Quality of Island Life Cooperative

These minutes have been NOT been reviewed by the membership, and have NOT been formally adopted.

Quality of Island Life Co-operative Annual General Meeting
May 13, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. Seaview Hall, Seaview, PEI

Present: J’Nan Brown, Kirk Brown, Katherine Clough (Past Chair), Ann Greyborn, Dolores Levangie, Jill Lightwood (Board Member), Matt McGuire, Irene Novaczek (Board Member), Morley Pinsent (Chair), Peter Rukavina (Vice- Chair), Rob Sharkie (Board Member), Ann Sherman (Treasurer), Kathy Stuart (Secretary).

Regrets: Shari MacDonald (Board Member), David Daughton

1. Welcome and rounds - members and guests were welcomed by Morley Pinsent (Chair).

2. Minutes of May, 20, 2008 - the minutes of the 2008 AGM were accepted as circulated (Irene N/Peter R). There was no business arising.

3. Treasurer’s Report – Ann Sherman presented a written financial statement listing all transactions for the period from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009. Revenues included several donations and financial assistance from the Provincial Government to hire a facilitator for the strategic planning workshop held in March. Expenditures consisted of service charges and the facilitator’s fee. The ending bank balance was $514.93, which includes project money allocated but not yet paid. It was moved by Ann to accept the Treasurer’s Report/Financial Statement (motion carried). It was noted that data was now being collected on member inputs of time and resources for a report at the next annual meeting. Irene suggested that this collecting function could be added to the website.

4. Audit - moved by Irene and seconded by Jill to waive the audit due to the few transactions during the year. It was reaffirmed that waiving of the audit should not become routine, as a third party opinion on the organization’s finances can avoid conflict. Motion carried.

5. President’s Report – Morley presented his written report which is attached as Appendix A. Moved by Morley, seconded by Irene to accept the President’s Report. Motion carried.

6. Amendment of By-Laws – Morley indicated that notice had been duly given to the membership in accordance with Section 38 (1) of the PEI Cooperative Associations Act and Regulations to amend Item 5 of the By-laws regarding membership and meetings. He recommended the following changes to By-laws:

Item 5 – Membership and Meetings.

Add as section G:

[G] An Active Member of the association shall own at least one (1) share in the association and; pay an Annual Membership Fee to the association of a minimum of $10. The fee shall be due and payable on the first day of each fiscal year of the association.

Amend [E] by inserting “active” into the following clause:

[E] Thirty percent of the active members plus one (30%+1) present and in person and entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the members. When a quorum is not convened, the next called meeting shall be a valid meeting, notwithstanding lack of a quorum, and the call shall so inform the members.

Seeing general agreement, it was moved by Kirk B and seconded by Peter R that the By- Laws be amended as recommended. Motion carried unanimously.

7. Report of the Nominating Committee and Election of Directors – Morley reported that three of the sitting directors, Katherine Clough, Jill Lightwood and Shari MacDonald were stepping down. The retiring directors were each thanked for their great contributions to the organization. The remaining six directors were willing to stand for re-election, along with David Daughton who had offered. The Chair called three times for nominations from the floor, and there being none, the sitting directors and the newest director were proclaimed as follows: David Daughton, Irene Novaczek, Morley Pinsent, Peter Rukavina, Rob Sharkey, Ann Sherman and Kathy Stuart. It was moved by Irene and seconded by Kathy to accept this slate of officers (motion carried). Morley noted that the Board has the option to appoint two more directors throughout the year and that the officers are to be appointed at a Board Meeting following the AGM.

8. Report on Strategic Planning Session – Jill presented a summary of the visioning and planning process carried out in February 2009 to clarify the interests and values of QoIL. More information is available at www.qoil.ca (see May 2009 newsletter and the discussion document). The process has led to four interlocking strategic directions: towards a) organizational development, b) a research focus, c) outreach to members and the public, and d) influencing government.

Creative and engaged discussion followed during a roundtable of all individuals present.

