You can find the minutes by visiting this link.

Alternatively, you can find them below

OBIN Coordinating Team

Minutes

Tuesday, 15 February, 2022. 7:00 – 8:45 pm EST

Zoom: 

Chair:  Kerry Lubrick

Present:  Caterina, Craig, Elaine, Joe, John, Kerry, Kevin, Piers, Richard and Samara

Absent: Melanie and Ron. Regrets: Barbara and Jim

1. Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved without discussion.

1. New Business
2. a) Debrief of AGM

Kerry opened the discussion by asking what went well and what can we improve and change for our next AGM.

John reported that he was really pleased with the meeting, that it stayed on schedule and that even the business portion was interesting. He mentioned that he had forgotten to click ‘stop record’ during the break and is seeking assistance with trimming the recording so it is ready for uploading.  

Caterina thought the meeting went well, notwithstanding the fact that Senator Pate had gotten the dates mixed up.  She is anxious to go back and watch the video.  She was pleased that a lot of people tuned in to hear the Senator speak.  Another thing that was good was that Andrew Welch attended and expressed interest in the Co-coordinator role for Internal Relations.

Samara reported that this was her first AGM and thought the pace was great. People felt comfortable enough to speak up and express interest in getting involved.

Kevin thanked Piers for pointing out that Senator Pate was an Independent Senator rather than a Conservative.  Overall, he thought the meeting had gone extremely well.

Elaine was really pleased with the program, felt there was a great turnout and lots of participation. The silver lining of the pandemic is that it is easier for people to access the meeting while the downside is that we don’t get the intensity of the interactions and energizing spirit. Overall, however, she thought it had gone very well.

Piers reported that he hadn’t been able to watch the whole talk and was looking forward to watching the video on the internet. It will be available on the website through a link to the youtube channel.

Joe mentioned that he had participated in a number of AGMs, and that while he felt it would be nice to meet in person, online is important to people who otherwise couldn’t join. In the future, we should plan for a hybrid version and make it a habit. Based on his experience he felt it was much better to hold the business portion of the meeting first.  The sequence works well and he recommends it for the future. He believes that we should have a guest speaker at all future meetings and that we should begin to consider who we might have for our next meeting. Joe hopes the video will be available soon and that it will be in two parts so that people can watch the business part and/or the speaker’s part. Overall, it was very successful and ready to be shared with people.

Craig supported Joe’s comment about a hybrid version of the meeting and pointed out that that is how large conferences are currently being conducted. Kerry thought the meeting went really well and that everyone was engaged.  She was pleased to see that a lot of people remained in attendance after the talk by the guest speaker.  She said people were interested in how we all work together and this may present an opportunity for us to have another zoom meeting in about 6 months in order to bring all these people together again.

1. b) Responses to “contact us” from website: for discussion and decision

In reply to a question from Kerry about where emails to “contact us” actually go, John replied that they go into a mini database which has to be downloaded and placed on a spreadsheet in order to see what’s in it. It’s very awkward and has to be monitored. Kerry suggested that we needed to figure out a process that would allow us to download these messages on a regular basis and disseminate them to the right person.  John added that there should be provision for a “contact the facilitator” option and the “contact us” option removed.

Action: John and Piers will review.

1. c) Website definitions: supporters, volunteers, donors, fundraisers and recruiters – John reported that anyone who goes into the website and donates is an OBIN member and can go in and choose if they want to receive the newsletter, etc. Each member also chooses whether he/she wants to be active or inactive. The database is not set up to differentiate donors, recruiters, etc. We can spend some time to see how those tags can be used. Addresses and postal codes are not mandatory. Although we are collecting data on these people we don’t know where most live. This will be a challenge when targeting communications based on ridings. We have 500 people in the database but the majority don’t have an address.

Piers added that if one clicks on the individual profile, it will show their riding but only when they have identified it. The database also has a provincial poll that tells you everyone who is in that poll. Joe added that people who had signed up a long time ago were asked to sign up again and update their data but doesn’t believe this has happened.  Kerry expressed the hope that each time someone sends a donation or signs up that a thank you letter goes out.

