Green Party of Canada
Durham Electoral District Association
Annual General Meeting
Sat. Feb. 23, 2008
Bowmanville Public Library
Bowmanville ON
Chair: Becky Smit, GPC Ontario organizer
Minutes taken by Louis Bertrand
The meeting was convened by Becky Smit to relaunch the EDA or, if there was no interest, wind it down.
Report: Virginia Irvin, CEO
The EDA has been quiet since there has been more focus on the provincial party due to the recent Ontario election. Virginia has a new job opportunity which makes it necessary to move out of the riding. Since the last federal election, she has been trying to connect with people and do some outreach but job responsibilities make it difficult to devote much time. She would like to see new people fill the needed positions on the executive. At the moment, only herself and Financial Agent Laurie Durnin are active. She suggests reaching out to new members by holding information sessions, community forums to address local concerns (e.g. the incinerator project).
Financial Agent Laurie Durnin will provide the new executive with a financial statement (email to constituency association membership later).
Neither Virginia nor Laurie are able to continue as CEO and Financial Agent.
Report: Louis, GPO constituency association CEO
Louis provided a short report on the Ontario election October 2007 and the formation of the provincial constituency association.
Tutorial on EDA purpose and administration:
Becky provided a short intro to what an EDA exists for and does.
Nominations & vote for new executive:
CEO : Jeremy Woodcock
Financial Agent: (None nominated - searching for volunteers)
Communications chair: Louis Bertrand
Members-at-large: Tracey Kalynchuk-Mueller and Joanne Luchuck
PASSED
The position of Financial Agent is vacant and a suitable candidate can be appointed by the executive.
Candidate Search
There is a federal election in the near future if the current minority government is defeated in the House of Commons. At the moment, there is no candidate. A nomination meeting needs to be called as soon as possible. Members should search out for candidates on their own. If multiple prospective candidates seek the nomination, the contest is good for the EDA because of the press coverage and the prospective candidates recruiting their own supporters for the nomination meeting.
Louis (Comms. Chair) will send an email to the membership with information on the candidate search using material from the Green Party national office.
New EDA Constitution
The membership voted to accept the suggested constitution based on a standard "boilerplate" form provided by Becky. The constitution provides for the nomination of a candidate under normal circumstances, as well as a fast-track process in the event an election is called.
Membership Summary
At the moment, there are 17 current (paid-up) members, and 100 names on the contact list. Someone pointed out that it would be easy to experience high growth percentages!
Tasks and immediate goals
The first task of the new Financial Agent is to file a report with the national office to qualify for revenue sharing. Under the federal election finance system, the national party receives $1.75 per year per vote earned in the previous election. Some of that revenue is shared with active EDAs. The revenues can be used to fund events and buy routine advertising materials like buttons and stickers.
Education and outreach
Need to hold workshops and info sessions "what's it all about", film screenings and tutorials on the basics of environmental issues because it is crucial for members and supporters to be correct and knowledgeable on issues. We should start with children and high school students.
Durham Greens Web site
Louis has been maintaining the http://durhamgreens.ca/ web site on his own personal server since last summer (August 2007). He will move it to a new, faster server as time permits and change the look over to a GPC colour scheme in anticipation of a federal election. The content management software allows members to create a login on the site and post photos, events or blogs. A photo contest was suggested to generate images to make the site more attractive. Members and supporters are welcome to post on the site.
Meeting adjourned
The executive meets again Sat. Mar 8 1pm at the Clarington Central Secondary School, Clarington Blvd, Bowmanville (near the new shopping centres west of downtown).
