- by Jean Balekian
Dear Friends,
Our Annual General Meeting took place in Toronto on a
beautiful May afternoon. There were some
100 members present, including four members who had traveled from British
Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Seeing
the hall so full, we were not surprised to learn that we had a quorum and that
the meeting could proceed.
The reading of the
Foundation Stone Meditation in both English and French was heard in respectful
silence, as was the verse for the dead.
Monique Walsh then spoke the names of those members who had crossed the
threshold during the year. After a few
words of welcome, she thanked the members who had made the effort to attend;
their presence and their votes made it possible for the Anthroposophical Society
in Canada to fulfill its obligations in the legal sphere and confirm its
identity as an association. She then proceeded to
review the year’s activities, which included the following:
- At the end of last summer, the artistic
festival marking the inauguration of the new Hesperus buildings.
- In October, the meeting of the Council with
members in Montreal and in Sherbrooke.
During these gatherings, we had the opportunity to speak of the various
activities taking place across Canada and the efforts underway to make Section
work more visible.
- In January, the meeting with the Class
Holders, out of which the following question emerged: What is our imagination
of the being of Canada? This question
was the focus of the evening gathering of the Council and Class Holders with
the members of the Toronto region.
We then heard the
treasurer’s report. Douglas Wylie used
charts to show the 2011 balance sheet and the budget for 2012. He explained the changes carried out in order
to comply with Revenue Canada’s new requirements and make the finances of the
Anthroposophical Society in Canada clearer.
This concluded the first
part of the AGM, and marked the end of the terms of Monique Walsh as president and
Regine Kurek as Council member.
After the break, Arie van
Ameringen thanked Monique Walsh for her ten years of service on the
Council. When she first joined the
Council, it was going through a crisis and there were only two other
councillors with her at the time. She
worked at expanding the Council to ensure that it included members from the
various regions of the country. At the
time of her stepping back, the Council had seven members. She was a major force behind the process of
identifying a new General Secretary, a process which gained the support of Dornach. She worked to make the annual meeting of
Class Holders and Council a reality, and to support and make possible the
Whitehorse conference. It was then
Regine’s turn to hear Monique thank her for her seven years of work on the
Council, for having had the courage to accept a position which secured a
presence for Ontario and the Toronto region on the Council. She was active and straightforward in all the
Council’s discussions and decisions. And
she brought her insight as an artist to the organization of various events,
culminating in this important week-end conference where art could be
experienced as a seed of transformation for the Anthroposophical Society. We thank you, Monique and Regine, for the
time and energy you have given, for your personal integrity and the quality of
your presence.
After these highly
emotional moments, the assembly confirmed the councillors and the new officers:
Jean Balekian, president, Judith King, secretary, Douglas Wylie, treasurer, and
Dorothy LeBaron, councillor.
As you can see, there are
presently only five members on Council, counting the General Secretary. Among our first tasks will be to identify at
least one Council member from British Colombia.
So it was that following
the first part of the general meeting, which had addressed questions concerning
the legal aspects, i.e. the recent past, this second part, which started with
the confirmation of the new Council, opened up a space for information and
conversation. These exchanges gave voice
to varying points of view which served to enrich the Council’s own discussions
on these topics.
A first subject of
discussion was the process for choosing new Council members. This conversation will be continued at the
next AGMs in Montreal and in Vancouver.
Monique Walsh reminded us that this process is based on mutual
recognition among Council members and the fact that one recognizes the
individual in question as a colleague.
This has been the chosen way of working since the ‘80’s. It is important to point out that although
this process is recognized in the bylaws of the Anthroposophical Society, as
they stand, the bylaws also allow a member to put forward another name for Council member. This led to our
attention being called to the fact that the process should be made more
transparent in the bylaws themselves.
Following her brief
presentation of the Vidar Foundation, Ingrid Belenson informed those present
that a meeting would be called to discuss the importance and future of this
organisation and to expand its board of directors in order to strengthen its
continued activity.
Dorothy LeBaron took up
the question of the national library, giving the results of a survey sent out
to members. Most of the 31 respondents
knew of the library’s existence but only ten or so actually had made use of
it. Alexandra Gunther pointed out the
importance of preserving the library, not only for the books and documents it
contains, but also because it is a public space where people can meet and exchange
ideas and information about anthroposophy.
Others suggested that the availability of a computerized catalogue would
stimulate use of the library. The
library question is obviously a very complex one, and seems closely linked to
the question of the head office and the visibility of the Anthroposophical
Society in general. The Council named
Mark McAlister as the person in charge of the library for the coming year.
And just as we had begun
the meeting with the question of a quorum, our last item on the agenda was also
the quorum issue. According to our
bylaws, we are required to have 10% of the total membership present to
constitute a quorum. This does not
generally present a problem when the AGM is held in Toronto, but we are often
concerned that not enough members will be present when the AGM is held in
Montreal or Vancouver. The law requires
that we stipulate a number in our bylaws.
It was suggested that by reducing the required number, we could
alleviate this concern and be able as well to hold the AGM in Ottawa or Nova
Scotia. Another thought was to keep the
number the same but increase the travel budget so that more members could
attend AGMs not held in their region.
As a conclusion to the
AGM, Arie van Ameringen shared some images of the General Secretaries’ meeting
at the Goetheanum where, for the first time, he stood before the assembled
General Secretaries to introduce himself and describe some of the work in
Canada.
And in closing, I would
like to take this opportunity to thank, in the name of the Council, all those
members who made this general assembly possible by choosing to be present. I am
looking forward to seeing you in May 2013 in Montreal.
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