Action: Joe and John will review to determine if this address issue could be resolved.

1. d) Media Spokesperson

Kerry asked who should be identified as spokesperson in reply to questions from the media.  Samara offered the suggestion that the subject matter expert would be the best person to reply and Caterina proposed that Elaine, who “had written the book” on BI would be the ideal person to respond to media enquiries. Elaine agreed to be the main point person for this purpose so long as it was agreeable to everyone and said she had access to a lot of expertise that she could call on from Ottawa and from around the country. Elaine added that the type of story – i.e. one that needed an immediate answer vs. an in depth piece - was also a factor that had to be taken into consideration, Craig suggested that the media is often looking for print stories where they want colour, in effect, people who have been affected by the policies vs.  experts.

Decision:  There would be one focal person  - Samara or Elaine - who would direct enquiries to the most appropriate person to answer depending on the question content.

1. e) Message for Conservatives

Joe reported that he had revised and shortened the original document. He asked whether we wanted a title for the document and whether it should be directed towards Conservatives with a capital C or conservative minded people with a lower- case c? The paper is intended as a support for discussion with MPs and MPPs in the future. Kevin recommended that we not make the message for Conservatives as it would suggest that we are anti-Conservative.  The paper should be made available to all voters who are interested in the election. He noted in this regard that there is nothing in the document that specifies it is for conservatives, which he felt was positive. Craig disagreed pointing out that there is nothing in the document that speaks to the social democratic left. Richard suggested that it was important that we decide whether the paper was to be used as an internal document in discussions when approaching someone with a small c or large c hat, or if it is to be a public document. If public, we need to be careful how we position it whereas, If it is for internal use, then it is merely talking points when approaching a member of the Conservative party. Joe asked if the paper was published for a broad audience, would it be efficient and still provide freedom of choice. Also, does it speak to conservative values without identifying the document as such.  Elaine proposed that this discussion is related to the type of basic income we want and pointed out that she doesn’t want basic income with austerity.  By putting this out there we would accept a minimalist basic income program.

Craig suggested that the strength of the original document was the talking points to conservatives and proposed that these be put back in the document.

1. Treasurer’s Report

Richard reported that:

* we received 12 donations during the month of January 2022, for a net of             $ 540.13;

* no expenses were incurred during the month of January; and,

* in the bank account, after extracting the externally restricted funds, there is a net amount available to OBIN of $ 2,615.60.

1. Content Management Update

Piers reported that the AGM minutes are on the website and that the video will be posted as soon as it is available on youtube. Piers will prepare the March newsletter, his last before handing over this task in April.  In the meantime, he requested that data for this month’s edition be forwarded to him no later than February 27.

1. Roundtable Updates:
2. a) Internal Relations

Caterina reported that she was enjoying working on the provincial election strategy team.  The most recent Affiliates meeting which, although not well attended, included Andrew Welch who has expressed interest in being Co-coordinator for internal relations.  

1. b) Promotions and Communications

Samara reported that she plans to work with Craig on an election media kit.  Samara is working on OBIN’s communication plan which will assist with timelines and allocated resources.

1. c) Social Media

Elaine continues to tweet and post messages on Facebook. Books “A Case for Basic Income” and cards for MPPs who participated in advocacy week or with whom we are building a relationship, have been sent to Toronto for delivery.  She will follow up on the delivery of the books. Elaine will provide the team with a list of the book recipients as soon as she receives it.

1. d) Arts

Craig reported that he will be preparing a draft tomorrow morning for a presentation at the BI National Forum and that he is currently participating in two events with the Arts Council leading up to the provincial election June 2, one on the east side of Toronto and one on the west.

1. e) Committee on Ontario Elections

John reported that the committee is making a drive forward and will be in a much stronger position than during the federal election. While he does not expect Ontario to pull it off on their own, it will be important, nevertheless, that they build a platform with the feds. Elaine added that we have momentum and really good resources and people. She described the progress as exciting.

1. Schedule for Next Meeting

Kerry confirmed that the next meeting would be held Tuesday, 15 March.

1. Adjournment Time

The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.