NCF Board of Directors
Minutes of Board Meeting
July 23, 2024
Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Directors
Board members present:
Anis Hanna (gb499) Chair
Majd Karam (gc029) 1st Vice Chair
Peter MacKinnon (fr198) 2nd Vice-Chair
Chris Cope (bz787)
Stephen Fanjoy (gd782)
Sean Geddes
Len Fardella
Spencer Callaghan
Regrets:
Eddie Villarta (gd683)
Asiya Shams
Graeme Beckett (aw958) Secretary
NCF Management/Staff present:
Executive Director: Shelley Robinson
Guests:
None
- Confirmation of Quorum
Quorum was confirmed
- Consent Agenda (45 minutes: questions & comments or corrections)
- Approval of minutes of previous board meetings May 21, June 11 and June 18 2024
Motion: To move in-camera.
Proposer: Chris Cope (bz787)
Seconder: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
The motion was carried.
New board members welcomed: Sean Geddes, Len Fardella, Asiya Shams and Spencer Callaghan.
Thanks to outgoing board members Michael Chan, Emmanuel Adenlolu, Laura Novitsky and Chris Taylor.
- Executive Director's Report
The Executive Director's report was submitted in advance of the Board meeting. Highlights of the open portion of the meeting are provided below.
Summary March 27 to April 30, 2024:
NCF members at Apr. 1, 2024: 4860
NCF members at May 1: 4753
NCF members at June 1: 4661
NCF members at July 1: 4641
• The tenant info-session on May 23rd for the Community WiFi project at 251/255 Donald
St went well! A number of tenants attended and CIRA also recorded video interviews
with some tenants for a video about the project, to be released during the project
launch in the Fall. Check out more about the project here: www.ncf.ca/communitywifi
• NCF’s webinar with CIRA on June 11th “City Limits: Is everyone in urban Canada getting
the internet they need?” was a success! Total registration was more than 50 participants
and we got good feedback from those who attended. The recording is available here:
https://youtu.be/_7i40-0AjxM?feature=shared
• NCF’s first virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 26
th was a success! More than
93 members registered with attendance around 50 at its peak. The official AGM went
smoothly and there was good conversation during the post-AGM discussion. Thanks to
all those who attended! We also had 178 votes for the online Board of Directors
election. Congrats to those who were elected and thanks to everyone leaving the Board.
Check out the final results and reports here: www.ncf.ca/agm
• Congrats and welcome to our summer students, funded by the Canada Summer Jobs
Program and a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation Resilient Communities Fund.
Lana Wilson is our Summer HelpDesk Analyst, Kelly Huang is our Summer Workshop and
Resources Coordinator, and Naomi Badour is our Summer Communications Coordinator.
Check out their full bios here: https://www.ncf.ca/en/who-we-are/people/
• The CRTC’s final decision in the 2023-56 hearing about wholesale internet policy is
expected in the Fall. It will decide if NCF and other independent providers get
permanent aggregated wholesale access to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) services and
the tariff rates we pay Bell and Rogers. While we wait, we have started a small FTTP beta
test with NCF staff and volunteers. We are working to get this service ready for members
as soon as the CRTC confirms we have ongoing access to the service. Check out NCF’s
submissions to this hearing here: www.ncf.ca/advocacy
• We also submitted another intervention to the CRTC’s review of the Broadband Fund
Policy 2023-89. Some of the fund’s proposed changes could enable NCF to better serve
those living in under-connected rural areas in our region. We also wanted to support the
submission of 307Net, a new local not-for-profit that got funding to build a community-
owned fibre network in Cantley and surrounding communities. Check out NCF’s
submissions to this hearing here: www.ncf.ca/advocacy
- Election of officers and signing authorities
- Graeme nominated himself for Secretary. Voted Unanimously
- The Treasurer position is vacant. No one nominated themselves to the role. deferred to next board meeting
- Peter Mackinnon nominated himself for the role of the 2nd vice chair. Voted Unanimously
- Majd Nominated herself for the 1st vice chair. Voted unanimously
- Anis nominated himself for the chair of the board. Voted unanimously
Motion: To appoint Anis Hanna as Chair, Majd Karam as 1st vice chair, Peter MacKinnon as 2nd vice chair, and Graeme Beckett as Secretary.
Proposer: Chris Cope (bz787)
Seconder: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
The motion was carried.
Motion: To appoint Executive Director Shelley Robinson, Anis Hanna, Chris Cope and Majd Karam as signing authorities.
Proposer: Stephen Fanjoy (gd782)
Seconder: Peter MacKinnon (fr198)
The motion was carried.
- Committee appointments
Nominations: Majd and Eddie. Chair to be confirmed.
Governance: Chris, Peter, Sean, Graeme, and Majd (Chair)
Finance: Steve, Asiya, Emmanuel: to be confirmed, & Chair to be confirmed.
Community Connectivity: Anis, Len (Chair), Eddie & Asiya: to be confirmed.
Marketing & Communications: Steve, Len, Graeme, Peter and Spencer (Chair)
Motion: To appoint Majd as Governance Chair, Len as Community Connectivity Chair, Spencer as Marketing & Communications Chair
Proposer: Stephen Fanjoy (gd782)
Seconder: Len Fardella
The motion was carried
Motion: To approve the consent agenda.
Proposer: Anis Hanna (gb499)
Seconder: Stephen Fanjoy (gd782)
The motion was carried.
- Strategic Discussion: (60 minutes)
- This item was deferred to the next meeting.
- Date of Next Meeting _________
The next Board meeting September 17, 2024 (no meetings in August): Hybrid, electronic and in-person at NCF office.
- Standing agenda item for discussion without staff and review (15 minutes)
- Discussion item (Anis Hanna)
This item is conducted in-camera.
Motion: To move out of camera.
Proposer: Len Fardella
Seconder: Stephen Fanjoy (gd782)
The motion was carried.