Douglas-Coldwell Foundation Board Meeting
October 21, 2003

In attendance:
Bill Blaikie
Tessa Hebb
Kealey Cummings
Ted Jackson
Anne Scotton
Marion Dewar

By phone: David Mackenzie

Regrets:
Fraser Green
Nanci Morrison
Joy Langan
Robert Needham
David Woodbury

Guest(s): Audrey Moey

President’s Report
Tessa reported that DCF was involved in 2 big projects this year – Mining Watch and ETAG – we contributed $7500 to each project

Other contributions were:

$3000 – Carleton University Conference
$3000 – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Conference
$4000 – scholarships to various universities (see below)

Annual donations are almost meeting our administrative costs.

Woodsworth College scholarships been awarded at the University of Toronto in this last year. The Kaplanski and Bell scholarships at Carleton University are now listed in the university calendar, and are expected to be awarded this year.

CALM awards have not been given out over these last few years. We have followed up with CLC to see if these awards will be reinstated in the future.

Larger donations and larger grants means we garner more respect with organizations we are funding, thus increasing our profile.

Fraser Green will work on expanding our membership base. We hope to put together a list of 300 – 500 names, with the help of our board members, and Fraser will organize a call centre to do a membership drive. NDP MP’s and MLA’s should be on this list.

We are aiming to have donations sustain our admin costs, and use our portfolio for grants only.

The website is being kept up to date now, as we have hired someone locally to update the web site regularly – the website helps with increasing the transparency of the foundation.

Tessa thanked Adam Hodgins for his contribution over the last six years.
M/S/C Kealey Cummings/Anne Scotton

Secretary’s report (Anne Scotton)
Membership is holding steady at under 100. Membership dues are at approximately $3600 annually; we would like to take that up to $6000.

Tessa circulated minutes of the last meeting.
Errors/omissions/changes – correction to the spelling of Kealey’s name noted.

M?S/C TedJackson/ Bill Blaikie Minutes approved

Treasurer’s Report (Tessa for Nanci)
Officers met in September.

It was noted that the Royal Bank will be our VISA account and the Bank of Montreal remains our primary account.

Our portfolio continues to grow: it brings in $25,000 a year to distribute.

As of August 29, 2003, our US portfolio investments were at US$77,000, which translates to C$100,000.

Our Canadian holdings were at $517,000 – up from $500,000, bringing our total value to almost $650,000. It would be great to bring that up to a million.

We are remaining an affiliated member of SHARE, and are even more committed to socially responsible investment practices. Joy Langan will attend the SHARE meeting (in BC) and provide us with an update.

Our portfolio manager has been sensitized.

Audited statement was presented at last meeting, so only cash flow to report.

We are working on getting the website set up to accept online donations. Fraser will help us solicit automatic credit card deductions once this is set-up.

New Projects
John Polanyi Annual Conference at Concordia University, 12 – 16 November 2003 – a $5000 contribution was recommended.

M/S/C – unanimous support

Tessa also encouraged board members to be proactive in seeking another university that we can extend our profile in, especially in Quebec and BC. Joy Langan has been encouraged to look out for BC opportunities, e.g. the BOAG Foundation.

Georges Campeau’s book on unemployment has been translated into English, with an acknowledgement of the DCF. We are providing $1,000 of support for publication.

Board members should keep an eye out for interesting ideas about how the country is changing, e.g. multiculturalism, and the integration of new Canadians. Ted Jackson spoke to the need to find creative ways/projects to engage new constituencies/communities, and encourage them to be partners in bringing about institutional and policy change.

Anne and Ted to do informal scouting of opportunities.

New 5-year plan – it was noted that the present 5-year plan has worked well for the foundation, therefore we should propose another at the spring meeting.

Shirley Douglas is being considered as a potential Board member. Her acceptance will bring gender equity to the board.

Adjournment. 11:00 am M/S/C BillBlaikie/ Marion Dewar