2015

ANNUAL GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP
MEETING MINUTES
 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015
MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

Date: October 22, 2015
Location: YMCA, 20 Grosvenor St, Toronto

ITEM MOTION COMMENTS

Item 1: Welcome Motion: To appoint Jaime Martino as recorder The meeting was called to order at 6:35
Moved: moderator A Hall introduced current board members,
Voted by membership staff, and moderator
Carried
Moderator introduces rules of meeting and
Motion: to approve the agenda as presented agenda
Moved: S Young
Second: E Milani
Carried

Motion: To approve the minutes of the Oct 30,
2014 AGM
Moved: S Young
Seconded: M Cherney
Carried
Motion: To appoint Marjorie Richards and Benji
DiLorenzo as ballot scrutineers
Moved: moderator
Voted by membership
Carried

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Item 2: Presentation of M Chantelois presented the Annual Report

Annual Report

Item 3: Presentation of Motion: To approve the Audited Financial C Tremeer presented the Audited Financial
Audited Financial Statements for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2015 Statements
Statements & Moved: C Tremeer
Appointment of Auditor Seconded: S Young (Q) A Verma: When can we get a copy of
for Next Fiscal Year Carried financial statements?

Motion: To appoint the firm of Marinucci & C Tremeer: Tonight online, in the office
Company - Chartered Accountants as auditors of
Pride Toronto for the fiscal year ending on July 31, (Q) S Young: How many years has this firm
2016, and that the Board be authorized to fix the been auditing already?
remuneration of the auditor.
Moved: C Tremeer C Tremeer: this is the 4th; board has due
Seconded: T Vanderwey diligence recommendations
Carried
(Q) Trina: How do I know who to vote for?

M Chantelois: The candidates will speak

(Q) Rob Salerno: what motivated the change
to the later weekend? Was there community
consultation?

M Chantelois: Community reacts strongly
one way or another; did consultations last
year in 2 town halls; conversations with staff,
board, and partners; partnership with NY

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A Glynwilliams: very excited about Pride

Month; expanding festival footprint and
timeline

Item 4: Election of New Moderator provided description of

Board Members recruitment process
Moderator described election process
Candidates introduced themselves to the
membership

Questions from membership:
(Q) J Jean: how many positions are available?
Moderator: there are 5 positions

(Q) J O’Sullivan: How many people applied?
What’s the shortlisting process?

A Glynwilliams: open call, posted online,
through membership, fb ads, Xtra callout.
Application process open for week and a half.
We received 8 applications, extended
deadline by another week, got one more. Ad
Hoc committed of the board; did phone
screenings, in-person interviews, ended with a
recommendation of 3 candidates and 2 sitting
board members. 1 further candidate with 10
signatures of members.

(Q) J Lucas: glad that there’s 6 and not just 5

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for 5 places, makes it a real vote.

Questions from Membership to candidates
listed below the minutes
Item 5: Presentation of A Glynwilliams presented the Strategic Plan
Strategic Plan
(Q) R Salerno: mission statement –
understand you wanted to use inclusive
language, but why didn’t you name that
community? The words gay or bi or trans
don’t appear.

A Glynwilliams: question we struggled with
as we were going through. Goal is to be as
inclusive as possible. Get emails every week
from people who don’t see themselves
reflected in the acronym, or believed a letter
shouldn’t be there. Focus on being inclusive,
that everyone who wanted to be part of the
organization could be.

(Q) A Verma: Fierce – talk of curation, but
not much about the community
programming aspect. Those of us who are
looking for specific or very political
programming – how are we going to fit?

A Glynwilliams: Look to ED for operations,
but the community programming is what

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brought us to this place as the biggest pride

in the world. We haven’t lost sight of that;
we’ve tried to incorporate it into all aspects
of the festival as well.

M Chantelois: important to find events and
programming in the community and reach
out to them directly. We want the top of the
top, but we also want edgy. We are a
political festival, we are a festival of queer.
Of course it has to be accessible, but not
vanilla. Don’t do enough women’s events.

(Q) Emilio: lots of talk about culture and
diversity, but there’s a lack of education
within the community – health and risk. Feel
that’s a lack in the plan.

A Glynwilliams: theme we heard quite a bit.
One of the values of the organization, also
Strong Pride and Fierce Pride strategic
directions.

(Q) S Gapka: I wanted to deal with the
acronym, and no one was into it. I like the
language. How do we evaluate this strategic
plan?

A Glynwilliams: the board is there to make

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sure that the strategic plan is being

operationalized. The membership can hold
the board to account, and also vote out
members that are not incorporating the
strategic plan into the operations and
governance.

(Q) N Ward: one of the intersections is
poverty. With such a huge budget, you could
encourage the people we do business with to
be better at LGBT rights.

A Glynwilliams: Definitely. Not as formal as it
could be, but we have these conversations
with sponsors and stakeholders.

M Chantelois: we should make sure that our
suppliers and sponsors are committed to
furthering our rights. I don’t know why we’d
give any money to anyone who was homo-,
bi-, trans-phobic, or just an asshole.
Item 6: Announcement of Motion: To destroy the ballots Moderator announced the following had
Election Results Moved: Cristine Newman been elected to the board:
Seconded: Julie Jean Biko Beuttah
Opposed: Jacqie Lucas Michelle Cherny
Carried Rachel Lauren Clark
Evan Kirkman
Phil Villeneuve

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Item 7: Adjournment Motion: To adjourn the meeting The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm
Moved: Christine Newman
Seconded: Lauryn Kronick
Carried


Questions from Audience to Candidates:

One thing you can improve?
Phil: Branch out further into west and east end, events, organizations
Paul: Intersectionality, different communities
Evan: Trans rights and acceptance within the larger community, and within pride specifically
Rachel: More trans representation at Pride Toronto
Michelle: Financial sustainability; allocating funds properly to make sure we can provide the programming for expansions
Biko: I think Pride is perfect! Want to have an Africa float in the Parade.

If elected, how would you evaluate the board’s performance at the end of the tenure?
Rachel: see the result in what we did last year, we did an excellent job
Evan: Performance indicators needed – set certain goals for each member of the board, check in
Paul: Annual performance review and peer review
Phil: first time ever on any board; hearing positive feedback from the community
Biko: don’t know; willing to learn.
Michelle: policies and processes along the way, instead of evaluating at the end

What is your own personal challenge you expect to face?
Paul: making sure new board members have a key role; challenging to deal with new ideas
Michelle: bringing multiple voices to the table, making sure everyone in the room is heard and accounted for in the board
Biko: Life is a challenge! Remain true to yourself and there are no challenges in life

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Evan: I have the outward appearance of being cisgendered; hope to change the way the community is perceived and make sure
every voice is heard
Rachel: make sure that her voice is not the only trans voice in the room, that she’s not speaking for community
Phil: very optimistic, sometimes to a fault; have trouble with conflict

What is an organization that you think you can help build a better partnership with?
Michelle: out on bay street
Evan: Better relationships with broadcasting and media
Paul: Other pride organizations, especially the ones in Ontario
Biko: Straight allies
Phil: Galleries and art institutions
Rachel: 519, other community organizations

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