LETS Toronto Dollars #5 and Green Party prejudice
>Article #99481 (99515 is last):
>From: Warren Mosler <mosler@gate.net>
>Date: Sat Dec 12 23:26:13 1998
>I want to borrow LETS. How can I do that?
JCT: Join your nearest LETS or start one, promise to accept your
own Greendollar IOUs in exchange for your work and borrow what you
need to spend within your group.
>Article #99511 (99515 is last):
>From: gchand4059@aol.com (GChand4059)
>Date: Sun Dec 13 14:33:58 1998
>Toronto dollars and new money schemes in general sound very
>interesting and filled with potential.
>What we really need is to hear from someone who actually USES
>lets-type money. Anyone like that out there?
JCT: There are thousands of local currency systems around the
world known as LETS, Timedollars and Hours. You can start your search
at: http://turmelpress.com/letssites.htm
>Article #99513 (99515 is last):
>From: "Steven" <shales@pipeline.com>
>Date: Sun Dec 13 14:46:23 1998
>I am sure there are since human stupidity seems to be infinite as
>this thread avers.
JCT: Either the hundreds of thousands of people using LETS around
the world are exhibiting human stupidity or Steven is. I'd bet it's
Steven wins the "stupidity" prize. Isn't it amazing that the guys who
claim to be the non-stupid are also the guys who claim they don't
understand?
>Date: Sat Dec 12 10:49:24 1998
>From: flanders@web.net ("john flanders")
>To: johnturmel@yahoo.com
>John.
>I now see that I may have acted to swiftly with my reaction to your
>posting about the Toronto Dollar. You will understand that I did not
>want to see it harmed before it got off the ground. You probably do
>not remember me, but in the early eighties I was a with a small group
>of people who worked for a couple of years trying to get the Ottawa
>Green Party started. You disrupted our first public meeting, and if
>you remember during a later nomination meeting, your behavior was so
>disruptive that you had to be removed by the police.
JCT: I don't remember anything disruptive about that first Green
Party of Canada meeting. All I did was indicate that I wanted to run
as the Ottawa Centre Green candidate in the upcoming 1984 federal
general election to promote LETS. Of course, some of the original
members were disturbed and may have construed my expression of that
desire as disruptive.
If you remember anything other than my words which you found
disruptive, I'd certainly like to know about it.
You may remember that I had then signed up 40 new pro-LETS
members which alarmed the Green party members who had not been very
successful at signing up members themselves. They therefore decided
not to hold a nomination meeting and not field any Ottawa candidates
to make sure I could not run.
You may then remember that I then organized a nomination meeting
to which all Ottawa members were invited and which I believe you may
have attended. You will remember that on the night of the meeting, the
Green Party leader in Toronto, Trevor Hancock, issued a press release
condemning my wanting to use the Green Party to promote LETS and
appointing a candidate for Ottawa Centre, John Dodson, without an
election.
You may also remember that that meeting was so fairly conducted
that I lost the Ottawa Centre nomination to Gordon MacLeod, one of the
original founding members of the Ottawa Greens so they ended up
cheating the wrong guy. I ended up being nominated for Ottawa West.
So they decided to hold another nomination meeting, the one where
I was arrested after rising on a Question of Privilege to know what
was wrong with the original nominations. I refused to relinquish the
floor as the chairman Matt Barbour tried to hold new elections forcing
them to resort to the police.
I'm appending the press from that era and am proud of the stand I
took which did result in the press I'm appending which lays out the
facts behind what I consider to have been a very dirty episode in the
Green Party's Ottawa history. Of course, having all that dirty doing
publicized did make many Ottawa Greens who did not know the whole
story mad and for which they will never forgive me but I'm proud that
my stand generated the press to expose the dirty doings.
>I bring this up to explain my somewhat hasty reaction to your
>posting. That is so much water under the bridge and I'm sure you have
>changed over the past twenty years as have I.
JCT: Actually, I always play fair and still play as rough as I
did then.
>The creation of the Toronto Dollar is a joyous event that I don't
>want to be soiled, especially not by me.
JCT: I would further mention that I was ejected from the Green
Party by an 8 person meeting to which I had not invited to defend
myself. Finally, I would point out that a few years later, the Green
Party did adopt LETS on their national platform.
