1 GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 (online meeting) (These Minutes unapproved by Floor Members) The meeting convened at 8:15 p.m. with a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer. Dave H. (Beaches) read the Twelve Traditions. MEMBERS PRESENT: INTERGROUP REP/ALT: Anniversary, Aurora, Bayview, Beaches, Beyond Belief (Sub. West), Birds of a Feather, Bloordale, Church Street, Danforth, Deer Park, Dry on the Danforth, East York, Erin Mills, Fifth Tradition (Scarborough), Freedom, Gay Sober Men, Glenholme, Half Century, High Park, Hill, Keep It Simple (Scarborough), Kipling, Lakeshore, Living Sober, Long Branch, Love & Tolerance, Markland Wood, Midtown, Mississauga, Morning Discussion, Mount Royal-York, North Toronto, One Paragraph at a Time, Open Hands, Parkway, Port Credit, Queensville, Saturday Morning Discussion, Scarborough, Shepherd, Silverbirch, Sisters in Sobriety, Six Points, Spiritual Kindergarten, St. Clements, Steps to Serenity, Streetsville St. Andrews, Streetsville, Sunnyside, Tuesday Men’s Solution, Twelfth Tradition, Welcome, and Yorkville. DISTRICT LIAISONS: Districts 06, 10, 12, 14, and 18. OPERATING COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Dave H., Gord H., Gord T., Graham D., Jeanette E., Marvyn W. (OC Vice-Chair), Nina L. (OC Chair), and Seán D. SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS: Archives, Communications, Twelfth Step, CPC, Public Information, and Treatment. CHAIRPERSON’S OPENING REMARKS / HOUSEKEEPING: Nina L. (Sisters in Sobriety), Operating Committee Chairperson: After welcoming everyone to the assembly, Nina thanked everyone for their attendance. She outlined the following: This meeting will be recorded, by audio-only, as an aide memoir for the person preparing the Minutes. We have to take every precaution to ensure the attendee's anonymity is protected. Whether the proceedings are electronically recorded or recorded through hand-written notetaking, only first names are recorded and only first names appear in the Minutes. The only members that have a voice and or a voting right are the Representatives or the Alternate Rep if the Representative is not present, and Subcommittee Chairs when giving their reports. ADOPTION OF MINUTES – AUGUST 2020: Errors and/or Omissions: No errors or omissions recorded. There was a MOTION to adopt Minutes as presented moved by Michael W. (Welcome) and seconded by Aaron M. (Markland Wood). Motion Carried. At this point in the meeting, Operating Committee members introduced themselves to Floor members. Nina mentioned that Carly B. (Prince Edward) has been appointed as the new OC Secretary (Carly was not present this evening). COLLECTION OF THE 7TH TRADITION: As we are not meeting ‘in person’ at this time, Nina informed members that they can still donate to Intergroup through an online feature on our website www.aatoronto.org. The 7th Tradition link is as follows: https://www.aatoronto.org/about/7th-tradition/ It appears on our website Home Page on the top left of the screen: ‘7th Tradition’. FINANCE REPORT – Cam B. (Deer Park), Finance Member: Good evening, my name is Cam B., I am an alcoholic and a member of Intergroup’s Finance Subcommittee. This is our report for the month of August 2020 and is given in conjunction with the table on your screen. This table will be included in the meeting minutes. (See table below). For the year to date August 2020 Intergroup had a deficit of 13.8K comparing favorably to a budgeted deficit of 34.7K. 2 Intergroup experienced lower donations in August compared to the past the 4 months and they were lower than budgeted as well – actual 7.9K vs. budget 14.3K. For the year-to-date August, which is 8 months, Individual and Group Donations combined were 20% above budget and 22% above 2019. For this period, Group donations were 33% above plan and Individual Donations were equivalent to plan. See graph below. For the month of August 2020 Literature Sales were 3.8K compared to the budgeted 13.3K. Year-to-date August Literature Sales were 45.6K and this is 56% below budget and 55% below 2019. August 2020 expenses were 1.8K less than budget. Year-to-date expenses are 114.0K which is 23.7K below budget and this is for 2 reasons: 1. because the wage subsidy reduces expenses by 12.6K and 2. because Committee Expenses are 10.6K below budget. And finally, regarding the wage subsidy: We qualified for, claimed, and have received funds at the full 75% rate for the first 6 claim periods covering March 16th to August 29th. The amount already received through June 2020 for periods 1 to 3 and included in these results is $12.6K. An additional $12.4K for periods 4 to 6 was received in September for a total of 25.0K. 3 After this report, Cam then entertained questions from Floor members. Michael W. (Welcome) asked several questions on behalf of his group. Question: Regarding Cost of Sales [figures], does this include the cost of literature? Answer: Yes. “Cost of Sales’ refers to the cost of literature. Question: