Status of Lacan Toronto The organization will be called Lacan Toronto. Lacan Toronto is independent of the control of any umbrella group. The website is www.lacantoronto.ca.
Membership and Fees There will be two categories of participation: members and non-members.
Non-members can attend regular Lacan Toronto meetings as often as they wish free of charge. Similarly our teaching program. If there is a visiting speaker or some other reason that Lacan Toronto has to pay for meetings to be held, non-members will be asked to pay a fee. Attendance at any meeting related to Lacan Toronto will require a commitment to keep any patient or client material completely confidential to the meeting itself. All the meetings will be conducted with a tone of respect toward and supportiveness of each of the participants. Feedback and suggestions will always be welcome.
Membership for Lacan Toronto will be paid annually. The membership “year” will begin September 1: fees will be paid to the Treasurer of Lacan Toronto starting from the first of September. The fee is $150. Lacan Toronto will pro-rate its membership fees in situations in which it makes sense to do so. These situations will be on a person-by-person basis and after a discussion with our Treasurer.
The advantages of being a “member” of Lacan Toronto include: attend all Visiting Speakers’ or Member Speakers’ events without paying a fee; forwarded mailings from other Lacanian organizations; have the opportunity to teach sessions organized or supported by and for Lacan Toronto; access our video tapes either online or on discs.
Functioning of the group
Lacan Toronto will be conducted in English.
In order to support members’ need for “currency hours” for continuing education credits we will have a sign-in sheet at each meeting to be able to corroborate anyone’s attendance. When we are meeting online, an attendance record will be kept of each person’s presence.
Lacan Toronto is independent of the control of any umbrella group. Individual members are encouraged to develop their own memberships as they wish. Members who attend outside meetings will be encouraged to report on these meetings to the whole group. From time to time we will consider associating or affiliating with another group for a specific purpose, such as co-sponsoring a meeting.
Location and Frequency of Meetings
We will continue to meet in the Toronto Psychoanalytic Society whenever possible because of the comfort and convenience. This requires that we are considered by the TPS to be one of their Study Groups, which will have minimal impact on our own functioning. We will not meet there for those meetings for which we charge a fee, unless the meeting is considered a part of the Extension Program of the TPS or the meeting has a status which would require that we hold it at the TPS. In this latter case, we would negotiate paying a fee to the TPS for the space.
We will try out new venues as needed. The first will be a meeting room of the Toronto Public Library on the second floor of the same building as the TPS. The fee for this space is $100 for four hours, which includes our setting up and taking down tables and chairs.
We will meet every two weeks or less or more as decided by the group.
We support the formation of small groups, cartels or otherwise named meetings, closed or open as the group wishes, for more focused areas of study and support.
Admin Group and Roles
We have identified certain functions that need to be handled by members of Lacan Toronto. These functions will be handled by those members who are a part of the Admin Group. Members in existing positions and possible “volunteer” positions will serve a twelve-month term after which they will be re-volunteered or changed. The “person in position” will bring any question or decision that requires discussion to the general Admin meeting. This group will deliberate and either resolve the issue or refer it to the whole group of Lacan Toronto members for a decision.
The Admin Group will meet face-to-face on a yet-to-be-determined frequency. Members of Lacan Toronto who are not a part of the Admin Group are welcome to attend these meetings.
There will be a smaller Executive group that can be called at the discretion of the Co-ordinator for emergency considerations and deliberations. Any decision that is taken will be considered and ratified by the membership at the next regular meeting.
The roles and suggestions that were agreed upon for 2014-15 are:
Coordinator – Judith; Treasurer – Joan; Archivist – Concetta; Membership Person – Claire; Webmaster – Judith; I.T person – Carlos; Editor/Moderator of the content of the website – Randall; Education – Clive.
Consultants: Education – Dan Collins; External Communications – Robert Grant. These consultants will attend Admin Group meetings as needed.
Liaison members: Clive Thomson with Colette Soler group; Ines Anderson with NLS-NEL/WAP/Lacanian Compass; Dan Collins with APW; Judith Hamilton with Stockbridge Lacanian Clinical Forum. We will consider other connections.
Members will be asked if anyone else would also like to serve on the Admin, now or in the future, in a specific role. Suggestions are for a Film and Events Coordinator, and Small Group Coordinator. This list of roles is open for discussion and additions.
Current (2021-22) Admin positions are listed at https://lacantoronto.ca/about-us/contact/
Co-ordinator – Judith; Treasurer – Joan; Education and Program Director – Dan
Liaisons: with Salon Lacan (Vancouver) – Dan Collins; with Initiative Toronto (NLS) – Ines Anderson; with APW – Dan Collins; with APPI (Ireland) – Eve Watson; with the Boston Lacan Group – Rolf Flor; with Lacan Circle of Australia – Dan Collins
Annual General Meetings (AGM)
The first AGM was held on September 6, 2014. Subsequent AGMs have take place at yearly or more frequent intervals as deemed necessary for the smooth functioning of the organization. The agendas are conceived by the Co-ordinator in consultation with other members of the Admin group. All paid-up Lacan Toronto members are eligible to vote at meetings. Minutes of all the AGMs are held by the Co-ordinator and can be reviewed by any member at any time.
Education
Lacan Toronto mounts a teaching program for one-and a half hours following each regular meeting. Dan Collins has the responsibility for managing this program. The current and former programs are listed at https://lacantoronto.ca/teaching/lacan-toronto-teaching-program/ There are also other opportunities for teaching Lacan in other organizations. https://lacantoronto.ca/education/
Website
Judith Hamilton is the current webmaster. She and the Treasurer, Joan Guenther, have the password that allows for posting and editing. Suggestions to make the website more functional and attractive are always welcome. Members are encouraged to send material they would like to share with others to Judith (jehamilton@rogers.com) who will prepare it for posting it on the website.