>This message is to you, and not econ-lets. I hope you will treat
>this as a private communication, however, if you decide to post,
>please post the whole message. Regards, John F.
JCT: I appreciate your letter and hope the story of the behind-
the-scenes activities by a few Ottawa Green members has set the story
straight.
JCT: Greenbacks are LETS Greendollars issued by the national
goverment. This was the result of my attending my first Green Party
meeting.
THE OTTAWA GREENS MINUTES
Emergency meeting Wed. April 25, 1984, 7:30pm
This meeting was called because of John Turmel who wishes to run in
the Nepean-Carleton federal by-election as a Green candidate. This
person is a former Social Credit party member who has been a candidate
for that party many times. His platform has always been run on his
idea of replacing interest rates and eradicating the need for the
banking system. It is obvious he is not particularly interested in the
platform of the Greens, but only wishes to use it to run his own
"Greenback" ideas. When asked about this, he admitted that of course
he would be pushing his "Greenback" idea as the main theme of his
platform.
Furthermore, this person has always taken a very aggressive stance in
his political campaigns and has consequently alienated many people.
This has been evident in his attitude towards the Ottawa Greens, who
he has rejected because they have not fully agreed with his
"Greenback" ideas. As a result, he is now planning to set up his own
chapter in Ottawa and to have himself nominated as a candidate to run
in whatever election comes up as a representative of the Greens.
However, his primary interest is to run in the Nepean-Carleton by-
election and if that is cancelled because of an approaching federal
election, he will likely run in the Ottawa Centre federal riding.
This meeting has been called to discuss this situation and to
prevent it from occurring in the future. Members present: Ken Hillis,
Boris Aldanov, Matt Barbour, John Dodson, Charlie Sohmer, Bill
Trotter. The following motions were passed:
1) "Any Green Party member wishing to run as a Green Party candidate
in the Ottawa area must be endorsed by the Ottawa Greens."
Moved by Charlie Sohmer, Seconded by Matt Barbour, Agreed by consensus
2) "Candidates wishing to run as Green Party candidates in the Ottawa
area must have the ratification of their policies by the Ottawa
Greens."
Moved by Matt Barbour, Seconded by Ken Hillis, Agreed by consensus
In order to prevent John Turmel from running in the Nepean-Carleton
riding as a Green, the following motion was passed:
3) "It is hereby resolved that the Ottawa Greens authorize the
formation of a Green riding association in Nepean-Carleton
Moved by Ken Hillis, Seconded by John Dodson
It was agreed that the Ottawa Greens need a constitution and should
work on it. Bill Trotter is to check with the Chief Electoral Officer
on what could be done with someone like John Turmel, who is using the
name of the Green Party of Canada without the consent from the leader
as registered with the Chief Electoral Officer."
19840517
Bill Trotter letter to Green Party leader Trevor Hancock:
Dear Trevor:
Since I don't know if anyone from Ottawa will be attending the June
2nd meeting, I'm enclosing material which will explain John Turmel's
approach, position, etc., including the minutes of our meeting on
April 25th to discuss the situation.
It has just been announced this morning that the Nepean-Carleton by-
election will be held on Nov. 11th. We will attempt to have a Green
riding association in Nepean to counter John Turmel. We just have to
find a suitable candidate how. Perhaps we can find a candidate, since
we have 6 months before the election.
In regard to the letter and enclosed election information sent out a
while ago, I agree to keep my name on the list of party officials with
the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer. It may have some weight in
dealing with Mr. Turmel...
19840731
Green Party of Canada press release, July 31, 1984:
i) "The Green party refused "to endorse the candidacy of John Turmel
who is seeking it in Ottawa Centre.
ii) Leader Trevor Hancock says "Turmel wishes to use party to a) push
his own theories; b) have himself nominated by signing up members; c)
original members became concerned he doesn't really support Green
principles but is using the party for his own ends.
iii) Following Turmel's attendance at an OCC meeting, concerned
chapter delegates passed a proposal that non-chapter candidates needed
3 endorsements and deregistered Ottawa.
iv) Turmel does not have 3 endorsements and was informed prior to
nomination meeting. In view of this, the concerns of the original
Ottawans, the way he linked the party to the injunction, I have not
and will not endorse his candidacy. Dr. Hancock is titular head of the
Green Party of Canada.
v) We are a small party and easy prey for people to use our chapters
to espouse their own ideas in the name of the Greens. This cannot be
allowed to happen. Mr. Turmel's economic policies are not Green party
policies.
vi) When asked his opinion of Turmel, Dr. Hancock commented that he
preferred to let Turmel's record speak for itself.
