CONSTITUTION
OF THE
CONSTITUENCY
ASSOCIATION
& THE
ELECTORAL DISTRICT ASSOCIATION
OF THE
GREEN PARTY OF KINGSTON AND THE ISLANDS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 DEFINITION
2 MEMBERSHIP
3 MEMBERSHIP FEES
4 MANDATE
5 VISION AND IDEALS
6 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
7 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
8 CONDUCT OF MEETINGS
9 NOMINATION AND SELECTION OF
CANDIDATES FOR FEDERAL AND PROVINCIAL OFFICE
10 AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
11 VOTING ON SIGNIFICANT RESOLUTIONS
(“Bonser Method”)
The Kingston Greens shall be the Constituency
Association (CA) of the Provincial Green Party of Ontario (GPO) and the
Electoral District Association (EDA) of the Green Party of Canada (GPC) for Kingston and the Islands. At such a
time as the majority of the members of the Kingston Greens so decide, the CA
and EDA may become separate bodies.
2.1 Individual members of the
Green Party of Ontario and/or the Green Party of Canada residing in Kingston and the Islands shall constitute the membership of the Kingston
Greens as a Constituency and Electoral District Association.
2.2 A majority of all members of
the Executive Team (hereinafter
referred to as the “Executive”) may suspend a member for cause. Such member may appeal for reinstatement to
the general membership at a scheduled meeting.
The general membership may choose to vote on the member’s reinstatement,
strike up an ad-hoc judicial committee of non-Executive members to review the
member’s appeal, or seek legal counsel as the membership sees fit. Suspended
and/or expelled members forfeit any dues or membership fees already paid.
Kingston Greens shall collect annual membership
fees for the GPC and GPO and the local CA and EDA. The membership fee, if any, for the local CA
and EDA shall be set annually by the Executive.
The purpose of the Kingston Greens
shall be to:
4.1 Carry on the work of the
constituency and the electoral district for electoral, political, and
educational purposes.
4.2 Nominate candidates for
election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Parliament of Canada.
4.3 Recruit members for the
federal and provincial Green Party.
4.4 Carry out the administrative
work of the party within its constituency and electoral district.
4.5 Act as the Constituency and
Electoral District Association to which the Green Party assigns
responsibilities under the election laws of Ontario and Canada.
The Kingston Greens shall
be guided by the ideals stated in the "Charter of the Global Greens"
(Canberra, 2001) and Section 2.2 of the constitution of the Green Party of
Ontario: "The goals of the Green
Party are . . . the development of a sustainable and non-exploitative society
and economy, nested within the natural world, and functioning so as not to harm
or degrade it."
6.1 An Annual General Meeting (AGM)
shall be held in every calendar year.
6.2 A quorum shall consist of 15% of the
membership at the AGM and subsequent general membership meetings.
6.3 An Executive shall be elected
to conduct the work of Kingston Greens between meetings of the membership at
the AGM.
6.4 The Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) shall give a financial report at the AGM.
6.5 An auditor for the following
year shall be appointed at the AGM.
7.1 The Kingston Greens shall be
governed by an Executive, including but not limited to, a president,
vice-president, secretary, chief financial officer, information officer,
membership secretary, fundraising coordinator, volunteer coordinator, media
coordinator and other officers and members-at-large as the membership may elect
at the AGM, to a maximum of 10 Executive members. The Executive is elected by the membership at
the AGM and is responsible to the membership. General membership meetings,
ideally held at least quarterly, should direct and review the work of the
Executive. A minimum of one general
meeting, plus the AGM, will be held annually.
Members of the Executive are expected to attend most or all of its
meetings.
7.2 Nominations for members of
the Executive must be sent in writing to the secretary at least seven days
before the date of the AGM, with the name of one nominating member and two
seconders and the nomination must be accepted by the prospective officer.
7.3 Once members of the Executive
have been elected at the AGM, they may thereafter appoint members-at-large or
members with special responsibilities.
Members-at-large shall be confirmed at the next general meeting of the
membership and shall have interim voting rights on the Executive. A quorum consists of a majority (50% plus
one) of the Executive.
