November 16, 2024
ON Region Assembly Meeting Minutes
Lisa B. Region Secretary/ Burlington GSR taking minutes- Agenda found below.
Notes in blue indicate action items
- Serenity Prayer
- 12 Concepts of Service
- Treasurer’s Report and Budget
- Literature Report
- Narateen Guidelines Motion
- Website Motion
- Motion deciding on a member holding a vote in two or more Regions
- Regional Election – Chair and Alt. Chair, Delegate and Alt. Delegate, Treasurer, and Outreach Chair
- Set dates for the next RSC and Assembly
Meeting opened at 10am with the following in attendance:
Sue Region Chair
Lisa B. Secretary/ Burlington GSR
Leena- GSR
Catherine- Owen Sound GSR
Laura- Oakville GSR
Cindy- Hamilton/ Sunday GSR
Annette- Barrie GSR
Deb- Region Treasurer/ Guelph Alt. GSR
Elaine- Alt GSR
Jennie- Temp. Outreach Coordinator
Phil
Lu- Region Webmaster/ Literature Coordinator
Patty- Web coordinator
Lisa – HHH GSR
Louise- Barrie GSR
Raye- NTPP
Sally- Windsor GSR
Shauna- Alt GSR
Joyce
Dorris- Narateen Chair
Joe- Hamilton/ Monday GSR
14 GSRs required for quorum with 28 groups in the Region.
12 GSRs in attendance.
Chair held a vote to allow for votes without a quorum– 11 GSRs voted yes to proceed without quorum.
- Meeting opened with the Region Chair reading the Serenity Prayer
- Louise and Raye read the 12 Concepts of Service.
Region Chair made a few announcements from WSO:
Online meetings:
Nov.24th Treasurer’s Roundtable
Jan. 5th Delegates Roundtable
Feb.8th Western Conference
Feb.23 Secretary’s Roundtable
Nov 26th CAR Motions released
- Treasurer’s Report and Budget
A few members requested clarification on specific groups’ donations.
Vote to accept Treasurer’s report- 10 GSRs voted to accept, none against.
9 GSRs voted to accept budgeting $1135 to send two to the WSC 2025
12 GSRs voted to send a presence to ORCNA 2025 in Sudbury with estimate of $500 room rental cost
A question was presented as to whether any travel costs will be covered- Region Chair responded that this has previously been voted on by the Region and that travel costs will not be covered by the Region but groups are free to use 7th tradition donations should they choose.
$300 previously budgeted for Narateen to cover facilitators police check costs- 11 yes votes.
It should be noted that last year this money was not used but GSRs agreed it should remain in the budget for the upcoming year.
$500 budgeted for Outreach with 12 GSRs voting yes with the option to revisit should more money be required.
- Staples has agreed to ship literature for free. Literature Coordinator would like to require a required minimum order to be eligible for free shipping as orders are being placed for under $2 and are receiving free shipping.
There is a concern about taking advantage of Staples and potentially losing free shipping in the future.
It should be noted that smaller orders will still have pickup as an option or GSRs can place larger orders and ship themselves to members.
Proposal is for a $20 minimum order.
Some groups have concerns as their membership have experienced problems with pick up in the past and others have concerns about GSRs being required to stockpile literature as was a practice in the past.
The Treasurer also noted tiny purchases can at times be alot to manage.
There was a request for confirmation numbers to ease some issues during pickups. This was too overwhelming for Staples and will not be possible.
The Literature Coordinator made a motion for a $20 minimum order requirement for literature orders, this was seconded by Lisa HHH GSR and voted on by GSRs 11 for and 1 against.
Question about shipping during the Canada Post strike. Staples uses Fedex so we shouldn’t be affected by the strike.
- Motion to accept the Narateen Policy and Safety Guidelines as submitted.
11 GSRs voted yes, none voted against.
- Region Webmaster made a note that we have bought the rights to several of the images used on our new website- this was a concern previously raised by a member.