July 31 letter from Trevor Hancock to the Ottawa Greens:
"In view of serious concerns, I have decided to refuse to endorse any
candidates because:
a) There is good reason to believe Turmel does not truly adhere to
Green principles, his attempt to take over the Ottawa Chapter is an
indication.
b) Turmel has created the Greenback wing which is not recognized. He
never asked for recognition but has gone ahead to use the party name
with the Greenback wing.
c) Turmel has not received written endorsements as required by the
rule of the Ontario Greens.
d) In his injunction, Turmel and Gauvin linked the name to the Green
Party of Canada.
JCT: This was a motion before the Federal Court that all party
leaders be allowed to participate in the federal election debate.
19840801
@PAPER = Ottawa Revue
@HEADLINE = Greens running in Ottawa Centre
@NEWS = John Dodson has announced he'll be running for the Green Party
of Canada in Ottawa Centre. The 34-year-old food store employee has
worked for the Greens since the party organized in Ottawa last year.
@NEWS = At press time, Dodson had not added his own ideas to the basic
Green party platform.
@PAPER = Ottawa Citizen, Abby Deveney
@HEADLINE = Turmel faction disputes Green party nomination
@NEWS = The Ottawa chapter of Canada's Green party entered federal
politics Tuesday, mired in controversy. While some Green party members
have announced that John Dodson would represent Ottawa Centre, others,
dissatisfied with the way Dodson was chosen, elected Gordon McLeod to
represent a break-away chapter of the party.
@NEWS = McLeod defeated perennial bank-basher John Turmel at a
nomination meeting attended by about 40 Green members who are unhappy
with the earlier nomination of Dodson. Turmel, a local gambler, placed
his first bet on the political table in May, 1979. Since then, he's
run -- and lost by huge margins -- in all municipal, federal and
provincial contests.
@NEWS = "The decision to select Dodson was made arbitrarily," says
party member Marc Gauvin who ran unsuccessfully in the 1982 mayoral
race. "We just heard about them choosing him. They never held or
called a meeting." National leader Trevor Hancock acknowledges a
nomination meeting wasn't called and Dodson was chosen by party
faithfuls. But he says the splinter group attempted to take over the
chapter with a last minute membership drive forced the party to pick a
candidate this way. "There was clearly an attempt by an individual to
take over our chapter with his own supporters," Hancock says. "There
is no evidence that this person has a `Green' set of values and
philosophies." About 15 members who helped found the Ottawa chapter
chose Dodson.
19840803
@PAPER = Ottawa Citizen
@HEADLINE = Troubled Greens to conduct new nomination
@NEWS = The Green party had two candidates nominated for the Ottawa
Centre riding before a general meeting of its Ottawa Chapter Thursday.
Now it has none.
@NEWS = The Greens invalidated the nominations of both John Dodson and
Gordon McLeod and called a new nomination meeting for Sunday night too
sort out the chaos that has plagued the party's entry into federal
politics. John Dodson was named last week by a small group of founding
members to stand in Ottawa Centre. Other members protested a candidate
being chosen without consulting the rest of the Ottawa chapter, so
they held a nomination meeting Tuesday and elected McLeod. Dodson says
he won't run again. John Turmel, who lost to McLeod, could not be
reached to see if he will again seed the nomination. McLeod said he
will be a candidate.
19840807Tu
@PAPER = Ottawa Citizen, Christina Spencer
@HEADLINE = Police called as Greens nominate 4 candidates
@NEWS = Ottawa fledgling Green party built on a platform of peace had
a mini-war on its hands Sunday. The party nominated 4 candidates for
area ridings at a raucous meeting marred by shouts from a small band
of supporters of professional gambler John Turmel.