7.4 The secretary shall be responsible
for the taking of minutes of Executive
meetings and general meetings, including the AGM, as well as the dissemination
of those minutes as amended and corrected to all members of the CA/EDA. S/he
shall maintain an up-to-date Minute Book with hard copies of all minutes and
have this available for ready reference at all meetings. If the secretary
cannot attend a meeting, a delegate shall take the minutes and forward them to
the secretary promptly.
8.1 In all meetings of the
Executive and the membership, Robert's Rules of
Order shall prevail. All decisions shall be made in meetings, but members who
cannot attend may designate a voting proxy.
8.2 PROXIES
8.2.1 Any member may designate
another member as their proxy to vote on their behalf at any meeting. In order to confirm a designated proxy, the
member must notify the secretary of the name of their proxy at least forty
–eight hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. The member shall send their proxy form, by mail
or email, with their designated member proxy to be delivered to the secretary
by the start of the meeting.
8.2.2 No person may exercise more
than 3 proxies at any given meeting.
9.1 The Executive shall call for
nominations of candidates to stand for federal and provincial office prior to
federal or provincial elections.
9.2
The Executive shall call a selection meeting to vote
on candidates for general elections or by-elections in accordance with any
rules established by the Federal or Provincial Green parties or in the absence
of those rules the following rules will prevail.
9.3
Nominations must be sent to the secretary in writing,
at least 7 days before the date of the selection meeting, with the name of one
nominating member and two seconders.
9.4 The Executive shall ensure
that a call for nominations/notice of the selection meeting has been sent by
the Secretary to all members of the constituency association or the electoral
district association at least forty-five calendar days before the selection
meeting, unless an election has been called, in which case the period of notice
may be shortened. New members whose applications have been received thirty
calendar days before the nomination/selection meeting may vote in that meeting.
Notice of the nomination/selection meeting shall be delivered to such new
members fourteen calendar days before the nomination meeting. If an election has been called, the secretary
may shorten the notification period.
9.5 VOTING RIGHTS
9.5.1 Members of the Constituency
Association or Electoral District Association may vote in the appropriate
nomination meeting if they (1) reside in the Constituency or Electoral District
and (2) are members of the Constituency or Electoral District Association, or
have applied for membership at least thirty days before the nomination meeting.
Members whose names do not appear on the secretary's membership list must prove
they have a right to vote in the nomination meeting.
9.5.2 Only members eligible to vote
at a nomination meeting may nominate a candidate. All candidates must be or become members of
the appropriate Constituency Association or the Electoral District Association.
9.6 VOTING PROCEDURE
All contested nominations must be conducted by
secret ballot. The
winning candidate must have a majority of the votes cast (i.e. 50% plus
one). If more than two nominees run and none has a majority, the nominee with
the smallest vote is dropped and another vote follows.
9.7 In an uncontested nomination,
the candidate must receive at least 50% (one-half) of the votes cast to become
the party's official candidate.
The constitution may be
amended by a two-thirds supporting vote of all members present in person or by
proxy at an AGM or general meeting. No
one member shall cast more than three proxy votes. Proposed amendments to the
constitution must be delivered to the membership fourteen calendar days before
the meeting together with a notice of the place and time of the meeting.
If the Kingston Greens should adopt
resolutions to be forwarded to the GPO and GPC for adoption as part of the
party's policy, or for directives to the Kingston Greens at an AGM or other
general meeting, the "Bonser method" of
decision-making shall apply. First, the
facilitator reads the resolution, as provided by its sponsor. The facilitator then allows three questions
on the resolution. Friendly amendments
are not accepted at this stage. A vote
is called by the distribution of three coloured cards
to each member eligible to vote.
GREEN CARD: The presentation by a
voter of a Green card indicates that the resolution should be passed as it
stands.
YELLOW CARD: The presentation of
a Yellow card indicates that the resolution should be discussed at a workshop.
RED CARD: A Red card indicates
that the resolution should be rejected without further discussion.
FIRST VOTE: If a quorum is present, the resolution passes if it has sixty
percent support (Green cards only), fails if rejected by sixty percent of
voters, and goes to discussion in a workshop on any other vote.
SECOND VOTE: When a resolution is returned from a workshop or debate to a
second vote, three questions are allowed and friendly amendments (those
accepted by the sponsors) are allowed.
FINAL VOTE: For the final vote
only red and green cards are allowed. Sixty percent Green votes are required
for acceptance, provided a quorum is present. One quorum call (a request for
members to return to the meeting) is allowed.