General Meeting Tuesday, February 27, 2018

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GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2018

(These Minutes approvedby Floor Members)

The meeting convened at 8 p.m. with a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer. Scott M. (Bloordale) read the Twelve Traditions.

THOSE MEMBERS PRESENT: A Place to Share, Aurora, Back to Basics (Richmond Hill), Bayview, Beverly Hills, Birds of a Feather, Bloordale, Church Street, Deer Park, East York, Gay Sober Men, Glenholme, High Park, Hill, Kingsway, Lakeshore, Leslie, Living Sober, Long Branch, Markham Village, Markland Wood, Mount Royal-York, Night Owls, Noon Rap, North Toronto, OISE Discussion, Principles Before Personalities, Prince Edward, Queensville, Restoration & Recovery, Richmond Hill, River Drive Park, Rox Glen Traditional, Saturday Morning Discussion, Sisters in Sobriety North, Six Points, Sobriety Plus, St. Clement’s, Stepping Stones Discussion, Steps to Serenity, Thornhill, Westmoreland, Willowdale, and Yorkville. District Liaisons:Districts 02, 06, 10, 14, and 22. Executive Committee Members:Aaron K., Bert J. (EC Chair), Dan B., Jack V., Nina L. (EC Vice-Chair), Ron S. (Finance Chair), Simon W., and Sue G. Subcommittee Chairs:Archives, Communications, Correctional Facilities, Finance, Information AA Day 2018, ORC 2018, Public Information, and Twelfth Step.

ADOPTION OF MINUTES – January 2018:

MOTION to adopt Minutes with amendment noted moved by Mike C. (Beverly Hills) and seconded by Mike B. (Richmond Hill). MOTION CARRIED.

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks-Bert J. (Silverbirch), EC Chairperson:

“I would like to welcome everyone to this assembly. We have many things to cover tonight. I would like to start by saying that one of the premier focus points of the Executive Committee this coming year will be to look at different ways to reduce operating costs. As part of our efforts to reduce costs moving forward, we will no longer be able to provide muffins and donuts at this meeting; only coffee will be served. I would also like to add that the 7th collected at each General Meeting basically doesn’t even cover the monthly rental of this meeting space. It’s been like this 10 months out of twelve. This is one of the reasons we no longer have donuts, etc. We have also found another avenue to save on some costs, which Nina our Vice-Chair will be providing to you shortly. Also, please remember that when addressing the Floor that you state your name, your group, and your position. Please speak loud and clear so all Floor members can hear you.”

At this point in the meeting, members of the Executive Committee introduced themselves to Floor members. Also, Bert welcomed 7 new Reps who were in attendance this evening.

There was a Suspension of Regular Business in order to elect new EC members; two or three members are needed. After explaining the sobriety requirement at service positions responsibilities, Bert asked for nominees/volunteers from the Floor. Katrina E. (Steps to Serenity) will serve as a new EC member (by acclamation). Elections for further EC member(s) will be held at the March General Meeting.

Nina L. (Sisters in Sobriety), EC-Vice Chairand Liaison to the Communications Committee, shared the following information with Floor members:

“As Bert was mentioning, our main focus this year was really looking at how we can reduce operating costs and apply our focus on maybe increasing some contributions to Intergroup. When we were looking at the budget, one of the things we saw—which is at a higher cost—was our printing throughout, whether it’s the Better Times Newsletter or the Minutes. Presently, we were looking at having it [printing] outsourced. What we mean by that is that we were having a third party doing the printing for us. Annually, that was costing us $5,125. We also found out that the [photocopying] machine that we have at 234 has the capability to print out the same type of quality for a fraction of the cost. So, in going through the numbers, we found out that we can put out basically the same type of quality item with maybe some additional colour options for an annual cost of $1,645. So that brings us a savings of $3,480. It’s almost a $300 a month savings, which is pretty substantial and no one’s going to miss the quality of the finished product. A Motion was passed that – moving forward – all printing will be completed in-house.”

