In the interest of everyone's privacy we have decided to keep the nature of the complaint and the names of the people involved confidential. We know that many of you will be curious of the details, however we ask you to respect this decision.

The process the GSW board went through to come to this decision is as follows:
- meeting and discussion with those who voiced the complaint
- meeting with the person that the complaint was about
- consultation with other people in the spoken word community directly involved
- consultation with other spoken word community organizers on how they have dealt with similar situations in their community
- review of SpoCan's Anti-Oppression Policy and conflict resolution process
- consultation with people outside the spoken word community who are a part of the Guelph community
- board discussion and a consensus decision on the issue
- notification of our decision to the person the complaint was raised about 
- notification to those who raised the complaint 
- notification to the community
- focus on confidentiality throughout the process

This is the first formal complaint that GSW has received. We are nearly complete the development of our policy that includes a transparent process to deal with complaints/concerns/grievances should they arise in the future. This policy was originally schedule to be completed in early February. However, attention to the situation discussed above has delayed its completion. We now expect to present a first version of the policy to the GSW community in March.

Thanks to those who brought their concerns forward.
Yours in growth,

Guelph Spoken Word Board
— Beth Anne Fischer
     Mark Mackinnon
     Patrick Kelly
     Truth Is ...