A note from the Board: on the new 2025 member motion

Member Blaine Marchand (Ottawa, ON), with John Barton (Victoria, BC) as seconder and several poets from the Senior Poets' Caucus as signatories, has put forward the following motion for the 2025 AGM: 

That the League of Canadian Poets hold an in-person two-day conference in 2026 to mark the 60th anniversary of its founding;  

allow as many members as possible to participate, by arranging for key elements of the conference to be live-streamed via Zoom;  

make the event economically feasible for all by exploring every opportunity to arrange for the in-person conference to be held at a college/university residence and dining facilities; and  

include a variety of programming, such as a business meeting (AGM), readings, panel discussions, professional development opportunities and a book table.  

Response from the Board of Directors 

The Board cannot, and does not, support this motion due to the financial, staffing, and organizational impact of organizing an in-person conference: the suggested programming is not financially feasible, and does not align with the organization's purposes or values, including accessibility.  

The Board has an obligation to act in the best interests of the organization and in a way that ensures the financial stability of the League, as well as to consider how each action serves our membership and organizational purposes. After a careful examination of the potential for offering an in-person AGM and poetry conference, the Board has determined that hosting an in-person conference is not in the best interest of the organization.  

Summary

If a motion requiring the League to organize a multi-day conference were to pass, the organization would fail to achieve several of its Strategic Plan goals, including goals to increase regional presence across Canada, improve accessibility and equity, and stabilize the League’s finances.   

The staff time and budget required to execute a multi-day project would effectively eliminate our microgrants budget. To plan an event of this scale in 2026, work would need to begin immediately, and the League’s existing programs would face cuts and reductions. Additionally, prioritizing an expensive, multi-day, in-person event – as a national organization – would likely have a negative impact on the League’s standing with granters and funders, as the reach of the programming is extremely limited, and it would require a significant alteration to our proposed plans for which we receive operating funding.   

Although the proposal suggests making the conference accessible via livestreaming, which could increase member engagement, ultimately this proposal asks the League to devote an expense of $50,000 - $90,000, including staff costs, travel costs, and the cost of making meetings and events hybrid, accessible and in service to members.   

If an in-person AGM were to proceed, we would spend more than 10% of our budget to serve less than 3% of our members. 

Board and Director Responsibility 

The board has an obligation to act in the best interests of the organization and must be cognizant of the financial stability of the organization, how each action serves our membership and organizational purposes, and the long-term stability of the organization. After a careful examination of the potential for offering an in-person AGM and poetry conference, the board has determined that hosting an in-person poetry conference is not in the best interest of the organization.  

In 2024, the League was happy to bring free and low-cost online professional development opportunities to our membership, all of which saw greater engagement than any AGM and conference in the past thirteen years.  

The Board knows that our membership is passionate about community organizing, and the League has every intention of continuing to support member initiatives as much as possible with the organization’s limited human and financial resources. Community Committees and members who would like to see large-scale in-person programming are encouraged to reach out to potential partners in their regions (such as libraries, bookstores, or writers’ organizations) and organize as a grassroots collective or as an individual. The League is happy to distribute information about events, festivals, and literary conferences via social media, our newsletter, and directly to members.  

However, if staff are required to organize a multi-day, in-person event, the League will no longer have the capacity to support community-organized gatherings or festivals, and the organization will face severe financial and logistical challenges, including:  

• Cancelling the planned 60 Events for 60 Years funding and promotional campaign  

• Cancelling all remaining event microgrants for 2025-2026, and a significant portion of 2026-2027  

• Severely limiting the organization’s capacity to fundraise, due to limited human resources  

• Potentially jeopardizing the future of the League’s operating funding as a result of the poor ratio between use of funds and audience served  

• Reducing or even eliminating all other professional development opportunities for members  

• Halting the majority of work relating to inclusion, accessibility, equity, and diversity in the organization  

• Likely Board and staff turnover  

Moving forward with this proposal is in direct opposition to the League’s Strategic Plan, mission, mandate, and vision. Voting in favour of this member motion would be a disservice to 95% of the League’s membership, and would essentially eliminate nearly a decade of work from the Board and staff to build nationwide relationships with funders, sponsors, poets, and community organizers.   

Members can find additional data and research on the projected costs and impact of an in-person conference in their member package.