Greater Toronto Area Intergroup
GENERAL MEETING – Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The meeting convened at 8 p.m. with a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer. Rick Mc. (Six Points) read the Twelve Traditions.
THOSE MEMBERS PRESENT: Amazing Grace, Anniversary, Aurora, Back to Basics (Richmond Hill), Bayview, Beaches, Bellamy, Beverly Hills, Brampton Recovery, City Central, Credit Valley, Daily Reflections, East York, Erin Mills, Eventide, Fellowship, Frontrunners, Glenholme, Golden Mile, Half Century, High Park, Hill, Keep It Simple (Scarborough), Kingsway, Lakeshore, Leslie, Living Sober, Markland Wood, Maple, Markham Village, Mississauga, Mount Royal, Newmarket, Noon Rap, One Day at a Time, Pine Hills, Port Credit, Principles Before Personalities, Richmond Hill, Royal York, Saturday Morning Discussion, St. Clements, Stepping Stones, Streetsville Action, Sunnyside, Thornhill, Trial & Error, Unionville, Willowdale, Woodbine, Woodbridge, Yorkville. District Liaisons: Districts 06, 14, 18, and 22. Subcommittee Chairs: Archives, Treatment Facilities, Website/Newsletter, Access Ability, and ORC 2008.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES: April 2008
Bill R. (Bellamy) requested some clarification regarding the Notice of Motion made at April’s meeting: what does the 3-month period mean? John explained thusly: “The three-month period is described in the [GTAI] Procedures and Guidelines when dealing with Notices of Motions that would alter the Procedures. The 3 months is a ‘gestation period’; it would actually only cover the months of May and June; July and August being the ‘dark months’, and the month of September. In September, then, the 3 months is completed for that period; although 5 months will have elapsed. It is at that time that we will have discussion on the Floor of the Motion.”
Maire O’B. (Leslie): Regarding the 3rd paragraph of the April Minutes – ‘At the end of the 3-month period, a simple majority (2/3rds) vote is needed for this to go to a 90-day referendum.’ The 2/3rds is incorrect and should be stricken from the record; it is a simple majority. John concurred.
Doug R. (St. Clements): thought it was a 60% majority to pass. Has it changed? John emphasized again that it was a simple majority.
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MOTION to adopt Minutes as amended by above items moved by Dave K. (Woodbine) and seconded by Greg H. (Hill). 1 abstention noted. CARRIED. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Chairperson’s Opening Remarks – John M. (Thornhill), Operating Committee Chair
“There has been one month under my belt [as Operating Chair], and I’m still trying to get my feet firmly on the ground. There’s an awful lots of things that are sort of ‘in the wind’; not the least of which is this Motion. Of course, this is what you are all most concerned about. One thing that I would like to ask is that there be a real effort, if possible, to have a spirit of cooperation….if we could come at these issues with a spirit of cooperation, keeping in mind that we are all volunteers doing the best we can to help this fellowship survive…this is what drew me to service; the spirit of goodwill.”
Collection of the 7th Tradition, which totaled $167.54.
Housekeeping Concerns regarding use of the church space (John M.): John was asked by the Church Secretary to make members aware of the following items:
a) There have been concerns and complaints by the church that members have been trespassing in the church building before this meeting. Please be aware that there is a Day Care facility on-site, which has strict policies on trespassing. If this is not respected, there will be trespassing charges enforced.
b) There have been problems with rodent infestation at the church. When leaving the church, please use the trash. Do not prop the outside door open.
John shared that a Special Information Meeting Flyer regarding the Notice of Motion made last month (to be held June 12) was made available to reps at this meeting.
FINANCE REPORT – Gregg W. (Rox Glen Traditional), Finance Chairperson
To answer member’s question last month regarding a computer cost breakdown: Gregg provided a breakdown sheet for members at this meeting as requested.
We’re still ahead of our overall budget for the year. In this current month, Gratitude/donations are up slightly. We are still waiting on ORC figures; hence the minus figure in that column. Our Literature sales are on the increase. Write-offs of inventory: we had allowed for – over the whole year –write-offs/cost of sales adjustment of $6,000; to date, it stands at $4,600 so we are ahead of budget. Computer cost adjustment will be recorded for June meeting. When we assessed for computer budget [$10,500], we budgeted over 3 months. Therefore, there are 2 more months where there will be a budget figure of $3,500 showing up for computer costs.