Regarding the variance in Expenses – which were lower this month than last month – is this because of the wage subsidy? Where is the Wage Subsidy being accounted for? Answer: The Wage Subsidy is included as a credit within staff costs, so that’s part of the Expenses line item. Question: Further to this, there was quite a significant difference in expenses last month. Expenses were a lot less last month. Can you explain the fluctuation? Answer: Normally most of our expense items are incredibly close month-to- month. There was no wage subsidy received in July. Question: But the Expenses for July are actually lower than for August. Answer: An approximate $4,000 ‘swing’ in expenses is reasonable, from an accounting standpoint. Nina also added that some expenses (bills) are paid on a quarterly basis, which might account for some fluctuation. In reference to the 2020 Donations vs Budget to August 31, 2020 Graph: This graph shows donations by quarter (year to date - 8 months). What is interesting to note here is that, for the year-to-date August group donations are 33% above budget, and individual donations are essentially equal to budget. The higher donations began in April and continued to be higher than budget for May, June, and July. There was a drop in donations in the month of August (see graph below). We’re at a critical point; we’re going into Gratitude Month [October]. We need donations, as we’ve had less literature sales. We look to the individual members to make contributions as part of Gratitude Month. Michael W. (Welcome): given this is a COVID year, how does this chart track to previous years? Are we ahead in donations and are we tracking pretty closely? Answer: Last year, we had $65K in donations; this year we have $83K in donations. We are almost $20,000 ahead in donations, year to date. The higher donations began in April and continued to be higher than budget for May, June, and July. There was a drop in donations in the month of August. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At this point in the meeting, there was a MOTION to suspend regular business to facilitate candidates for a new Communications Chairperson and IT Subcommittee Chairperson; also to discuss the upcoming Gratitude Month moved by Jessie L. (Midtown) and seconded by Carlos D. (Bayview). Motion carried. Appointment of a new Communications Committee Chairperson: Nina inquired if any members present were interested in taking on this service position, and/or called for nominations from the Floor. Carla T. (Welcome), volunteered for the position. After sharing with Floor members her service experience/work-related experience, the OC agreed to appoint Carla to serve as the new Communications Committee Chairperson. Appointment of a new IT Subcommittee Chairperson: Nina inquired if any members present were interested in taking on this service position, and/or called for nominations from the Floor. Gord T. (Welcome), nominated Michael W. (Welcome), and Michael accepted. Michael gave a brief address Floor members, outlining his service experience/work- related experience. Then Kevin N. (Parkway) volunteered for the position and also outlining his service and work-related experience, including a brief summary of his IT service work at 234 over several years. The two candidates were asked to create a Service Resume and email the resume to the Operating Committee c/o the administrative coordinator at [email protected]. The OC members will look at both resumes and announce the new Chairperson at the October General Meeting. Nina thanked Kevin for all his IT service work at the Intergroup Office, and acknowledged Kevin’s efforts (in tandem with other IT Committee members) in presently coordinating the installation our new phone system. More on that later! New Finance Chairperson Needed: Nina inquired if any members present were interested in taking on this service position, and/or called for nominations from the Floor; no one stepped forward at this time. The sobriety requirement for this service position: 5 years of continuous sobriety, and an accounting designation OR equivalent in work 4 experience. Candidates need a good understanding/ experience of the QuickBooks accounting program. Groups were encouraged to pass this information on to group members at their business meeting. At this point in the meeting, Nina made the following presentation to Floor members: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OCTOBER IS GRATITUDE MONTH “AA service is anything…that helps us reach a fellow sufferer; ranging all the way from the Twelfth Step itself to a ten-cent phone call and a cup of coffee, and to AA's General Service Headquarters for national and international action. The sum total of all these services is our Third Legacy.” -Bill W., Letter, July 1955 What is Gratitude Month? Gratitude Month allows groups and individuals to express their gratitude for their collective sobriety and the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.