The Toronto Area Intergroup Operating Committee’s Primary Purpose
Greater Toronto Area Intergroup Operating committee is a coordinating body that supports the 12 Step work of AA groups in the Toronto area, providing a point of contact between individual groups, the public, and the still suffering alcoholic.
The Operating Committee of Greater Toronto Area (G.T.A) Intergroup is composed of 10 members of Alcoholics Anonymous, nine of whom are elected by the Intergroup Representatives of the AA Groups from general AA membership in the Greater Toronto Area including Intergroup Reps and/or Alternate Reps. To qualify to be a member of the Operating Committee, each candidate must have a minimum of two years of sobriety. The Past Chair serves on the Committee without a vote. It is recommended that members have served as an Intergroup Rep for their home group.
(Note: this is an informal discussion of the nature and duties of the GTA Intergroup Operating Committee. Click here for the more formal wording from the Procedures and Guidelines of Greater Toronto Area Intergroup)
The term of service for a member of the Operating Committee may be as long as three years. The Operating Committee Chair may spend an additional number of months of service as an advisor to the Operating Committee (as past Chair), or in other capacities (such as being a member of the committees organizing Info AA Day and the ORC).
There are procedures in place to handle interim vacancies on the committee (see the Procedures & Guidelines excerpts). Once the executive members rotate off the Operating Committee, they may not come back to the Operating Committee for a period of 24 months. This is how the 9th Tradition and the spirit of rotation is upheld at this level of service.
An Altruistic Movement
Duties and Responsibilities to Those they serve
What do they do?
The Chair of the Operating Committee runs the meetings of both the Operating Committee and the Intergroup Floor. They are also automatically a voting member of all Intergroup service committees. When it’s time for the Chair to rotate out, they automatically become the liaison to the ORC (Ontario Regional Conference) committee.
One member on the committee takes on the responsibility of being the Reception Coordinator they are responsible for setting up the hall for the monthly Intergroup Meeting and seeing to it that all documents required are present and that the coffee is made.
In addition to attending meetings of the Operating Committee and the Intergroup Floor (usually one meeting each per month), members of the Operating Committee also attend a quarterly meeting with the Districts to where members of each service level share information about current activities in the Greater Toronto Area of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Each member of the Operating Committee take turns attending Intergroup’s service committee meetings in a liaison role. This may involve simply observing procedures and acting as a conduit of information in both directions, or it could also include full participation in the committee’s work (at the discretion of each committee chair). The number of committees served by each Operating Committee member varies, but can range from one to three or more each month.
During meetings of the Intergroup Floor, Operating Committee members, in their liaison role, present reports on committee activities to the floor in the absence of the committee Chair and either answer questions about the committees’ activities, or take the questions back to the committees for answers to come at a later meeting.
The Operating Committee appoints the chairpersons of all G.T.A Intergroup Subcommittees (service committees) except those designated as “District Committees” – .Corrections, Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC), Public Information (PI) and Treatment. See the Procedures & Guidelines excerpts.
For more information, email the Operating Chair at: oc.chair@aatoronto.org or Operating Vice-Chair at: oc.vicechair@aatoronto.org
From our Procedures and Guidelines…
A few excerpts from our Procedures and Guidelines for our members:
1.4 GTAI and A.A.’s Twelve Traditions
GTAI operates in accordance with the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. A.A.’s Tradition 6 states: “An AA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise lest problems of money, property or and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.” This Tradition in particular must be scrupulously followed by all committees, subcommittees, and those employed by the Intergroup Office, to ensure that there is no endorsement, expressed or implied, of any outside facility or enterprise, so that the name, goodwill, property or finances of AA in Toronto are not under any circumstances lent or given to anything of a public nature.
1.8 – GTAI – Group Disclaimer
As embodied in the AA 4th Tradition, the information and operation of an AA group resides with the group conscience of its members. While hopefully every AA group adheres to the guiding principles of the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions, the GTA Intergroup neither monitors nor oversees the activities or practice of any AA group. Groups and meetings listed in the AA Meeting Directory appear at their own request. A directory listing does not constitute or imply approval or endorsement of any approach to, or practice of, the AA program. If you do not
feel comfortable at a meeting, you are completely free to “shop around” until you feel that you belong.
2 RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF GTA INTERGROUP
2.1 Intergroup Representative or Alternate
An Intergroup Representative (or, in the absence of the Intergroup Representative, the Alternate) has the following rights:
▪ to speak at GTA Intergroup meetings as the representative of their group
▪ to move motions before GTA Intergroup
▪ to second motions before GTA Intergroup
▪ to vote on motions before GTA Intergroup
▪ to nominate candidates for the OC
▪ to stand for election to the OC
3.1 Group Representation at GTAI
▪ Each group is entitled to representation by one Intergroup Representative (or Alternate) at
GTA Intergroup; a group gets one vote.
▪ An A.A. member can only be the Intergroup or Alternate rep for one group. One member
cannot have 2 votes at Intergroup.
3.2 Intergroup Representative Role
▪ Recommended sobriety requirement is 2 years of continuous sobriety
▪ Responsibilities:
▪ to represent and communicate the group conscience of their group at GTA Intergroup
▪ to make such recommendations as they deem proper for the consideration of and action by the OC
▪ to keep their groups advised of the work of the OC and GTA Intergroup
3.5 Contact Info for Group Intergroup Representative
Each group shall notify the Administrative Assistant of the name and contact information for the Intergroup Representative upon election. (Note: this may be done at the monthly GTAI meeting – you may also email the office at intergroup at admin@aatoronto.org. Please consider updating your meeting guide info with your Intergroup reps contact every 2 years.)
click here for the full Operating Procedures and Guidelines pdf
