The Men’s Project

Members of the Cornwall Public Inquiry Advisory Panel are supposed to be "free from any conflcit of interest."

However, check the names below and note that Justice Normand Glaude granted standing at the inquiry to Rick Goodwin as head of the Men's Project and in July 2006 named Michael Church and Janet Handy as members of his Advisory Panel. 

 The Men's Project has already received additional provincial funding for the inquiry and it along with the Ontario Association of Male Survivor Services stand to gain financially through a hefty influx of provincial funding as a result of the inquiry.

Is this not a rather serious conflict of interest?

(Note: Please scroll further down for further information on the Men's Project)

September 2007: The Men’s Project -Taxpayer’s $$$s flow.......

25 August 2007:  Uphill battle for male sex victims

15 July 2007: A circle of men: Unique counselling program breaks the barriers of masculinity, and lets the healing begin

09 July 2007: It will be an uphill battle

Malesurvivor.on.ca

The Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC) of the Ontario Association of Male Survivor Services (OAMSS) met to accomplish the following goals:

• Build familiarity amongst team members and develop a good team to undertake the work of the Committee;
• Agree to the Vision, Mission and Objectives of OAMSS;
• Establish the PAC's Terms of Reference;
• Discuss the Co-Chair Appointments;
• Review and provide feedback to the Draft Needs Assessment Report;
• Identify a work plan and steps forward;
• Agree to a communications plan.

The following Committee members were in attendance:

Mike Church, member at large
Sandra Kakeeway, Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre
Jennifer Weicker, Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region
Kurt Halliday, Windsor Family Forum
Deborah Raymond, Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte & District
Janet Handy, The Gatehouse®
Nelson Parker, David Kelley Program, Family Service Association of Toronto
William Corrigan, Family Services Perth-Huron

One member was unable to attend:Glenn Simpson, Sexual Assault Care Centre of Durham

On behalf of The Men's Project, who holds the contract with The Ontario Trillium Foundation:

Rick Goodwin
Lucinda ThumMark Patton attended one day (Saturday) to present the Draft Needs Assessment document.

The Co-Chairs for this meeting were Mike Church and Rick Goodwin.

Mission

VISION STATEMENT:

That effective services be established in each community in Ontario for men who have experienced sexual assault and/or sexual abuse.

MISSION STATEMENT:

To reduce the impact of sexual abuse and/or sexual assault against males by coordinating and supporting the development and provision of community-based services in Ontario.

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives identified are per the contract signed with The Ontario Trillium Foundation.The following outcomes are expected in the first six months of service:

• A formal needs assessment completed for the development of a provincial organization for male survivor services.
• The development of an organizational structure and governing body that will inform, promote and coordinate the needs of its potential service members.
• A web-based directory of relevant services for male survivors across Ontario, accessible to both public and professional service providers.
• Electronic publication of basic public education materials that pertain to male sexual abuse/assault.
• Undertaking the first developmental steps towards an active provincial organization to address the gaps in policies, programs and resources relating to male sexual victimization.

Further objectives were identified for the following fiscal year, in the Next Steps section.

Committee Terms of Reference

Results:

A functional, regionally represented Provincial Advisory Committee (PAC) with developed decision making structure. Its primary task will be to inform, promote, and coordinate the needs of its potential service members.

Activities:

• Hiring the Provincial Coordinator by the Co-chair/lead organization.
• Formalize the structure and membership of the Advisory Committee.
• Work on a draft Agenda of issues to be examined in depth at the first meeting of the PAC.
• Facilitate a two day inaugural meeting of the PAC, where the draft terms of reference, draft of the needs assessment, and draft work plan of OAMSS will be reviewed.

• Executive Director of The Men's Project
• Provincial Coordinator
• PAC membership
• Co-Chairs of OAMSS, Project Coordinator, PAC members, presentation by Needs Assessment Consultant
• Points of contact: Provincial Manager, Project Coordinator

• Finalized PAC membership list.
• Terms of reference for PAC and its designates.
• Agenda, Report of the Coordinator, and minutes of the first PAC meeting.

OAMSS Administration:

The Men's Project is administering this initiative from The Ontario Trillium Foundation. It's staffing for OAMSS is:

Provincial Coordinator: Ms. Lucinda Thum, email: lthum@malesurvivor.on.ca
Provincial Manager: Mr. Rick Goodwin, email: rgoodwin@malesurvivor.on.ca

Governance of OAMSS:

The governance of OAMSS will be led by the PAC, who via the umbrella of The Men's Project will be accountable to The Men's Project's Board of Directors.

