Tuesday, 14 January 2020
7:00 – 8:30 EST

Present: Joe, Jim, John, Bob, Andrew, Barbara, Saul, Tracy
Regrets: Tiffany, Adam, Ron, Monika
Absent: Stephen

1. Approval of Agenda

• Agenda approved.

2. Approval of Minutes

• ACTION ITEM: December 2019 and January 2020 minutes to be approved by email.

3. Treasurer's Report

• $3,100 in the OBIN account; approximately $2,500 earmarked for External Relations.

4. Update on the status of our technology

• Saul's Update:
  • Step 1 - make sure all data is present between Mailchimp and NationBuilder - we now have access to both sets of contact information.
  • Step 2 - what's the best route going forward from the current situation with WIX as web hosting; NationBuilder for database and Mailchimp for emailing?
  • Saul says NationBuilder will not be more expensive, but perhaps a few dollars a month difference between Wordpress vs Mailchimp plus another database.
• ACTION ITEMS:
  • Now considering the option of unifying all these aspects under NationBuilder. Don't want to "babysit the solution". Saul will evaluate whether things should be consolidated in NationBuilder based on level of difficulty and costs vs using WordPress and Mailchimp/another database.
  • Saul will advise on whether we need more training and volunteers to operate whatever the solution is.
  • Saul will also investigate what kind of support services there are for NationBuilder and what tutorials are available and will specify potential budgets.

5. OBIN Team Member Mandates

• Budget estimates needed from C-Team members.
• ACTION ITEMS:
  • Any costs for potential C-Team activities in the upcoming year to be submitted by OBIN Team Members to Joe to be incorporated into the budget for review in February.
  • Joe wonders whether cost for attending the face-to-face meetings and annual meeting should be set aside.
  • Joe will work with Patricia to prepare a draft budget which should be prepared for February and discussed in person when tentatively meeting in March.

6. January 2019 Newsletter

• E-blast has gone out recently - 120 people opened so far, 17 surveys completed so far.
• Content for the newsletter will include info on the May 21-24 North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress in Hamilton, ON.
• January 23 target date for BICN Policy Options Review.
• ACTION ITEMS:
  • We will wait for the Policy Options Review to be released - the newsletter will include a review and a link.
  • Deadline to submit items to Bob for the Jan. newsletter is Jan 23.
  • Bob to send out Jan. newsletter in the last week of January.

7. Round Table

• Barbara working on Cases on Basic Income for Health to be developed - students have been assigned; maybe one on Women - students are being assigned; Youth - Robert Kiley; working on Environment team.
• Toni is helping to build a team for a Lobby Day on Parliament Hill for this coming Fall with representation from each province; the goal is to organize Lobby Days in one or two more provinces this year.
• John working closely with Tiffany and Adam on communications and assessing engagement with advocates in the GTA and beyond.
• Tracy working on qualitative research interviews for a 3-year SSHRC-funded study (narrative-based research on how Basic Income impacted their lives) with people who were involved in the Basic Income Pilot. 300 people have completed the survey and 60 interviews have been done, so far. Barbara suggested that the results could be included in the Lobby Day later this year.
• Joe reported that a Town Hall will happen in March in Ottawa, organized by Eastern Ontario Social Workers with Ron Hikel as a speaker.
• ACTION ITEMS:
  • OBIN will provide a link to support the advertizing.
  • Barbara and Jim might organize a call regarding the Case series.
  • When the reports are ready, they will be put on the new website and social media.
  • John and Jim will set up a Cross-Province Check-In call for later this month. Andrew will attend if the date works and take notes if requested for Bob, Tiffany and Adam to use.

8. New Business

• BICN and OBIN are maintaining a non-partisan approach to politics.
• ACTION ITEM: Joe (in consultation with Jim and Barbara) will clarify this in the January Newsletter.

9. Next meeting date and time

• Tuesday, 18 February 2020 at 7:00 pm EST

10. Adjournment

• Meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm