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 Baronial Curia Meeting MinutesDecember 4, 2003 (A.S. XXXVII)
Baronial Curia Report December 4, 2003 In Attendance:
Curia
Populace
Correction to Minutes of September 2003 Officer Reports Chatelaine - Tina Oliver
Chronicler - Paul McCullough
Exchequer - Joe Chiasson
Quarterly statement
General This curia deals, for the most part, with the game we play. In this area we really haven’t got any serious problems. Our problems stem from those areas where we deal with the real world and its laws and regulations – to wit, money matters. Firstly, the NMS. This was a charge levied by Society to be applied to non-members of the SCA. The SCA is a foreign national as far as provincial and federal laws are concerned. The authority of that organization and its jurisdiction stop at the Canada-U.S. border. It therefore has no legal claim to any moneys it feels are owed to it under this charge, and it has no legal right to exact that charge through a third party on this side of the border. Since the Barony also has no status with either the province or the federal government, it is not in a position to present itself as a collector on behalf of the SCA. All it takes is for someone who’s paying attention to lay a complaint with the police. While the immediate reaction may be understated, the repercussions could be very serious, up to and including charges being laid. (that’s the worse case scenario). We tread dangerous ground in this collection on several points:
I propose that the barony and cantons cease the collection of the NMS on the grounds that our doing so and transferring the money as we do is in possible violation of laws governing the passing of money across national lines. Until that’s clarified “ignorance is no excuse”. By the way, to make a correction to the minutes from the last meeting on this point, at no point were NMS fees transferred to kingdom as donations. I was simply pointing out that this was now policy on my part. Secondly, our current status with the province. As we are working on a business bank account, it follows that any outside observer would assume that we are a business, and not a club. As a business, even non-registered (another point), we are required to provide a tax return yearly to the federal government, same as any other business. It doesn’t matter if we pay taxes or not, we are required to do so. No tax return has been filed with any level of government by this group since its inception. Should the tax department decide to be nasty about this, our assets are frozen, operations are put on the backburner until such time as an audit or our accounts is done, and they determine for themselves whether or not we owe money. In the meantime, everything stops. Thirdly, our status with the SCA. I have no idea how to check this out, but I suspect it will mean somehow checking with the relevant US dept. controlling non-profit organizations to find out. Does the barony exist as a legal branch of the SCA, or not? If we do, are we listed as a branch or as a foreign holding? This is important. Two summers ago a change in policy went into effect regarding transfers to Kingdom. That change was dictated by Society. Prior to that period, transfers to Kingdom were listed as transfers between levels within the organization. Since then, transfers have been listed as donations, by decree from Society. Implications – either foreign branches do not fall under the regular listing of official entities, in which case we may not exist in the eyes of the US government, or we are seen as foreign holdings for the purposes of filing tax returns by Society. Whatever it is, I don’t think this change in status is a new thing, just something that was brought to the BOD’s attention. Our status will have repurcusions with insurance applications coming out of the SCA. Fourthly, the bank account. As we are not a formal entity of the SCA, since the SCA doesn’t have status in Canada, the next bank account name should drop the SCA Inc. from its title. Canadian law doesn’t allow foreign nationals to be signatories on Canadian bank accounts, therefore Kingdom exchequer can’t be a signatory. That being said, it is the contention of Kingdom that the regional exchequer be signed on to the account instead. This will not happen while I’m in this position, and should not happen at all under any other exchequer. If it is illegal for Kingdom to gain access to this account through the front door, it is probably at least iffy to allow it access through the back door by way of its regional representative. Like it or not, reality has reared its ugly head. I never had a scare in this job like the one I got when I got queried on the legal status of the barony, and the message had a signature that read,
Karl Villanueva, C.A. This is not the sort of thing any treasurer should be dealing with, having to explain and justify the lack of status of an organization. This lack of status has cost us an eminently qualified candidate for the position. He is a chartered accountant, but because of the ambiguity of our position, he cannot take the position. Doing so would put him in violation of his code of conduct, a thing that would cost him his certification. That’s how serious our lack of status is.