QUESTIONS:
Mike C. (Beverly Hills) inquired about the Treatment committee expenses: the figure was $144, now it’s zero. Why? Gregg: I don’t know offhand. Fran H. (Kingsway): the minus -$144 is an ‘over-budget figure. In the next column it should be zero. No money has been spent. Mike: I don’t understand. [To be discussed after the meeting.]
Lynn B. (City Central): do we have the results of the audit? Gregg: We are still waiting for ORC figures for the auditor, as he had requested them.
Ken (Erin Mills) asked about the 8% discrepancy figure mentioned at the end of last year. Gregg explained that this was price list revision problem. It was an adjustment in the Cost of Goods figures from AA World Service; they revised their price list, and this was not put into our system.
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MOTION to Suspend Regular Business temporarily for Election of a new Junior Operating Committee member moved by Courtney R. (Living Sober), and seconded by Greg H. (Hill). 1 abstention noted. CARRIED. ___________________________________________________________________________________
John explained that Rita K. (Royal York) resigned from the position, so a new Junior was needed. Roy R. (Trial & Error) facilitated the election. Roy outlined the requirements for the position as per the P & G, and asked for nominations from the Floor. Florence B. (Noon Rap) was nominated for the new Junior position (by acclamation).
John M. resumed the meeting: “Normally we would have a Workshop (on Subcommittee roles; and also our P & G). As this sort of being a pivotal time for Intergroup, it may be wise that we still go through the Procedures and Guidelines document on a ‘if you have a question, ask us’ basis, rather than a blow-by-blow method. Most of you are fairly well familiarized with the document; if anyone here is not familiar, this would be a good venue for you to ask questions about a particular section or sections…but first, I would like to ask that Rene, our Chair for the 2008 ORC, come up and give a report [on the event].”
ORC 2008 – Rene T. (Silverbirch), Chairperson
Rene read the following report (hard copy of report on file):
First, I would like to thank everyone for the opportunity to chair the Ontario Regional Conference…the Conference has always been a major boost in my own sobriety and to participate in some small way to do the same for others has really meant a great deal to me. When I came into this program some 32-odd years ago, I was unable to go into a greasy spoon, because I did not belong…and there I was, a part of the conference committee at the Royal York Hotel!!! Talk about life-changing experiences.
As I listened to what some of the registrants of the conference said they wanted and/or needed, I began to get a vision of some of the things that I might be able to add to enhance an already great event. People had said that they wanted fresh people to work the conference; besides 2 members who had some experience (which is needed) all of my committee were new.
People had also mentioned that it was only Toronto people who participated in the conference, so the committee was formed from people all over the city, as well as Kitchener and Barrie. Brampton and Oakville played a major role in the conference this year as well.
It was reported that when a speaker spoke in the concert hall, unless you had front row seats, you could not make out who was speaking or see facial expressions…so a camera was added.
There were complaints of times where there was nothing to do, so extra meetings were added: some discussions, a workshop, and a couple of local speakers (which had also been asked for).
There was a dance on the Friday night for those who wanted to have some fun, as well as a speaker meeting and an Ask-It-Basket Talk-a-thon.
Because of an over-crowded dance floor on the Saturday night, an extra dance was added, and seemed to make people happy.
None of the things like marshals, or bagpipes, or flowers were new ideas…these were all items that used to be a part of our wonderful conference. The song that was sung at the end of this conference came from the International Conference.
The Ontario Room was turned into a coffee/meet-and-greet/subcommittee table room, and seemed to be a big success.
I have heard nothing but positive feedback about the conference, with some saying that it was the best one yet!
I tried to do what I believe the chairperson of the conference’s job is; to give the registrants the best conference that can be had for the money that is there, and I know that we accomplished that hands-down…the conference will bring back people next year.
There were rising costs of the fixed costs for the conference: transportation, audio, DJs, printing, and registration.
We will be donating $4,325.53 to Toronto Intergroup, plus a couple thousand for GST. Traditionally, it was a donation if the conference made any money…with the donations being given to Intergroup in the last couple of years, I felt more money could be spent on the conference, and if not then the price of admission should be lowered…if there are such large donation[s] the registrants (you) should not be charged so much…this was never a money-making proposition as it seems to have become.
Also, the Operating Committee on at least a couple of occasions this year has suggested that Intergroup feels they should not sponsor the conference anymore. If that is the case – and considering the large donations made to Intergroup – I think the $15,000 that is set aside for the ORC be left with the ORC…that the ORC can be self-sufficient and should not be left in the lurch without any money. The next 2 [ORC] chairs have signed contracts with hotels in good faith.
I would also like to suggest that the ORC committees not be responsible for the selling of literature at the conference…the committee is billed for the items and given a credit for items returned, leaving the ORC responsible if there are any losses…I think the Operating Committee or the [Intergroup] office be responsible to pick up and sell literature and return it to the office, so there are no mishaps with shortages of literature.
As to the rumour of there not being any financial reports available…there was a financial report available to the [Intergroup] liaison every month, as well as all the bank statement[s] going to 234 and being opened by someone in the office, before being forwarded to the [ORC] treasurer…sometimes a couple of months later…so, in essence, the Intergroup office had access and knowledge of where things stood financially long before the ORC committee did.
The ORC committee has been a very smoothly-run operation for some time…and what is that saying [that] we learn early in recovery??? If it works – don’t fix it?!
Two great people have been chosen to chair the next two ORC’s, and I am sure that you will enjoy them every bit as much as this year’s conference!
Thank you again for allowing me this wonderful opportunity and experience.
Yours in Love and Service,
Rene T., Past ORC chair
After this report, Rene stated she had a financial report for the ORC available to read out figures for members if required; she apologized for not having a lot of copies available due to printer problems.
Rene was given applause from Floor members on her efforts as ORC Chair 2008.
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MOTION to Suspend Regular Business to facilitate a Workshop regarding the Procedures & Guidelines document moved by Bill J. (Friendly), and seconded by Glen B. (Back to Basics). 1vote against the Motion; 4 abstentions noted. CARRIED.
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QUESTIONS were fielded by Lynn B (City Central). He shared the following: “Considering where we’re moving as a process through the ad hoc committee and the Motion that has gone out, I strongly recommend that you spend some time with this, so that you can understand what the proposed changes are to the document. I have done some preparatory work in ‘translating’ the Motion into the Procedures and Guidelines. The proposed changes reflect 70% of the document. So in order for you to make an informed choice, it’s strongly suggested that, if you don’t have question tonight, that you read it very carefully over the next few weeks, and attend the Special Information Meeting here on Thurs., June 12 (upstairs).”
Roy R. (Trial & Error) asked Lynn to go through the process of a referendum; Lynn obliged.
Regarding the proposed changes to the P & G as mentioned above: Lynn stated that interested members could leave their e-mail addresses with the secretary for the modified document.
Lynn fielded various questions from Floor members regarding both the Notice of Motion and the current Procedures and Guidelines document. A lively discussion ensued.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
From the Minutes of April 2008: ‘Bryan W. (Rox Glen) re: new Executive Secretary. He feels this position should be a non-alcoholic, “to give balance”. As an example, he expressed gratitude to our former Executive Secretary, Carole Keenan, and gave her accolades as to her 25-year commitment to helping carrying the message and her vast understanding of our Twelve Traditions. Bryan wanted to make a Motion to this effect. John: pointed out the change in Procedures regarding making Motions/Notice of Motions. Bryan would need to make a Notice of Motion. This item will be discussed at a future General Meeting.’ As this member was not in attendance tonight, further discussion will occur at a future General Meeting.
NEW BUSINESS: no New Business was brought forward.
MOTION to adjourn moved by Glen B. (Back to basics), and seconded by Phil (Mississauga). CARRIED.
NEXT GENERAL MEETING: Tuesday, June 24 at 8 p.m. at Glebe Rd. United Church.