Summary
Operations update covering payroll remediation, insurance renewal, strategic partnerships, DSGE modeling progress, and organizational initiatives. Liam Wilkinson (UBI) reported a payroll error discovered at SES — significant misfilings and underpayments in 2025 — resolved by adjusting tax filings rather than amending due to prior CRA issues. Baker Tilly’s earlier engagement was a review, not an audit. The Chambers of Commerce benefits plan was re-selected due to its utilization-rate averaging feature. Liam recommended accepting Insights accounting’s 5,000 exhibitor package for an Ottawa housing conference (Sept 28 – Oct 1). Liam presented DSGE model v4 (>1,000 lines of code) results: 5% LVT over 40-year phase-in projects +6% housing units by year 10 and +3% GDP above baseline by year 20. Ken reported 95 RSVPs for the Toronto Housing & LVT Meetup, 10x Commonwealth web traffic surge following the Canada Sovereign Wealth Fund announcement (>10,000 visits, 600 petition submissions), and the launch of an AI chatbot named “Andrew” on the Commonwealth website. The team will transition from NationBuilder to Action Network by the 15th. Phil Chabot formally joined as a permanent employee (previously on UBI content / Andrew Yang campaign). [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
Decisions
- Stick with Chambers of Commerce benefits/insurance plan for renewal (utilization-rate averaging). [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Accept Insights accounting $1,100/month retainer through at least Q3, pending renegotiation later in the year. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Migrate from NationBuilder to Action Network, completion target by the 15th. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- DSGE model v4 to be shared with advisors and U of T faculty for cross-checking before academic publication. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
Action Items
- Frank:
- Follow up with key CLT board member next week re: CLT summit participation and exhibitor table/booth options; report back at end of May meeting. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Ask Mike next week about possible late submission for a talk at the CLT summit; proceed if flexible. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Call Liam tomorrow to wrap up loose ends. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Ken:
- Start setting proposals to potential partners for the June Ottawa meetup, after gathering venue suggestions. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Launch the UBC petition campaign soon. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Liam Wilkinson (UBI):
- Sign the Insights accounting proposal (retainer) by tomorrow unless objections raised. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Revisit and potentially submit a proposal to present the DSGE model at the GOS Network Summer Conference (within 2 weeks if schedule allows). [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Liam / Floyd / Team:
- Create and deploy a chatbot for the Commonwealth website soon. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
Key Findings / Metrics
- SES payroll in 2025: significant misfilings and underpayments; resolved via tax-filing adjustments rather than amendments due to prior CRA friction. Concerns that Baker Tilly should have caught these during books review. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- DSGE model v4: >1,000 LOC; 5% LVT over 40 years → +~6% housing units by year 10, +3% GDP above baseline by year 20, welfare gains for both renters and homeowners (renters slightly more). 5% LVT tax ≈ 20% of rental value (varies by property type/location). [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Toronto Housing & LVT Meetup: 95 RSVPs, significant online engagement. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Commonwealth post-Canada-SWF-announcement: ~10x web-visit surge, >10,000 visits, 600 petition submissions. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
- Basic Income Earth Network Congress meetup planned in Toronto for August 19th. [Source: Zoom meeting summary, 2026-04-29]
Entities Mentioned
- ken-yang
- liam-wilkinson (Zoom: “UBI”)
- phil-chabot (Philippe Chabot; transition from contractor to employee)
- andrew-yang — Phil’s prior campaign
- ubi-works
- common-wealth-canada
- canadian-sovereign-wealth-fund
- ubi-tax-policy-macro-model — DSGE v4
- land-value-tax
- lvt-theory-of-change
- Frank — strategic partnerships lead (CLT + conference submissions)
- Andrew — meeting participant (possibly Andrew Rose per cross-meeting context; unverified)
- SES — payroll service
- Baker Tilly — accounting firm
- Chambers of Commerce — benefits plan vendor
- Insights accounting — $1,100/mo retainer
- Carl (Grounded) — Australian community land trust leader
- Kent Mundell — Canadian professor doing visiting scholar work at McGill, possibly U of Calgary
- Mike — CLT summit contact
- Elliot — econ student, scholarship for LVT paper
- Lars Doucetz — GOS Network Summer Conference potential presenter
- Timbo — DSGE modeling collaborator
- Ottawa Community Land Trust
- Basic Income Earth Network — August Toronto meetup
- GOS Network Summer Conference
- NationBuilder / Action Network — platform migration
- U of T faculty — model review collaborators