Nina was asked a few questions from Floor members:a) Will this printing include the Meeting Directory? Answer: No; that item will continue to be outsourced due to special design requirements(i.e.binding), and b)who will be doing the printing? Answer: Nina will volunteer for this process initially for the next quarter and then staff will proceed. The process for printing Better Times for example will only take about an hour or an hour and a half, so the process is also time-effective.

There was a collection of the 7th Tradition, which totaled $241.95.

FINANCE REPORT– Ron S. (North Toronto), Finance Chairperson:

Toronto Intergroup Finance Report at Jan.31st, 2018

ACTUAL RESULTSBUDGETACTUAL RESULTS Year to Date 2018

SUMMARYJANUARY 2018JANUARY 2018JANUARY 2017 ACTUAL BUDGET

INCOME$17,827$13,240$14,711 $17,827 $13,240

EXPENSES$16,454$16,669$15,813 $16,454 $16,999

Net Income or$1,373 $1,373

(Deficit)-$3,459-$1,102 -$3,459

The good news is that we are off to a better start this year. Book sales are down, but so are costs, which therefore netted us $33. This is basically result of lower US dollar costs.

Group Donations are up and Individual Donations are down; however, Total Donations are up by $3,000 over last year. (Note: as this is a new year, January and Year-to-Date are the same)

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS______

ACCESSIBILITY– No Report.

Accessibility now meets bi-monthly. Next meeting: Sun. Mar.18 at 11 a.m. at 234.

ARCHIVES – Gord H. (Bloordale), Chairperson:

Good Evening friends my name is Gord H., I am an alcoholic, a member of the Bloordale Group, and I have the honor and pleasure of serving as the GTA Archives Chair.

Our Committee has been very active, especially four members that have been working on the booklet “75 Years of AA in Ontario”, a 24-page full color history. This will be given out free at registration. The area outside the Concert Hall will have archival displays from all over Ontario, hope everyone takes the time to check out our history in Canada which started in the Little Denmark Restaurant on January 13, 1943.

The Archives Committee has always been self-supporting, and since the Archives Breakfast on November 5, 2017 we have deposited $ 1480.65, which goes into the Intergroup Account.

Another important area of our committee is obtaining Oral Histories from long timers: if you are aware of any members that we do not have an oral history for, please pass on the Archives committee.

If any members have an interest in Archives please see me or a member of the committee, we can always use volunteers. See you all at the ORC March 9-11 to celebrate our 75 Years.

“Whenever a society or civilization perishes there is always one condition present: they forgot where they came from” – Carl Sandburg Yours in Service, Gord H., GTA Archives Chair Next meeting: Fri. Mar.9 at 7 p.m. at 234.

COMMUNICATIONS–Chris C. (Hill), Chairperson:

Activity Since Last Report

The Editor from Better Times chaired our last committee meeting in Chris’s absence.

Issues

The Literature Department at 234 has been digitalized. Issues of the March 2018 Better Times will also be distributed to hospitality suites at the ORC.

Actions

Committee members have been given specific tasks for editing and the digital inventory (above) and subsequent product descriptions for literature stock. Meeting Directories (Feb 2018 edition) are available in the Literature Department. These directories are self-supporting. Next meeting: Tues. Mar.13 at 6:30 p.m. at 234.

INFORMATION AA DAY 2018 – Aaron K. (Yorkville), 2018 Event Chair:

This year’s event will be held Saturday, May 26 at the 519 Church Street Community Centre. This year’s theme: “Legacy of Service’. The event now has a flyer! The printing has been done for this, as well as the tickets for the event (Cost: $5. Tickets available from DCMs). Please see your DCM for an advanced purchase. Tickets will also be available at the door on the day of the event.

Doors open at 8 a.m., and the event starts at 8:30 a.m. and will go to approximately 3 p.m. This year, all the meetings will take place in the Main Hall at 519, with the exception of the District 16 (Spanish) meeting which will be held as requested in a separate room.

As usual, there will be a pot luck lunch, and we welcome food donations. We always are in need of volunteers to help us with the set-up, lunch service, and end-of-day cleanup.

We look forward to seeing all of you there and having a great day of service!

