CALGARY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE- DECEMBER 3, 2014
Those in Attendance;
Sam Akinsanya (Co-Chair) Mike Tennant (Treasurer), Timothy Hunt (Chair) Victoria Norris (Secretary), Phil Chan
Absent: Gary Sparvier / Regrets: Raj Hari, Dale Marianicz
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Meeting called to order at 6:30pm.
Motion to reimburse Brother Chan for food by Brother Akinsanya /brother Mike, cheque; $59.48 (chq#067) unanimous.
Motion to reimburse cost of Volunteer Appreciation Celebration (Calgary Regional Office, Saturday November 22nd) by Brothers Chan/Akinsanya $109.50 (chq#068) unanimous.
Brother Tennant announced that our Bank Balance as of October 31st, 2014 is $2,091.96.
Review of previous minutes approved, no additions or deletions, minutes are posted on the web site.
AGENDA ITEMS:
Volunteer Recruitment; Suggested dates January 10th and 24th, and that all three committees attend. A recommendation was made that all three committees consider ordering generic swag that could be used by any committee in bulk to save on costs. Jeffrey Vallis will be using his vendor to order the swag. The Human Rights committee also intends to expand our horizons by creating U-Tube Video on Human Rights.
Terms of Reference and Mandate & Objectives: Timothy shared documents he received from the Edmonton Human Rights Committee, please review documents for our consideration. We will see if we can put them into place for the next AGM.
25th Anniversary of Montreal Massacre: Wearing a purple or white ribbon on December 6th will be a memorial of this tragic event.
Thank you letter from Fairy Tales: We received a very nice letter and picture from Fairy Tales presentation society thanking PSAC for our support, they look forward to planning 2015 events and sponsorship.
National Human Rights Committee (November 03/04, 2014) Timothy (GLBT), Sam (Racially Visible) & Gary (Aboriginal) attended the National Human Rights Conference in Ottawa this November, where they were reported having a very interesting time and laid a PSAC wreath at the war memorial. The next National Equity Conference will be held in Toronto on March 23, 2016. The next NHRC meeting will be held next November (2015).
Funding & Reporting Procedures; Timothy handed out document as we need to finalize our budget prior to our March year end reporting period. We need to decide on our swag prior to that. Mike and Timothy will meet early January to work on the budget.
Africaday; Brother Akinsanya will investigate the possibility of the HRC assisting with Calgary’s Africaday celebrations in August 2015. He will report back to the committee at our February meeting.
Awo’Taan Healing Lodge; We received an invitation to membership from Awo’ Taan Healing Lodge, it was suggested to donate $100.00. The event had passed, need to make sure we get on this next year.
Advertising Any events members attend are encouraged to take pictures and write a short paragraph on the event from now till March.
Email from the Regional Office; There are a few spots left for the upcoming “Racism and its effects on Aboriginal Health” event on December 10th, 2014 at Mount Royal University featuring Dr. Cheryl Currie. This event is FREE and open to all.
Registration link: https://cuaihr.eventbrite.ca
Sister Norris had shown interest in this event and wanted to attend this event, this is a day event and LWOP would be requested. Sister Norris will also supply a written report to the next committee meeting. Inquiry on how to do this will be sent to the REVP, in the meantime;
Motion to send information and request one days LWOP to the regional office regarding the December 10th Aboriginal Human Rights event to grant Victoria loss of Salary for this free event. Victoria to provide report to the committee. Brothers Hunt/Tennant
Activist School update: Brothers Akinsanya / Chan reported twenty-seven (27) members attended activist school at the Palliser Hotel on November 21-23. Stating members are encouraged to continue to connect one on one, to talk to communities, host lunch & learns, that more engagement is and participation are required. That apathy is our biggest stumbling block and that more events are needed. Minutes form the conference were supplied and reviewed.
Motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:35pm by Brother Timothy - Unanimous