Coronet - James Crook
Knight Marshall - Mike Sangster No report filed Company Captain of Archers - Vivian Fox
Minister of Lists - Mike Burnett Waiting for reports - in transition Webmaster - Susan Richter
A&S - Diane Plumridge Reid Barony of Ruantallan Arts and Sciences Report for December 2003 Here is my report of A&S in the Barony of Ruantallan from June to December, 2003. My term of office expires in December. I expect my deputy, Lady Estela du Frayse (mka Kelly Grant email: estela_dufrayse@hotmail.com) will take over my position if Curia accepts her. In the Canton of Seashire, there are weekly A&S gatherings on Sunday afternoons. Each week has a different topic and rotates through Calligraphy/Illumination, Sewing, Cooking, and subjects of general interest. Activity has been slow due to the time of year (weather, events), and Dance class has been added to the roster. A hat making workshop was held in July at the home of Maestra Francesca. Five attendees now have hands-on experience blocking felt. “Several craftspeople from Ruantallan participated in largess for our King & Queen to give as gifts to the royals of the known world at Pennsic. Lady Enna Bonetrader - leather ducal coronets. Lady Allesandra Francesca di Milano did the Queen's gift - a drawn work table runner and napkins. Lord Guthfrith Yrlingson - A carved wooden game board, complete with rules for a game he created, all in a silk bag. Lady Estela du Frayse - Period undergarments - a shirt and braies for the King and a chemise for the Queen; the workmanship on the garments was fabulous, I showed them to several people who were awed by the tiny stitches and gorgeous fabric; Most people thought it was silk and were surprised to find out it was cotton. His Lordship Yesungge Altan - a collection of period condiments - mustards, salts and what have you, all attractively displayed in glass jars in a nice embroidered bag.” From a report from Duchess Katherine Stanhope. The Bayeux Tapestry project continues, and our portion has been seen at several events with various people painting sections as time allowed. From Margaret Twigge (mka Treva MacLean) of Seashire, I have “Since your last curia meeting we have had a get together at the Baron's to meet 2 hawks and their handlers and had a talk on the care and useage of the birds. We had a good turnout and everyone enjoyed it. Upcoming is a class on Pewter Casting on Sept.21st by Lady Isa. A&S classes over the summer have been mostly cancelled except for Dance class.” There were A&S displays and competitions at several events this fall. At Baronial Investiture in Distant Shore, a novice competition was held with many participants on a variety of topics; novice being anybody trying something new. There were about 10 entrants, as I recall, including metal work, hats, knitting, calligraphy, and leather work. There was a most interesting interactive display/demonstration of period lighting techniques including rushes and rope in a variety of fuel sources like drawn butter and fish oil, the work of Hedda Bonesetter. She also entered the A&S competition at the Northern Shores Rapier and A&S championship event a few weeks later. There were some 20 or so entries into the latter competition, but I have no report from the person who ran it, and my memory is not so good these days. Jason is the first A&S champion of the Northern shores, both from the judges and populous, for his metal work. He had several entries including a chain mail shirt, forged steel knife, and intricate jewelry. Lady Estela has started a project to digitally photograph the arts at work in our area, and some of this is available for viewing on the Ruantallan website. No reports from Distant Shore, Wolfsgate, or Ynys y Gwaed. The latter canton has just held elections and the following is now MOAS: Marian Warren (Maid Marian), no contact info given. All in all, it has been a good year for the Arts in Ruantallan! Herald - Joan Chiasson
Canton Reports Distant Shores - Sarah Paterson
Seashire - John Percy
Wolfsgate - Colin MacKenzie
Ynys y Gwaed - presented by Wendy Cotton for the YYG Seneschal in absentia A new board has recently been elected and the offices are in transition at this time. More on the status of YYG should be available at the next curia meeting.
New Business
Meeting adjourned Next meeting to be held on or around March 2004. Location: TBA |
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