OBIN Coordinating Team

Minutes

Tuesday, 18 January, 2022. 7:00 – 8:40 pm EST

Zoom:  

Chair:  Kerry Lubrick 

Present: Barbara, Caterina, Jim, Joe, Kerry, Kevin, Melanie, Piers, Richard Samara and Elaine

Absent: John, Regrets: Craig and Ron.

1. Approval of Agenda

The agenda was approved without discussion.

2. Introduction to Samara Ben-Reuven

Kerry introduced Samara to OBIN and invited each member of the Coordinating Team to welcome her as the new Promotion and Communications Coordinator.

3. Treasurer’s Report 

Richard reported as follows:

• We received two donations during the month of December 2021, for a net of $ 33.38;
• We had one expense for the Zoom account, $ 221.22; and,
• In the bank account, after extracting the externally restricted funds, there is a net amount available to OBIN of $ 2,268.46.

4. Content Management Update 

Piers reported that during the month of December he had worked on the Newsletter, the Annual Report and preparations for the AGM.  Joe noted that OBIN does not have detailed statistical summaries of our members, volunteers or donors. Kerry thanked Piers for updating the information on the C-Team. Website.

5. Roundtable Updates:

a) Internal Relations 

Caterina stated that she had met with Affiliate members in January in preparation for the Annual Report and also worked on clarifying information for Advocacy Week, a summary of which may be found in her report.

b) External Relations 

Barbara reported that she was making good progress on the preparation of 2-3- page briefing notes for Fisheries and Agriculture and noted that the final draft would be completed by February 9 and the final report in March.  In reply to a question from Kerry she confirmed that the individual cases could be revisited as they represent useful references. 

c) Promotions and Communications 

Elaine noted that she presents material on twitter 2 – 3 times per week and is currently addressing the issue of how disability advocates can coordinate messaging around the election.

d) BIYCN 

Melanie confirmed that BIYCN had held its first meeting of the year during which they discussed the strategic plan, objectives, and strategy as well as the possibility of organizing a volunteer boot camp for people who might wish to join BIYCN.

e) Other

Jim informed the team that the Green Resilience Project was moving ahead and that 30-35 meetings were being planned across the country starting this month involving Basic Income groups and community groups. Jim added that in accordance with the funding arrangement, the program had to be completed by April. He indicated that he would report in more detail at the upcoming AGM.

6. New Business

f) Decision to purchase “Basic Income” books 

Joe introduced the subject by explaining that he had discussed the issue with Barbara and that she had agreed that we could provide a copy of Elaine’s book to anyone who participated in the Advocacy Week. Given that the discounted cost of each book would be $ 14.97, or, with shipping added, approximately $ 30.00 each, the total cost of providing twenty books would be about $ 600.00. Piers proposed that we have someone close to Queen’s Park deliver the books personally and Joe added that delivery by a Basic Income rep would provide an added opportunity for discussion with MPPs. Jim added that we might consider sending copies to Affiliates as well. Kerry concluded the discussion by asking Caterina and Elaine to follow up.  

g) AGM – Draft Final Agenda, Annual Report 

Kerry noted that we are fully prepared for the AGM and that we have completed the Agenda, the Annual Report and the Financial Statement. She went on to point out that what is lacking is a clear definition in our constitution of what constitutes a quorum. In this regard she proposed that we might simply specify the number of people signed into the meeting.  In reply to a question from Elaine about who would be eligible to attend the meeting, Kerry suggested that we send out an e-blast indicating that anyone and everyone is free to attend. Joe added that, if there were only a few members attending,  that we might have participants identify themselves by name and hometowns only. In reply to a question from Kerry about concerns with the Annual Report Joe raised the following three issues:

* In the last line he said we should replace “hope” with “will”;

* We should indicate that Piers enters both the minutes and the newsletters onto the internet; and,

* We should clarify that the report is for the fiscal year 2021.

Kerry will schedule a meeting in February/March for OBIN strategic planning. Working on raising the profile of BI in the provincial and municipal elections will be the focus of activities. There is also a need to complete team building as there have been many changes on the C-Team.

h) Committee on Ontario Election 

Kerry initiated the discussion by informing the team that the election committee has been meeting every two weeks. She emphasized in this regard that one of the conclusions of the committee is that OBIN is a non-partisan entity and that we are simply champions of Basic Income. Nonetheless, even though we are non-partisan, we may support a candidate because he/she is a supporter of Basic Income. Our goal should be twofold: informing the public and getting support from MPPs.  Jim stated it was important organizationally that we not line up behind a particular party. The BI Pledge was a great idea because it includes all parties and allows Basic Income to avoid endorsing a particular party or candidate.

i) Message for Conservatives 

Jim indicated that he was uncomfortable with the concept of “small government” in the Message for Conservatives and would prefer an emphasis on efficiency and cost effectiveness.  Joe replied that the terminology was taken from the Conservative statement.  After a brief discussion Joe proposed that we review this issue at a later date.

Deadline for February Newsletter 

Piers informed the team that the deadline for the February Newsletter was Monday, January 31.

Schedule for Next Meeting 

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

Adjournment Time

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.