Legal Issues - Andre Laurendeau
Several members have placed themselves in nomination for election to the
board. They are Bernie Hart, Jon Hall and Gareth Shearman. Additional
nominations were welcomed.
Moved that nominations from the floor be open until 5:00 p.m. on Monday.
Andre Laurendeau/Lisa Donnelly - CARRIED
The meeting was adjourned until 9:00 a.m. on August 20, 1996.
Meeting reconvened at 9:05 a.m. on August 20 chaired by Garth Graham with 23
members present.
Agenda was distributed and additional items were listed. Agenda was accepted
by consensus. Minutes of the 1995 AGM were distributed.
Motion to approve minutes Andre Laurendeau/Keith Gross. Requests were made
that names in the minutes be fully spelt, that bracketed comment in relation
to destroying of ballots be deleted and that incomplete items in the minutes
were referred to the board for action. CARRIED.
A report of financial transactions was distributed. Lisa Donnelly commented
on the statements and answered questions. Thanks were extended to Mae
Shearman for providing book-keeping services.
Motion to approve the financial statements as presented. Andre
Laurendeau/Karen Botan
Amendment that a formal statement of revenue and expense be prepared and
attached to the records Matt Brown/Lisa Donnelly - CARRIED.
Motion to table Daryle Niedermayer/Keith Gross - DEFEATED
Motion to defer approval of financial statements until a future time during
the meeting at the discretion of the chair so that proper statements and a
review by a competent accountant could be completed - David McDonald/Keith
Gross CARRIED.
Later in the meeting Karen Botan, a 5th level CGA, presented formal
financial statements resulting from her review of the accounts. The document
is attached.
Motion to move the previous amended motion to approve the financial
statements Matt Brown/David Lott CARRIED
Motion to dispense with the naming of auditors for the current fiscal year.
Andre Laurendeau/Gareth Shearman CARRIED
Election process was explained. Nominations were received by Ian Allen,
Bernie Hart, Jon Hall, Gareth Shearman. Andre Laurendeau tendered his
resignation after one year of his two year term for personal and
professional reasons and thanked the members for their support. Each of the
nominees made a brief statement of their qualifications and background.
David Trueman spoke on behalf of Bernie Hart.
Motion that the nominated members be elected to two year terms by
acclamation by Andre Laurendeau/Matt Brown CARRIED.
Motion of thanks to Andre Laurendeau and Roger Hart for their involvement in
the board. David Trueman/Gareth Shearman CARRIED.
It was unanimously decided that considering the financial difficulties of
the conference organizing committee that delegates would be requested to pay
$10 for lunch and the remaining balance be invoiced to TC.
A written report of board activities was requested and will be distributed
with the minutes.
Motion that all resolutions of the board of directors since the last AGM be
confirmed. Andre Laurendeau/Lisa Donnelly CARRIED.
A number of issues were brought forward for discussion:
1. Charitable Status - the Supreme Court of Canada has given the Vancouver
CommunityNet leave to appeal their refusal of Charitable Status from Revenue
Canada. Andre encouraged members to lobby their local federal politicians
asking them to prevent Revenue Canada from appealing the ruling. Request
that a procedural guideline which would prevent errors in applications be
prepared. Suggestion that a national foundation for community networks be
created. Issues include savings on GST, vastly increased financial overhead
and limited number of grants available for technical activity. Various
members commented on local plans. The board will take the discussion under
advisement and perhaps create a committee to deal with this issue.
2. Remote Login - Gareth Shearman commented on the possibility of providing
remote login to home accounts for members travelling to communities which
have an operational community network. David Trueman reported that the
technical possibility will be added to future versions of Chebucto Suite.
Questions were answered and a common format across the entire system was
seen as desirable.
3. Membership Plan - Lisa Donnelly presented a detailed report. Membership
fees of .5% of operating revenue were approved at the last AGM. A suggested
minimum and maximum fee should be set. Membership benefits were listed.
Board will reconsider the plan and provide a new implementation schedule.
Provision for umbrella (i.e. provincial) organizations will be considered.
Revisions will be posted to the web page for discussion and comment (with
notification on the listserv) before being implemented.
Suggestion that a confidential listserv for administrators and fund raisers
be created (i.e. tc-drones). Gareth Shearman undertook to maintain the TC
home page and listservs. Suggestion that all members declare their
membership in TC and provide a link to the TC home page on their local home
page.
Motion that the membership plan be accepted in principle and implemented but
that it be subject to formal acceptance at the AGM in 1997. Gareth
Shearman/David Lott CARRIED with one opposed.
4. Electronic Public Space - Garth Graham presented a report of various
interventions and submissions to public and government groups which
illustrates TCs defense of the info highway public lane and electronic
public space.
Motion that the TC Board continue their participation in the public space
networking group as a matter of priority - Daryle Niedermayer/Gareth
Shearman CARRIED.
5. Next Conferences - The next conference and AGM will be held in Halifax on
August 15-18, 1997 and the Halifax delegation made an excellent presentation
at the conference. The committee gave advance notice that they will be
extremely financially conscious. It was suggested that TC take
responsibility for costs of the AGM. There were a number of comments that
indicated that the reasonable expectation for attendance is 150 attendees,
that personal promotion is required and that CAP sites should continue to be
invited.
6. World Conference 1998 - Plans are being advanced to host a world
conference of Community Networks in conjunction with the 1998 TC Conference
and AGM. Dates, timelines and site have not yet been decided. An
international advisory group is being formed and interest was expressed at
the Ties that Bind Conference in Taos. Garth is working with Infolink to
create a business plan. A decision to proceed will NOT be made unless the
funds are available for professional support and management.
7. Chebucto Suite Development - David Trueman made a short presentation
indicating that funding is pending from Industry Canada for development of
the Chebucto software suite. He considers this a collaborative effort and
welcomes input from other sites. Some elements can be subcontracted to other
community networks including documentation, French translation, minor
programming and integration. If you have interest in contributing, contact
David.
Concluding comments were made by Garth Graham.
Motion of thanks to Edmonton FreeNet for the excellent conference. Daryle
Niedermayer/Matt Brown CARRIED
Motion to adjourn Matt Brown/ Andre Laurendeau CARRIED
Meeting ended at 12:15 p.m.
Income Statement
Revenue CAP $22,000.00
Revenue Interest $32.80
TOTAL REVENUE $22032.80
Bank Charges $28.83
Board Expense $1865.25
TC95 Board Expense $1523.44
CAP Expense $13034.72
TOTAL EXPENSE $16452.24
Net Income $5580.56
Balance Sheet
Bank $11645.56
Retained Earnings to Mar 31/95 $6065.00
Retained Earnings to Mar 31/96 $5580.56
TOTAL RETAINED EARNINGS $11645.56
Note: The CAP Project provided a net income of $5694.53 to TC.
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