1. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM 2016 (December 18, 2016)

• Dr. Kanta Marwah moved to accept the minute.
• Dr. Heather Eaton seconded..
• Minutes of the AGM 2016 approved.

2. Nominations to the Board

• Mr. Agrawal summarized the terms of the current board members.
• Three members have terms expiring by 2019.
• Three members are completing their current terms.
• Dr. Eaton will be taking a year off from the board.
• There were four nominations for the board this year:
  • Krishan Gupta
  • Rahil Khan
  • Mona Aggarwal
  • Mamta Dutta
• Mr. Agrawal provided a background description of each of the nominees.
• In the context of the nominations to the Board the current Treasurer noted some remaining outstanding membership dues.
  • It was agreed that the Treasurer would send out a notice regarding this.
• Dr. Mayurika Chakravorty moved to accept the nominees.
• Dr. Eaton moved to accept the conditional acceptance of Mona Aggarwal, subject to payment of membership dues, which Dr. Marwah seconded.
• The current board members welcomed the new members to the board.
• Dr. Chakravorty indicated that she would be stepping down as president.
• Mrs. Rashmi Gupta agreed to assume the role of President.
• Rahil Khan has assumed the role of Vice President.

3. President’s Report [see the slide show below]

• Dr. Charavorty provided a historical review of the Council’s activities since its inception in 2006.
• Notable activities included, for example, the 2011 documentary screening about Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the 2011 unveiling of the Mahatma Gandhi Statue, the 2015 cleaning drive with the City of Ottawa, and the 2016 Peace March.
• Community engagement activities were discussed, such as Ottawa Food Bank volunteering and partnerships with the Festival of India of Ottawa and the ICCC.
• 2017 activities included a panel discussion with eminent Gandhians and the Annual M.K. Gandhi Lecture.
• Future plans include seva/charitable activities, M.K. Gandhi lecture and essay competition.
• Dr. Marwah moved to make the President’s presentation available via the Council’s website, with Mamta Dutta seconding.

4. Secretary’s and Treasurer’s Report

• This is the 7th year that the Council has had charitable status.
• The Council has an account with the Bank of Montreal
• $900.00 in donations have been received in 2017.
• The Council has a net balance of this year of $6318.79.
• The Carleton University endowment fund is at $50,000.00

5. Presentation on Gandhi’s Constructive Program

• The presentation was made by Ms. Amy Dillon, PhD candidate in Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University on Gandhi’s Constructive Program and on Gandhi’s Studies in Ontario.
• The board discussed the exciting opportunity for the Council to be involved in the next Gandhi Circle event which was planned to be held in Ottawa during spring of 2018.
• Questions were posed regarding strategies for making Mahatma Gandhi relevant for a wider younger demographic of Canadians (and Indians).

6. Future Activities

• After the presentation, AGM members sat in a discussion circle to strategize opportunities for the year ahead and how to increase visibility/relevancy of the organization.
• Continuing seva activities were discussed.
• Event idea on Gandhi and Islamic non-violence (in collaboration with the Global Pluralism Institute) was briefly mentioned.
• Essay contest was discussed – asking the question about “Who’s This Dude?” pertaining the statue of M.K. Gandhi.
• Board members agreed to need for more stringent follow-up, pursuant to board meetings – with a focus on 2-3 manageable by high impact events per year.
• Next meeting of the board will occur in early January – location TBD. Meeting concluded around 4:00 PM.