2017 Annual General Meeting

December 15th, 2018

2017 AGM Meeting Minutes/Finances

QUEER ONTARIO

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

May 18, 2017

 

 

ATTENDANCE: Dwayne Shaw, Robert Teixeira, Richard Hudler (Chair/Minutes), Nick Mulé, Matthew Beeson and Heather MacNaughton (by proxy). This established a quorum of six out of eleven voting members.

 

  1. Minutes of the 2016 Annual General Meeting, which had been distributed, were approved.
  2. Reports from the Chair (See Appendix I) and the Treasurer (See Appendix II) were presented.
  3. Both Reports were approved.
  4. The Election was chaired by Dwayne Shaw and he and Matthew Beeson were scrutineers.

 

Position                                                                Candidate                          Result

Chair                              Two Year Term           Richard Hudler                   Elected

Secretary                      Two Year Term           Brian De Matos                   Elected

Member-At-Large      Two Year Term          Nick Mulé                              Elected

Member-At-Large     Two Year Term           Robert Teixeira                   Elected

 

APPENDIX I

 

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

Queer Ontario Annual General Meeting

May 18, 2017

 

Shakespeare’s Play “Midsummer’s Night Dream” has a line I really like. It goes “When we have laughed to see the sales conceive and grow big bellied with the wanton wind.” When I had first started as chair I had hoped to tow Queer Ontario (QO) out of the doldrums. I now realize it was arrogant of me to think I could do that. Getting out of the doldrums requires the wanton wind.

 

This year we have felt a few gusts of that wind. Our steering committee and discuss group remained the same at six (but we now have a secretary) and 31 respectively. We lost two voting members and 12 QO-News e-mail members but our Facebook friends increased from 2,453 to 2,607 and our finances tripled thanks to a generous anonymous donor. Someone agrees with what we are doing. The things we managed to accomplish for the year increased from 26 to 31 (see list below).

 

Over the last year, I have been impressed at how, despite occasional differences, we have been able to work together. I feel confident that our hard work and the wanton wind will keep us going. Let’s hope so. As we witness Fascism rising again on the world stage we become increasingly aware of the importance of organizations like Queer Ontario. Thank you all very much.

 

Richard Hudler

 

 

What we did at Queer Ontario (QO) over the 2016/17 fiscal year:

 

  1. Expressed concern and supported opposition to the potential criminalization of dissent, specifically Boycott Divestment and Sanctions.
  2. Supported, worked with Queer Trans Community Defense and were represented at meetings around issues related to the threat to the existing communities through gentrification of the Moss Park area in Toronto.
  3. Supported the We Demand an Apology campaign, particularly around the hope that this could allay concerns about people being charged for an act that was a crime in the past but is no longer.
  4. Continue to follow and support the work being done through York University on completing the Queer Liberation Theory Project.
  5. At Pride 2016 we participated in the Trans March, supported the Dyke March from the sidelines and helped organize and participated in the Night March.
  6. Endorsed a Latin American Queer Education Project statement on the Orlando attack.
  7. Were represented at Pride Town Hall meetings.
  8. Wrote two statement regarding Black Lives Matter and participation of the police in Pride.
  9. Held a picnic at Hanlon’s Point.
  10. Prepared a Newsletter.
  11. Held a retreat.
  12. Began acknowledging at our meetings that we are gathering on Indigenous land and expressing our gratitude.
  13. Were represented at a meeting with Justice Tolloch about Police oversight.
  14. Prepared and presented a written and verbal deputation regarding Bill C-51 to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
  15. Signed a petition to get approval of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), a pill that people can take to prevent HIV infection.
  16. Publicized a study of experiences of bi and queer identified men of color in using online dating/hook-up websites and apps.
  17. Responded to a survey on Trans inclusion for Ontario’s identification documents.
  18. Expressed support of a protest in Ottawa against Canadian Blood Services’ discriminatory policies regarding blood donations from men-who-have-sex-with-men.
  19. Helped promote research of College of Physician and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) on Physicians who refuse to provide care based on religious beliefs.
  20. Commented to XTRA! on the effect of the assisted human reproduction act (2004) on members of the queer communities.
  21. Were represented on a panel at Woodsworth College on the topic “What’s Wrong with Identity Politics?”
  22. Participated in the on-line Canada Revenue Consultations on Charities’ Political Activity.
  23. Prepared and released a statement and worked with the committee Queers Crash the Beat (QCtB) on issues of police Marie Curtis Park crackdown on men who have sex with men in the parks and sex regulation generally.
  24. Signed a charter put out by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) supporting a One School system in Ontario.
  25. Attended a meeting at the Centre for Free Expression about possible changes to the laws regulating political activities of charities.
  26. Prepared and submitted a letter from QO to the Minister of the Attorney General, Yasir Naqvi on HIV criminalization which was drafted by the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure(CLHE)
  27. Helped with distribution of a petition regarding LGBTQ refugees.
  28. Provided an interview for Pink Pages.
  29. Gave Feed-Back on a consultation on Basic Income.
  30. Signed on to a letter prepared by al-Qaws and Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) to the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA).
  31. Participated in a phone consultation with the Ontario Trillium Foundation about the low applications of both Feminist & LGTBQ organizations.

