be conducted to assess the environmental safety of the project.
Canadian emissions have increased since the last assessment as people are working more etc.
Moving creative role to campaigns
The recommendation is dissolving the creative role and moving that in campaigns.
Kalina is communications and media
Looking into finding a media coordinator
Cordial Tea gathering
Gatherings that are not done on meeting days.
Rotating days of the week.
Find location - Most likely coffee shop.
More formal or less formal?
Anthony and Kevin have volunteered to start this off, this week.
March and April calendar meeting
March 13th is Indigenous speaker
March 20th, campaign meeting.
April 3rd, executive meeting.
Try for Line 9 Pipeline Talk and Campaign meeting for April 17th. One hour for each.
Meeting Space (Steelworkers or CSI Annex) for April
Try CSI Annex for April.