Aaron K., Information AA Day 2018 Chair

ONTARIO REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2018 – Steve A. (Six Points), 2018 Event Chair:

Ontario Regional Conference

‘Road of Happy Destiny’

March 9 – 11, 2018

Fairmont Royal York Hotel

Toronto, Ontario

Hi Friends, I am an alcoholic, member of the Six Points Group and my name is Steve. It is my honour and privilege to serve you as the 2018 ORC Chair.

On line registration is available at Follow the links to register.

As of Sunday evening we have a total of 1,051 registrations

• AA - 854
• Al-anon - 97
• Alateen – 10
• Guests - 90
• 676 banquet tickets have been sold

As of today there have been 860 room nights reserved. There are no rooms available at the conference rate. If you still wish to reserve a room, I suggest you check out Expedia, Hotels.com etc.

The program is on the web site.

There is one date you might want to make note of:

• If you are a member of Procrastinators Anonymous – your time is now! – On line registration closes March 2nd, this Friday. After that you will have practice your people skills and love and tolerance as you register on site.

Reminder of Some Changes at this Year’s ORC:

1. In response to the question – Why are Newcomers in the back alley? – We are moving the Newcomers Room to Salon B which is on the Convention level near the Concert Hall
2. In recognition of 2018 being the 75th Anniversary of the first AA meeting in Ontario, GTAI Archives will have a larger display than usual. In addition, we are expecting Archives displays from 2 Areas, 2 other Intergroups and 2 Districts.

The above 2 points, combined with fire regulations requiring clear passages and access, means that there will not be space for service committee tables at the ORC. There will be a table selling AA and Grapevine literature.

1. Registration will be closing at 6pm on Saturday as opposed to 9 or so in as in past years.

You should have picked up a notice about accessing hospitality suites. Please let people know. As a result of this, we need more greeters, please consider volunteering for a shift.

An early Public Service Announcement – the TTC is planning to shutdown the University Spadina portion of Line 1 from St Clair West station to Union Station for signal upgrades the weekend of the ORC. So, if you are coming by TTC from the west or north-west, you may have to take an alternate route and transfer at Yonge Station.

When I first reported to you in June last year there 255 days until the ORC; there are now 9. Our committee believes we have used the past 246 days wisely; all the big pieces are in place – speakers are all booked, the program is at the printers, signs have been ordered and so on. We are as ready as we can be – all that we have left to do is provide you and 3,000 others what we believe will be a great weekend. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our web site is Please visit often and, as mentioned, sign up to receive newsletters and updates. You can also submit your information to volunteer – remember, the best job at the ORC is being a greeter.

Any questions? YILS, Steve A., 2018 ORC chair

TWELFTH STEP – Cynthia F. (Yorkville), Chairperson:

Good Evening Everyone, My name is Cynthia, I am an alcoholic and a member of the Yorkville Group. Our committee is still working on our Concept of Operations, Roles and Responsibilities.

We have also begun planning a committee inventory where committee members along with all phone greeters will be invited to get together in one room for a discussion on what our group conscience is as a committee, any issues that we may be having etc. We are hoping to have this inventory here at Timothy Eaton Church on a Saturday in May, but it is not confirmed yet. I will have more details next month.

We have also begun a plan for restructuring our overnight scheduling system so that the overnight shifts are not a 3 month continuous commitment of answering the phones nightly. The plan is to shorten the shifts to be only a one week commitment per month, where the overnight greeter would be on shift for one week and off for three weeks. I will be working on sorting out the details for this new schedule and have more information for you next month.

We are also in need of phone greeters. For evenings, weekends and overnights especially. Anyone interested can call 234 or email me at to get the phone trainers contact information to make an appointment for the phone training. Our phone training session is on the first Sunday of Every month at 234 Eglinton Avenue East. Sobriety Requirement for phone greeters is one year of continuous sobriety.

Lastly, I will mention that our next business meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday March 14th at 234 Eglinton Avenue East.

That is all I have to report on tonight. Are there any questions?Yours in Loving Service, Cynthia F.

Next meeting: Wed. Mar.13 at 7p.m. at 234.