@NEWS = Police were called twice to evict Turmel and supporter Marc
Gauvin as the two hurled insults at other members. Candidates were
eventually nominated over the shouts of Turmel's brother Ray, who
remained at the meeting after Turmel and Gauvin had been expelled.
Turmel has been charged with trespassing. About 50 people attended the
meeting which was called last week after opposing factions of the
party selected their own candidates to represent some ridings. But
chaos erupted almost immediately with the pro-Turmel faction claiming
the meeting was not valid. "It's unfortunate this has to happen,
particularly to such a young party," said Green spokesman Greg Vezina,
nominated to represent the Greens in Nepean Carleton. The party
executive had earlier named John Dodson as its candidate without
holding an election. Turmel, saying the nomination had not been
democratic, called a meeting of the membership last week and elected a
series of candidates for Ottawa area ridings.
@NEWS = The executive refused to endorse those nominations and Sunday
night's meeting was called to resolve the issue. Vezina said the
executive was opposed to what it saw as Turmel's attempt to take over
the party and use it to promote his economic theories. "If someone
tried to take over any party, it would try to expel him. I think
people are intelligent enough to realize that. We named a candidate in
the first place to try to avoid this."
@NEWS = Turmel, who has been a member since February, denied he was
trying to take over. "I'm fighting for what I think is right for this
party. If signing up members and getting support means taking over the
party, then you could say any candidate for any party is trying to
take it over." He said as a result of the Sunday meeting, he plans to
run as an independent candidate against the party's leader Trevor
Hancock of Toronto. The Green slate chosen Sunday is made up of John
Dodson in Ottawa-Carleton, Greg Vezina in Nepean-Carleton, Gord McLeod
in Ottawa Centre, and Kevin Benson in Ottawa West. Turmel said at
least one of his supporters will run as an independent candidate in
each of those ridings to oppose the Greens. This slate will include
his mother Therese, a former school teacher and translator, he said.
@PAPER = Le Droit, Carole Landry
@HEADLINE = Official Greens against independent Greens
@NEWS = To end a recent controversy, the official candidates are ...
But the end to the controversy has not satisfied all the members. Some
are going to run as independents to stress their dissatisfaction with
the procedures followed. John Turmel will run against Green Party
leader Hancock in Toronto, Marc Gauvin in Ottawa Centre, Serge Girard
in Ottawa Vanier, Ray Turmel in Nepean Carleton and Mrs. Therese
Turmel in Ottawa West.
@NEWS = It all started when Trevor Hancock named John Dodson in Ottawa
Centre after a meeting of the original members. A fraction of the
members objected and decided to hold a "more democratic" meeting. At
this one, Gordon McLeod was selected even though John Dodson had the
approval of the national leader.
@NEWS = On Wednesday, a third meeting took place where the members in
attendance decided to invalidate all nominations and start anew. The
next meeting did not take place without animosity and John Turmel and
Marc Gauvin were expelled. Mr. Turmel explained that the decisions
taken were not supported by the constitution.
@NEWS = Greg Vezina added that the party had suffered because of the
controversy "We are a party who tend towards consensus and we didn't
think that some Greens would have had the intention of controlling the
party."
840808We
@PAPER = Ottawa Revue
@HEADLINE = A few hitches, just one arrest
@NEWS = The Green Party now has four candidates running in the Ottawa
area. But the nomination meeting Sunday night went off with hitches
and one arrest. John Turmel, a professional gambler and bank-basher
who has run for office at all levels, was thrown out of the meeting
and charged with trespassing . He will appear in court Wednesday.
Turmel's brother Ray and supporter Marc Gauvin "attempted to disrupt
the meeting" by bringing in a video camera, which party officials
ordered them to remove, and by yelling "point of order" (Question of
Privilege) repeatedly while party officials were trying to proceed
with the nominations, according to one candidate. Turmel called the
meeting "stacked" but was not available for comment.
@NEWS = Greg Vezina will run for the Greens in Nepean-Carleton. John
Dodson has been moved over to run in Ottawa-Carleton. Last week, he
was declared the candidate in Ottawa Centre but party officials
conceded to charges Dodson was nominated unfairly. Gordon McLeod will
take his place in Ottawa Centre and Kevin Benson will run for the
Greens in Ottawa West.
