Παραιτήθηκε από το συνβουλίο της Κενότητας η κ. Gina Tassopoulos…

 

Με αφορμή, υποθέτουμε, το δημοσίευμά μας για τον αντιπρόεδρο της Κενότητας Τορόντο, και την π@ύστικη συμπεριφορά του σε κάποιο παιδάκι, του οποιου ο πατέρας ενοχλούσε αφόρητα τον φίλο του Σωτηράκη, πήε το θάρρος κάποιο μέλος του συνβουλιου της ίδιας Κενότητας, το οποίο υπηρέτησε και την πάλαι ποτέ -μακαρίτησα- Ελληνική Κοινότητα Τορόντο και μας έστειλε για δημοσίευση την παραίτησή του, και τους λόγους για αυτή του την πράξη. Υποχρεούμεθα ως εκ τούτου να την δημοσιεύσουμε, προς ενημέρωση των αναγνωστών μας, από τους οποιους εξ’ άλλου ΔΕΝ κρύβουμε ποτέ και τίποτα, που ίσως τους ενδιαφέρει. Τις ο,ποιες, δε, τυχούσες σκέψεις σας, τις αφήνουμε σε σας καθ’ ότι σε μας είναι αδιάφορες…

 

Thursday, December 23 2021 

Gina Tassopoulos 

Chair of Cultural, Greek Community of Toronto 

Dear Office Manager and Board of Directors of the GCT, 

I am formally announcing my resignation from the Board of directors of the Greek Community of Toronto. I am doing this after careful consideration, afterall I have been a proud volunteer Board member of this community for over 5 years now. 

I cannot however continue under this new Presidency and Board. There are a number of items that I not only do not agree with, but are fundamentally against how a Charitable organization should be run. 

As of the date of this resignation letter: 

● There is a conflict of interest of having two Board members also being paid staff members of the Greek community. These individuals are the current Vice- President and the current chair of the Cultural Department. According to the constitution and good practices from the charitable organizations under Canadian law the following is not in good practice. How do two paid employees of the GCT, one being an executive director of Education, and the other a principal of a GCT School, provide impartial guidance on voting matters for their domains? Or perhaps when grievances arise against them? Their sole purpose is to facilitate interactions with board relationships, to envision change and innovation, to provide useful information to the board that will therefore allow the board members to vote on impartially. Who monitors these board members to make sure that they are held accountable and liable for their paid positions? Is it them, also as part of the Board? According to Section 3.09 of the GCT constitution it states that ‘directors shall serve without remuneration and no director shall directly or indirectly receive any profit from his position as such…” This was a crucial point that I wished to discuss in a special meeting with the newly elected board as per our constitution and its need for clarity, again, from section 3.10….. ‘Special meetings may be held at any time whenever the President or majority of the Board shall deem it necessary.’ Our new Vice-president has signing authority, and according to the CNCA (Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability) ‘there is a common law rule prohibiting directors from profiting or benefiting directly or indirectly from their positions. Should any benefit accrue, the director would be in breach of his fiduciary duty and would be held accountable to the organization for the benefits received’ 

I was, however, UNANIMOUSLY denied this request of a special meeting and open debate by all new board members without any mention of wanting to acknowledge my concerns. Not only did I want to have this discussed, but I had suggested to have this done in an open and transparent way, in a publicly accessible board meeting as has been the precedent for many years within the GCT, so that our paying members and

longstanding press could be invited to hear my concerns, as well as voice their own through motions. 

● Secondly, the election of the current board members was not done appropriately. A meeting was held without my knowledge to appoint our current board members to their positions. When asked in writing for these meeting minutes and proof of meeting announcement to the president herself, Ms. Betty Skoutakis, I was not provided any minutes to dispute my claims, nor meeting invite, in writing or audible, merely silence and avoidance to my requests. This lack of professionalism and accountability from the President contradicts statements in her inauguration speech to lead an inclusive, fair, and transparent board. How then do we appoint our board members when we are not all present and without knowledge of said meeting? This has nothing to do with the appointments of departments, but with due process. Again, inclusivity and transparency. 

● Lastly, I wished to discuss the updating of the GCT constitution to fall in line with Canadian governance for 501(c) charitable organizations. Although our last update was in 2017, there have been significant overhauls of how these types of organizations should be run. Considering how the GCT has just come out of lawsuits, and bankruptcies it should be our due diligence to make sure that we overhaul our constitution in order to provide appropriate objectives, and strategic and operational efficiencies for our organization and our members. This is an institution with 112 year history. It is our duty to make sure that it continues for another 112 years. 

Members of the Greek Community of Toronto, It has been a pleasure to serve you all. I have created friendships and fond memories, and will forever remain proud of the youth my department was able to return to the community over these last 5 years. I wish this new board much success, however I cannot in good conscience or faith continue to serve the Greek Community of Toronto in this capacity based on the aforementioned points. 

Best Regards; 

 

Gina Tassopoulos