Advisory Committee Members:

Mr. Nelson Parker, David Kelley Program, Family Service Association of Toronto
Mr. Glen Simpson, Nurse, Sexual Assault Care Centre of Durham
Ms. Janet Handy, Executive Director, The Gatehouse®
Ms. Deborah Raymond, Counsellor, Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte & District
Mr. Kurt Halliday, Development Coordinator, Windsor Family Forum
Ms. Jennifer Weicker, Revive Program Coordinator, Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region
Ms. Sandra Kakeeway, Aboriginal Healing & Wellness Coordinator, Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre
Mr. William Corrigan, Therapist, Family Services Perth-Huron
Mr. Mike Church, Representative

Statement of Issues:

OAMSS was formally established in June 2004 as a multi-stakeholder task force comprising of regional and sectoral representation of male survivor services throughout Ontario.

To undertake its activities, The Men's Project (TMP), an incorporated non-profit charitable organization based in Ottawa, sponsored the creation of OAMSS and agreed to supervise its organizational and financial activities. All activities under The Men's Project are overseen by its volunteer Board of Directors.

The relationship between The Men's Project and OAMSS is to be reviewed annually, and dialogue in the growth and development of OAMSS needs to occur on a regular basis.

Purpose:

The purpose of the PAC is to ensure that the activities and strategic direction of OAMSS is in accordance to its vision and mission. This task will be accomplished by its recommendations to the Provincial Manager of OAMSS, who reports to the Board of Directors of The Men's Project.

Composition:

• The size of PAC is currently set at nine. Its size is governed at this time by its resources, The Ontario Trillium Foundation directives, and initial membership list. The PAC may contain a minimum of 8 to a maximum of 12 members.
• Efforts have been made to set its initial membership list in accordance to regional representation, client population served, and service sector representation. Other sectors may be invited to join the PAC.
• It is recognized that The Men's Project is not a PAC member given that the staffing of OAMSS is through this organization (Provincial Manager, Provincial Coordinator).
• Any PAC member at any time may declare a conflict of interest and abstain from voting on an issue or motion.

Reporting Structure:

The Chair position will rotate through the PAC members. The Chair's responsibility will consist of meeting coordination and hosting details, as well as determining the location and setting up the Agenda. This will be done in cooperation with the Provincial Coordinator. The Chair will also liaise with the Provincial Coordinator to ensure that any post-meeting requirements are met.

Meetings & Quorum:

• At this time, meetings of PAC are to be held on a semi-annual basis.
• The expenses of PAC meetings may or may not be covered through funded resources. Thus, expense reimbursement for PAC members cannot be assured.
• Decision making by PAC may involve moving discussion and decision-making by email and/or other means.
• All PAC members are voting members.
• PAC quorum is set at 50% + one of its members.
• All decision making processes within PAC will be based on a majority voting process (50% + 1), and will be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
• In the event of an equality of votes, the motion shall be tabled for further discussion until a majority is reached.

• Make recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the governance system, including the forward agenda of OAMSS, the frequency and content of meetings, and its relationship to The Men's Project.
• Oversee the role of OAMSS in public education, media relations, and other external activities.
• In conjunction with the Provincial Director, ensure that the PAC and the general memberships of OAMSS receive information that is comprehensive, timely and relevant to its mandate.
• Develop, with the Provincial Director, the strategic goals and potential funding mechanisms to ensure the mission, vision and objectives of the organization are met.

Co-Chair Appointments

Following discussion by the PAC members, it was determined that the best way to serve the PAC was for the distribution of leadership to be as follows:

• The Men's Project is the administrative hub. It will be the liaison with the current funder (The Ontario Trillium Foundation) and responsible for the contract deliverables. The Provincial Manager and the Provincial Coordinator will be responsible for carrying out the tasks as per the contract.
• It was felt best to have one Chair. Although the need to have a survivor be part of the PAC was felt to be of most importance, this seat need not necessarily hold the role of Chair.
• The Chair will rotate, being determined at the meeting for the subsequent meeting. Jennifer Weicker graciously accepted the position to Chair the next meeting.

Draft Needs Assessment Presentation

The Draft Needs Assessment was presented by Mark Patton.

The Committee identified some areas of improvement, and thanked Mark for this work.

Work Plan, Next Steps and Communication Release

The PAC identified a proposed work plan for the next fiscal year (2005-2006).

The PAC discussed the communications aspects of the initiative. It was felt that the staff (Provincial Manager and Provincial Coordinator) would be in the best position to coordinate and carry out communications activities. They would advise the PAC of any communications activities under way, so that they can be aware of any potential questions which they may be asked.

The official launch of the OAMSS website is scheduled for mid-February. It was felt that every effort should be made to have organizations sign up and fill the database before the launch occurred.

Any press releases will be sent to the PAC, as information, as well as details on any press conferences that might occur.

Mike Church and Rick Goodwin will act as OAMSS representatives and will be available to speak, as required.

As mentioned above, the Chair will rotate. The location of meetings will be determined on a case by case basis, and can be held at different locations.

The next meeting was set for late May / early June in Ottawa. Jennifer Weicker will be the Chair for that meeting.