19840810
@PAPER = Ottawa Citizen Editorial, Russell Mills
@HEADLINE = Nightmares in technicolor
@NEWS = The Green Party, entering its first federal campaign in
Canada, has had enough trouble establishing its credibility without
being linked to John Turmel, who believes interest rates are the root
of all evil. Turmel, whose devotion to Green party issues such as the
environment and world peace has never figured prominently in his many
dismally unsuccessful political campaigns, has been causing much
mischief for the Greens of late.
@NEWS = After the party executive appointed a candidate in Ottawa
Centre without the formality of a nominating meeting, Turmel took it
upon himself to call a meeting last week which chose Green party
candidates in local ridings. Not surprising, the party executive was
less than enchanted by this turn of events. It invalidated the Turmel
selections and called a new meeting last week to pick the party's
official candidates for area ridings. Turmel and a small band of
followers managed to disrupt that meeting so badly that police were
eventually called and trespass charges laid against him.
@NEWS = This is not the sort of publicity that a fledgling party
dreams of receiving during an election campaign. It's enough to give
the Greens the blues -- or make them see red.
19840822
@PAPER = Ottawa Revue , Darlene MacDonald
@HEADLINE = Turmel running again, without the Greens
@NEWS = John Turmel has one aim: to get justice from all those who act
dictatorially. With that brush, the 33-year-old systems engineers
leaves few institutions untouched. From the Bank of Canada to the
Green Party, with which he has tried to associate himself, Turmel
pulls out all the stops to achieve his goals. Unconcerned with his
public notoriety, the man the call the gambler has an almost obsessive
dedication to the oath he took as a graduate electrical engineer at
Carleton university. "As an engineer, we take an oath of integrity.
Being scientifically trained, we don't have any excuse if our system
breaks down for a scientific reason," says Turmel.
@NEWS = As the only self-proclaimed systems engineer in the country to
have specialized in banking systems, which he later applied to the
operation of his own casino, Turmel detected a flaw in the banking
system -- that of the interest rate. For 5 years, Turmel has set out
to single-handedly lobby for a reprogramming of the entire system.
"All I need is to be prime minister for a day, even just chief
engineer, then I could get into the Bank of Canada's central computer,
re-program the system to operate on a pure service charge. That has
been the thrust of Turmel's strategy throughout his nearly 100 motions
before the courts, seven of which have reached the SCC, his
affiliations with the Social Credit party and the fledgling Christian
Credit party and his tireless campaign for the preservation of
democracy. Turmel has run in 16 elections on all levels in the past 5
years.
@NEWS = Denying criticism he is a publicity seeker, Turmel spouts
Biblical passages and feels strong identification with past religious
leaders who have advocated a free market by the abolition of interest
rates. Turmel has attached the name Greenbacks to his system modeled
after Abraham Lincoln's Greenback system. I prophesy that when the
electronic revolution gets fully implemented, this is the money
program that will be used," Turmel adds, waving the computer disk that
contains the Greenback program, that he will then have the last laugh.
"A prophet is never recognized in his own land."
@NEWS = The Greenback system operates on the idea that people pay
their taxes by working for the state of city. So, in exchange for
services rendered, the worker receives tradeable tax credit notes. The
working model for the system is not operating on a local level in
British Columbia. Some 1,000 Vancouver Island residents are
supplementing their cash income with "Greendollars" under a bartering
system called Local Exchange Trading System.
@NEWS = But it this economic theory which has caused dissension
between Turmel and the Ottawa chapter of the Green party. National
chairman, Trevor Hancock, refused to endorse the candidacy of Turmel
on the grounds that he is using the Green party to "push his own
particular economic theories and that he did not fully support the
principles of the party." Infuriated, Turmel is seeking to rid the
party of the "totalitarian element" which he says exists among a small
clique of the top Greens and prevents freedom of expression among the
general membership. "If you want to push an idea such as my Greenbacks
theory, you pick a party that most closely has your goals, join it and
work to add your goals if they aren't there or further them if they
are. I'm as Green as any of them. I've been at all the demonstrations.
I was the guy with the umbrella full of holes at the acid rain
demonstrations."