 

Stats:                                     2016                       2017

Steering Committee –     6                              6

Voting Members –            12                           10

Discuss Group –                 31                           31

QO-News Group –            245                         233

Facebook Friends –          2,453                     2,607

 

 

APPENDIX II

 

FINANCIAL REPORT – AGM 2016/2017 – John Wilson

 

  1. We have maintained three financial accounts during the past year:
    1. A Chequing Account at Alterna Savings where our day to day transactions take place.
    2. A Savings Account at Alterna Savings which is specifically earmarked for the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Defense Fund and Rainbow Health Network donation earmarked for health issues.
    3. A Pay Pal Account where we receive our monthly and other electronic donations and from which some of our electronic payments are made e.g., website internet payments.

 

  1. Spreadsheets were kept for the fiscal year from April 1st to March 31st.

 

  1. Detailed spreadsheets are available for anyone who wants to look at them.

 

  1. The Budget reflects only the budget for the previous year, actual income and expenses for the previous year, and the budget for the New Year.

 

  1. I would also remind members that the Queer Liberation Theory Project, in which Queer Ontario is a community-based partner on this academic research study, has been financed primarily by four internal research grants from York University for a total amount of $10,380.00 and those funds did not go through the Queer Ontario books. The QLT Project received an additional $2,000.00 from the Inside Out/OUTtv Post-Production Fund but was issued directly to the QLT Project’s principal investigator.

 

  1. In terms of the Annual Review of the Books, it was suggested last year that we not incur the expense of auditors at this time and simply ask a volunteer from the membership, who has not been involved with the bookkeeping, to review the books at the fiscal year end.

 

  1. I suggest that we repeat that procedure again this year.

 

  1. This involved looking at the books for any discrepancies or clarifications and randomly selecting several income and disbursement entries to see if the receipts and match up with the entries.

 

  1. I wish to thank Dwayne Shaw for volunteering to provide this service and who submitted the following report:

 

ANNUAL REVIEW OF QUEER ONTARIO

FINANCIAL RECORDS

2016/2017 Fiscal Year

 

I have reviewed the financial records of Queer Ontario (QO) which comprise the spreadsheets, the bank statements, the receipts file, the donations file, the Pay Pal file, the GSA Defense Fund file and the draft Budget.

 

These documents were provided by the Treasurer of Queer Ontario. I am a member of Queer Ontario and undertook this review as a volunteer who was not involved with the bookkeeping.

 

My review involved looking at the books for any discrepancies or clarifications and randomly selecting income and disbursement entries to see if the receipts and documents match up with the entries.

 

In my opinion, the financial records present fairly, in all material aspects, the financial position of Queer Ontario as at March 31, 2017.

 

 

 

Dwayne Shaw

 

  1. Budget:

 

QO PROPOSED BUDGET April, 2017

Fiscal year April 1 – March 31

ACCOUNTS Beginning 16/17 Beginning 17/18
Chequing 4,584.05 19,379.04
Savings (GSA/RHN) [1] 435.73 748.91
Pay Pal 2,061.69 2,248.80
TOTAL 7,081.47 22,376.75

 

INCOME Budget 16/17 Actual 16/17 Budget 17/18
Donations Chequeing 300 15,000.00[2] 300
Donations Pay Pal 360[3] 360.00 360
Workshops 0 0 0
Bank 0 0 0
Grants/projects 0 313.18[4] 0
Grant seed money 0 0 0
Miscellaneous 0 0 0
TOTAL 660 15,673.18 660

 

EXPENSES Budget 16/17 Actual 16/17 Budget 17/18
Meeting Expenses 50 47.46 50
Office Supplies 30 0 30
Printing/Copying[5] 100 84.75 300
Transportation 0 0 0
Postage 0 0 0
Grants 0 0 0
Projects 250 71.80 250
Bank 0 1.00 0
Pay Pal Fees 30 17.76 30
Promotion/Advertising 0 0 500
Web 200 155.13 200
Misc. 0 0 0
TOTAL 660 377.9 1360
Less Income 660 15.673.18 660
Balance 0 15,295.82 (700)

Assets: Table, Megaphone, Snowball mike, Gazebo, Gazebo cart.

John Wilson, Treasurer

[1] These donations are earmarked for the GSA defense fund (435.73) and RHN health fund (313.18).

[2] Unanticipated anonymous donation.

[3] Monthly donations

[4] Donation from RHN earmarked for Health issues

[5] Newsletter and revised pamphlets.

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