DISTRICT REPORTS ______

CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES –Dave H. (Queensville), District 14 CF Chair:

Activity Since Last Report

1. The last committee meeting for corrections was held on January 3, 2018 at 234.
2. The Toronto East Detention Centre is arranging a volunteer orientation for new members to corrections.
3. Toronto South and Metro East meetings are proceeding when there are no lockdowns
4. Jack V has taken on the position of Corrections Committee liaison and we are looking forward to his involvement going forward.

Issues

1. The Corrections Committee bi monthly meetings at 234 are not well attended lately.
2. Lockdowns at the two jails are an ongoing problem for us as they usually occur in a very quick manor without any information.

Actions

1. The various District Corrections Chairs are urged to attend this meeting or arrange to have an Alternate attend so we can ensure that the information is accessible to all interested members.

1. Any AA members wishing to become involved in Corrections in the GTA are urged to get in touch with your District Corrections Committee Chair and or attend the Intergroup Corrections Committee meeting at 234 for more information.

Coordination

1. The next meeting of the Intergroup Corrections Committee will be held at the Intergroup Office on Wed. March 7 at 7:30 p.m. at 234 Eglinton Ave E. (committee meets bi-monthly) YILS, Dave H.

COOPERATION with the PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY (CPC)–No Report.

Next meeting: Mon. Mar.12 at 7 p.m. at 234.

GRAPEVINE- No Report.

Next meeting: Thurs. Mar.22 at 7:30 p.m. at 234 (committee meets bi-monthly).

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Jeff A. (Leslie), Chairperson:

Jeff reported the following:

-the 2nd year U of T Medical students (that both P.I. and CPC were working with) are developing a list of contacts

-the students are also working on setting up an internal U of T event for AA to present to the Medical Facility

-a database will be created by the end of the year

-P.I. will endeavour to fulfil City of Mississauga P.I. display initiatives at various community entities (i.e. libraries, police stations)

Jeff finished by adding that the P.I. table is struggling with attendance and needs support! Please share this with your group members. Next meeting: Mon. March 19 at 7:30 p.m. at 234.

SELF SUPPORT –No Report.

Bert informed Reps that copies of GSO’s Self-Support Pamphlet were made available for Reps this evening, and asked that members refer specifically to pages 6 & 13 in the pamphlet.

Next meeting: Thurs. April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at 234 (committee meets bi-monthly).

TREATMENT- Sue G. (Church Street), EC Liaison:

Sue read the following report from Treatment Chair Jeremy M., as he could not be present this evening:

Treatment committee has been very quiet this month with no bridging the gap requests.

We have had a few literature requests for both CAMH meetings and Harbour light, which I will be filling this week. I will also be replacing the lost meeting binder at the CAMH Wednesday meeting, Sharing Place.

Please continue to request volunteers, both men and women, for bridging the gap, as we anticipate that in the coming months there should be an increase in requests.

Participation at the Intergroup treatment table has been the same, with D10, D6, D02 being the only districts with representation. All service commitments are still being fulfilled. This month’s meeting was deferred due to illness and members being out of town. We will meet again at our regularly scheduled meeting in March.

Unfortunately, due to a work commitment I was unable to be present both tonight and at our last Treatment committee meeting.

I look forward to seeing you all next month.

In love and service, Jeremy M., D10 treatment chair, GTA AA treatment committee chair

Next meeting: Thurs. Mar.15 at 7:30 p.m. at 234.

RECEPTION – Nina L. (Sisters in Sobriety), EC Vice-Chair:

Present this evening were 36 Group Reps, 13 Alternate Reps, 5 Districts, 3 visitors, and 8 subcommittee chairs.

UNFINISHED BUSINESSfrom Previous Meetings

MOTION moved by Mike O’H.:

‘Motionthat Greater Toronto Area Intergroup support the publication of the 75 Years of Alcoholics Anonymous Canada history book, written by AA members for AA members.’ Motion seconded by Carolyn (Sunnyside).

Regarding the above, Bert stated the following:“At the Executive Committee, we found that the Motion wasn’t addressed properly. It shouldn’t have been [presented as]a Motion, but a demand. For that reason, we are going to decline the support right now. Feel free to present it [the Motion] again another way. In reality, it’s a demand, and I would suggest that you go to all the areas in Canada, because it’s Canada-wide and we are mainly Toronto and the GTA.”