@NEWS = By accusing him of not sharing their objectives, Turmel
contends the "Core of the party" does not want to encourage members to
push their own ideas rather they are to express Hancock's
philosophies. For that reason, Turmel plans to run in Toronto riding
of Beaches as an independent and defeat Hancock on his own territory.
Turmel was responsible for calling the unofficial nomination meeting
which followed the party faithful's appointment of John Dodson to
represent Ottawa Centre. In the succeeding meeting in which the
candidates for the Ottawa area were officially chosen, appeasing the
faction of the party that believed the appointment of Dodson was
undemocratic, Turmel was arrested on a charge of trespassing.
Unwilling to let the incident pass, Turmel is waiting for the
constitutional documentation Greg Vezina promised to produce to show
why the first party meeting was invalidated.
@NEWS = Turmel's most recent venture was a motion before the Federal
Court of Canada to force the CRTC to adhere to the letter of its
regulations and allow the leaders of every political party to take
part in the leaders' debate. In particular, he referred to the section
which says that free time political broadcasts must be made available
on an equitable basis. Having failed in this attempt, Turmel has a
couple of other strategies left to explore.
@NEWS = For instance, Turmel suggests that if the Independents formed
a coalition of 280 candidates, Max Keeping or anybody else couldn't
keep us from a major debate. We will use any legal motions necessary
to try and block debates going on without us. The second strategy
which he guarantees will be "clogging the courts," is an attempt to
block air time given to NDP leader Ed Broadbent. "If the Federal Court
judge says it's unfair to the majors (the leading parties) for the
minors to get equal time, then I want Ed Broadbent to get less time.
After all, if you're going to be undemocratic, do it consistently, not
just to some people." He adds with a laugh "I'm doing this as a chance
to corner them into contradicting themselves."
19840827Mo
@PAPER = Ottawa Citizen Letter, Jim Poushinsky
@NEWS = As one of the two original organizers for the Ottawa Greens, I
would like to point out that John Turmel is correct in stating that
the Green party fails to operate democratically. Dr. Trevor Hancock
wrote his name in as leader of the Greens when a 100 name petition was
forwarded to register the federal political party. The subsequent 3
day founding convention attended by 167 delegates representing 4500
Greens across Canada refused to endorse Hancock as leader or
spokesperson. Many of the Green candidates seeking office have good
ideas and personal qualities despite their poor judgment in forming a
politically expedient alliance with Hancock's unrepresentative regime.
I hope we will all learn from our mistakes and get on with the
greening of planet Earth once this election madness passes.
JCT: So that's some of the true story about how some Ottawa Green
Party members objected to my wishing to promote LETS politically and
what they did about it. I think it shows some of the dirty politics
that went on at the time and though it's true that many Greens still
call me disruptive, I think I acted with integrity every step of the
way. Even though I was finally convicted of trespassing.
I could write a whole book about my treatment at their hands but
I think the fact I was only fined $53 is indicative of the judge's
opinion of the whole issue.
I'd also point out that I'd been persuaded by Jim Harris to
rejoin the party in 1993 and was ready to pump a quarter million
dollars I'd won in my Topaz gambling casino to promote LETS for the
party during the 1997 federal election. Unfortunately, once again, the
leader of the day, Chris Lea, arbitrarily decided he would not endorse
my candidacy as a Green candidate and I therefore used that money to
found the Abolitionist Party for that purpose. I'm pleased to note
that while the Greens fielded 79 candidates, in only 3 weeks, I
managed to field 80 candidates. Too bad because the
Green Party could have fielded 160 candidates had they not shown an
unreasonable prejudice against me. Since Green candidates rarely even
mentioned LETS at public meetings, it allowed our candidates who were
running in the same ridings as Greens to joke that what we were
lauding LETS as an engine to power rockets, the Greens had it
installed in their lawn mowers.
Of course, none of these criticisms apply in any way to the
leadership of the Green Party of Canada today but the autocratic
behavior of former leaders and small cliques of members was quite a
shame to behold.
