G21-B006 Strengthening Provisions for Special General Meetings

Submitter Name

Maria Rodriquez

Ratification Vote Results: Adopted

Proposal

To amend Bylaw 4 as follows:

4.2.2 When a General Meeting has been petitioned, Federal Council shall select the location (virtual and/or physical) and the date of the General Meeting and inform members within 30 days of receipt of the petition. The meeting shall be held within 90 days of receipt of the petition.

4.2.3 A Special General Meeting may be called with the purpose of making a specific decision or decisions, in which case those may be the only items on the agenda. In such cases, a general call for motions shall not be issued and the meeting shall be scheduled to take place within 75 days of receipt of the petition.

4.2.4 Notwithstanding 4.2.3, emergency motions moved from the floor during a Special General Meeting shall still be considered in accordance with section 4.3.3.

Objective

To amend Bylaw 4 to strengthen the provisions for calling Special General Meetings by clarifying the language about purpose and timelines.

Benefit

Given that ordinary, regularly scheduled General Meetings are infrequent, it is important that the process to schedule and hold a Special General Meeting be clearly defined to ensure that petitions for Special General Meetings can be acted on in a timely fashion, thereby reinforcing this important accountability mechanism.

Supporting Comments from Submitter

The GPC Constitution is clear that Federal Council is ultimately accountable to members in general meeting. However, ordinary General Meetings are infrequent and there are situations where membership decisions cannot wait for such a long period of time. Hence, our governance model has provisions for calling General Meetings outside of the ordinary schedule. This is a common feature of governance models where the highest authority is the General Meeting of members.

Currently, Bylaw 4.2.2 instructs Federal Council on the time limit for selecting the date of a Special General Meeting, but it may be interpreted as placing no limits on the date to actually hold the meeting. Furthermore, the current bylaw does not make a distinction between regular General Meetings where there is a general call for motions and a Special General Meeting called for a specific purpose. This complicates the timelines set in the bylaw because the general call for motions associated with ordinary General Meetings currently drives the length of time it takes to schedule the meeting. With today’s technology allowing for virtual or hybrid meetings, it becomes more feasible logistically and financially to organize and hold a General Meeting within a reasonable timeframe.

Green Value(s)

Participatory Democracy

Relation to Existing Policy

Add to current GPC policy.