Question from a member about QR codes as they use .com now that we have a .ca domain.
Webmaster indicates that all will be ported in time, therefore no concerns.
12 GSRs unanimously voted to accept the new .ca website.
- The Region Chair requested advice from the Board of Trustees on the issue of a member holding a voting position in two Regions. The Board noted that the spirit of the GLS should be followed and that any such member in this position should pick one Region and only vote there.
Question was posed as to why this vote was even necessary and it was made clear that we currently have an RSC member who holds voting rights in two Regions.
Motion: NarAnon is guided by the principles of unity, group conscience and the spiritual nature of our fellowship. (GLS 6-4) We use the Guide to Local Service (GLS) and its spirit in our decision making. A GSR vote last year, enabled us to allow members to hold more than one position at a time, this was a temporary measure to allow for the limited volunteers for regional positions. While we did not vote at the time on whether these members holding dual positions could vote in both positions, the spirit of the GLS has been used to ensure no one holding more than one officer position votes more than once. Given that the GLS is merely a guide, at times new situations arise and GSRs must vote on them using their groups’ conscience.
Question: As a group do you feel comfortable with a member having votes in more than one Region?
If groups vote yes, do you believe this requires declaration before members are voted into positions?
If groups vote no, we must decide how to proceed with a member who currently holds positions in multiple RSCs.
How would groups like to proceed with a no vote:
- a) Ontario Region will allow a voice but no vote to any officer who currently maintains a voting position in another Region.
- b) Ontario Region will remove the member from their elected position and hold another election for that position.
NarAnon operates under the principles of honesty and trust in members’ self declaration.
9 GSRs voted that they do not want a member of ON Region having votes in more than one Region.
The follow up vote with 9 votes, decided that ON Region will allow the member to remain in their current position, they will have a voice but no vote in ON Region until such times that they no longer hold a voting position in another region.
In future, it is asked that running RSC members declare their voting positions in other Regions before they can be elected into an OR RSC service position.
- Elections were handed over to the Secretary to manage as the Chair’s position was up for a vote.
A note was made by a GSR about the importance of rotation of service. Membership was then asked if they would feel comfortable with members volunteering themselves for positions today without going back to groups for approval seeing as we have so few volunteers for service positions. There was a unanimous decision to allow last minute entries for service positions, however, no one else offered themselves.
Vote held for the position of Region Chair.
It should be noted that as soon as our current Region Chair, was placed in the waiting room ahead of the vote to decide on her position, a member asked to read a snippet from the Traditions book. The Secretary asked if Sue should be let back in first, there were protests to get on with the vote seeing as we were already over our allotted time. The member then read one small passage indicating that at times it is best to leave a position empty rather than fill it with the only person up for the position. There was then a request by members to ensure Sue was made aware of what transpired without her presence, which the Secretary obliged.
12 GSRs voted for Sue to remain as Chair, she ran unopposed.
No one put themselves up for the Alt. Chair position.
12 GSRs voted for Phil to receive the position of Treasurer unopposed.
No one put themselves up for the position of Alt. Treasurer.
The position of Outreach Coordinator had two members up for the position.
The position went to Jennie with 10 GSR votes. Joyce received 2 votes.
The Delegate position went to Leena, she ran unopposed and had 11 GSR votes.
The Alt. Delegate position went to Laura, she ran unopposed and had 10 GSR votes.
Each new and former RSC member was graciously thanked for their service.
- The next RSC which GSRs are not required but always welcomed to attend will be held on February 1st, 2025.
The next Regional Assembly will be held on March 15, 2025.
Before the end of the calendar year, the minutes from this election should be sent to WSO by the Secretary.
Literature Coordinator needs to send amounts sold and royalties owed to Deb/Phil ending totals on November 30th Region Chair and Treasurer will meet to get bank drafts for both royalties and to pay equalized expenses for delegate and alt delegate to attend WSC 2025.
Meeting closed at 11:50am.
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