Some of the comments are described below:

Irene reported that the QoIL project, Quality of Life Survey: Tyne Valley & Surrounding Areas, 2006, was now completed and awaiting dissemination. A comprehensive report from Dolores Levangie on the results would immediately follow the meeting. The Tyne Valley report will be published by the Institute of Island Studies and presented to community members and the public over the next few months.

J’Nan indicated the need for research on sustainability of rural farming communities, suggesting that it be in eastern PEI and comparable to the Tyne Valley study. It was also suggested that comparative data from an urban area of Charlottetown or Summerside would also be valuable, and to incorporate such data into Community Accounts.

Rob reported that his personal and professional interest in QoIL is engaged and excited by possibilities for research projects related to the environment, especially those organized by watershed.

Kirk expressed his ongoing interested in energy projects and climate change mitigation which will have a very large impact on PEI within the next 20 years. Ann G reported that research underway by the Town of Stratford was looking 20 years ahead and focusing on quality of life.

Peter indicated that he had a strong bias towards things that happen in a day. He suggested that in reaching out, particularly to younger citizens, QoIL adopt a rapid response strategy using digital media that allows infinite malleability. For example, when he discovered difficulty in finding tourism inspection reports on the government website, he immediately found a way to provide this link on his blog to tourism sites so that visitors might improve their search for accommodations.

Katherine is looking forward to her new role as a non-Board member. She plans to continue contributing to the newsletter, particularly on governance issues and useful comparisons with other islands with similarities such as Tasmania.

Kathy noted that there will be an international research conference on singing (AIRS) at UPEI at the end of June involving themes of education, development and well-being. As singing has a universal connection with quality of life, health and well-being, she suggested that highlights of this research and its relation to the local community could be addressed on the QoIL website or in the newsletter.

Matt suggested that as a public outreach tool, QoIL could produce an annual statement on the quality of life of PEI. For example, state of the environment reports have been issued by small organizations in other provinces and such a development would help put QoIL on the map while doing valuable service for PEI.

Ann S. suggested that the question of what makes a community good to live in is worth asking. The response indicates what people value most, whether it be economic or social resources, infrastructure, response when needing assistance, wellness, social inclusion, health or whatever. QoIL can help to broaden outlook by seeing and showing what others feel are important. Such information can be used personally or by the community. For example, Charlottetown is putting together a community crime prevention committee. The quality of our lives has to feed into opportunities like this.

Jill indicated that she had initially become involved because of Community Accounts and now sees QoIL as a small but mighty organization. Although she was leaving the Board due to other commitments, she would continue as a member with a passion for facilitation and organization development.

Moe revealed that in his ongoing role as Chair, he would be honing his nagging skills since the future of QoIL depends on the active involvement of the membership. Over the course of the next year, he will be focusing on organization development and shepherding the strategic plan as it unfolds.

9. Community Accounts Update – This is an exciting tool for communities to obtain comparative information about themselves and develop strategies based upon quality of life measurements as well as other data. Matt McGuire noted that the Newfoundland and PEI governments have both approved an MOU to cooperate in the development of Community Accounts. The first iteration of PEI data is expected to be live by the end of May. While PEI will be able to eventually offer the full facility similar to NL, there is much work to be done to add value and develop layers beyond federal census data. Further information is available at www.communityaccounts.ca. An official announcement about CA is expected at an opportune time in June or later. It was noted that QoIL’s independent initiative and persistent efforts to get the system going in PEI, as well as wonderful support from NL CA proponents, should be recognized in any provincial government announcement.

10. Royalty Oaks Project –The “sacred ground” of Royalty Oaks has been identified by Peter and confirmed by the QoIL strategic planning process as the basis for a visible project for 2009. QoIL will engage with various community stakeholders to renew their focus on this neglected urban forest within a Charlottetown neighbourhood which has a disproportionate number of disadvantaged youth. Peter outlined the very positive results to date in seeking out people and groups involved with youth there. QoIL will need active involvement of members in its role as a catalyst of this project and as a supporter of research into how the forest may be affected and reclaimed as a result of community intervention.

11. Motion to Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m., followed by a report on the Tyne Valley Project by Dolores Levangie and a lobster dinner on site.