-------------------------------
Date: Tue Dec 29 10:34:36 1998
From: flanders@web.net ("john flanders")
Subject: The Evolution of the Toronto Dollar
To: econ-lets@mailbase.ac.uk hourslist-l@lightlink.com
Several people have noted the word LETS is conspicuously absent from
the Toronto dollar web-site. There are reasons, and I hope that
briefly tracing the evolution of the Toronto Dollar project may be
useful.
About a year ago, several people from LETS Toronto met with community
leaders and business people in the St Lawrence area of Toronto with
the intention of setting up a local LETS as part of the dream of a
multi-lets system. We immediately ran into difficulties. It was no
secret that LETS Toronto was being torn apart by internal squabbles,
and the business people wanted no part of it. LETS Toronto, the
biggest system in Canada, had slumped to about 300 users from a peak
of about 750. The Phoenix Foundation was brought in as trustees to
manage the operation for a year, and now fortunately LETS Toronto is
on the mend. The LETS Toronto newsletters are published on their
web-site - < http://www.web.net/~lets >
Business people felt that the telephone reporting system used by LETS
Toronto was too cumbersome for small retail stores, and as a group,
we felt strongly that business participation was vital. Both LETS
Toronto and Vancouver LETS suffer from lack of business involvement.
You can earn green dollars, but unless you have an insatiable
appetite for massage, you are limited in where you can spend your
earnings. So we turned to Paul Glover and the Ithaca Hour system -
http://www.lightlink.com/ithacahours They have managed to sustain a
paper currency that appeals to both business people and community
members. In Ithaca, 3500 people participate in the system, with 350
businesses offering a range of useful services. For a while we tried
to blend the Ithaca Hour system with LETS but decided, for the time
being, to drop LETS altogether and develop a paper currency --
initially called the St Lawrence Buck, later changed to the Toronto
Dollar. Several members of our $TD group continue to be involved with
LETS Toronto, and last month we produced a joint benefit concert.
The St Lawrence community liked the idea of a community currency but
the merchants were concerned about getting stuck with large amounts
Toronto Dollars. We departed substantially from the Ithaca model
when we started to talk about having a backed currency. We eventually
settled on a scheme that would involve exchanging Canadian dollars
for Toronto Dollar at par, with 90% of the exchange amount going into
a Toronto Dollar Reserve Trust Fund and the remaining 10% being
deposited in a Community Trust Fund. Participating merchants would be
able to use their Toronto dollars at par with other merchants,
charities etc, while having the option of 'cashing out' at 90 cents
on the dollar. The Community Trust Fund will be used to help create
employment in the community.
Toronto Dollar Inc is registered as a non-profit corporation that is
run entirely by volunteers. We have 58 participating business,
including 39 food vendors in the St Lawrence Market and 7
restaurants, with more businesses signing on. We have formed
partnerships with two community newspapers to carry advertisements
from our participants. We have contracted with Toronto's First Post
Office to handle the distribution and accounting of the Toronto
Dollar. The next phase of our work is to reach out to the smaller
home-based businesses in the community.
Several adjoining communities are exploring the idea of introducing
the Toronto Dollar, but for the time being, we are regarding the
Toronto Dollar as a pilot project limited to the St Lawrence
neighbourhood.
Since the Toronto Dollar was launched by the mayor of Toronto three
weeks ago, we are able to donate close to $1000 to Toronto's
Out-of-the-Cold Program. We hope to do much more in the coming
months. We have a fledgling Toronto Dollar web-site -
< http://www.web.net/~tordoll >
The Toronto Dollar is a project of St Lawrence Works. In 1997, in
spite of a referendum where 76% of Toronto's citizens voted against
it, the Provincial Government of Ontario amalgamated 6 cities to form
the new "megacity" of Toronto. St Lawrence Works grew out of this
changing city. Whether you were for or against the amalgamation of
Toronto, the fact remains that people and communities need a vehicle
for their voices to be heard in the decisions that affect their
lives. St Lawrence Works grew out of that need and intends to be a
strong voice at the new Toronto Community Council. It is a coalition
of community, business and cultural groups, a synergy of
organizations that believe in the power of community. The St
Lawrence Works web-site is < http://www.web.net/~slworks >
The Toronto Dollar is a work in progress and we welcome positive
input. All the best for the new year, John Flanders
-------------------------------
Send a comment to John Turmel
Home