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 not later than November 15.
6.2
A quorum shall consist of 20% (one-fifth) 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
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.
9.3
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 parties.
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.