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| These bylaws are based on our existing ([[Bylaws|1995]]) bylaws, but contain enough changes that it's worth rewriting them in full. A summary of changes is listed below.
| | On October 3, 2010, the [[AGM 2010|Annual General Meeting]] of the Society voted by [[AGM_2010_Special_Resolutions|Special Resolution]], receiving unanimous support, to repeal the [[Bylaws (1995)|existing bylaws]] and replace them with the following: |
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| | However, due to a technical deficiency, they were rejected by Alberta Registries, and a [[Bylaws (2011)|new version]] was proposed at the [[AGM 2011|next year's annual meeting]]. |
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| <ol> | | <ol> |
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| <ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"> | | <ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"> |
| <li>'''Board Meetings'''<br /> | | <li>'''Board Meetings'''<br /> |
| Meetings of the Board shall be held as often as may be required, but at least every three months, and shall be given either personally or in writing, to each member concerned. All Board Meetings shall be open to the General Membership.</li> | | Meetings of the Board shall be held as often as may be required, but at least every three months, and notice shall be given either personally or in writing, to each member concerned. All Board Meetings shall be open to the General Membership.</li> |
| <li>'''Special Board Meetings'''</li> | | <li>'''Special Board Meetings'''</li> |
| <ol style="list-style-type:lower-roman"> | | <ol style="list-style-type:lower-roman"> |
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| <li>'''Quorum for Board Meetings''' - Any five Board Members who are physically present shall constitute a quorum for any properly convened Board Meeting.</li> | | <li>'''Quorum for Board Meetings''' - Any five Board Members who are physically present shall constitute a quorum for any properly convened Board Meeting.</li> |
| </ol> | | </ol> |
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| ==<li>Meetings of the Membership</li>== | | ==<li>Meetings of the Membership</li>== |
| All meetings of the General Membership are referred to as General Meetings. | | All meetings of the General Membership are referred to as General Meetings. |
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| ==<li>Finances</li>== | | ==<li>Finances</li>== |
| <ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"> | | <ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"> |
| <li>All funds of the Society shall be deposited in a Chartered Bank, Trust Company, or Credit Union and payments made by cheque, signed by two officers of the board.</li> | | <li>All funds of the Society shall be deposited in a Chartered Bank, Trust Company, or Credit Union.</li> |
| <li>The books and records of the Society shall be held by the Treasurer or an officer of the board designated by the Treasurer and may be inspected by any member of the Society upon receipt of forty eight hours notice.</li> | | <li>The books and records of the Society shall be held by the Treasurer or an officer of the board designated by the Treasurer and may be inspected by any member of the Society upon receipt of forty eight hours notice.</li> |
| | <li>A person without the ability to authorize payments must complete a bank reconciliation on a monthly basis.</li> |
| <li>The Treasurer shall recommend a qualified auditor to the AGM for appointment. Filing this, the board shall be empowered to appoint an auditor. The auditor may be a member of the Society.</li> | | <li>The Treasurer shall recommend a qualified auditor to the AGM for appointment. Filing this, the board shall be empowered to appoint an auditor. The auditor may be a member of the Society.</li> |
| <li>The auditor's annual financial statement shall be made available by the Treasurer to all members at the AGM, and at other times upon special request.</li> | | <li>The auditor's annual financial statement shall be made available by the Treasurer to all members at the AGM, and at other times upon special request.</li> |
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| </ol> | | </ol> |
| </ol> | | </ol> |
| ==Summary of Changes==
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| *2.b.ii. - Added lifetime provision to honorary membership.
| | [[Category:policy]] |
| :'''Rationale''': Nothing was explicitly stated in the previous bylaws regarding how long an honorary membership was good for, which may result in ambiguity. I think they should say something on the subject. Alternatives include "the board shall explicitly state the valid term of an honorary membership at time of approval" or "Honorary memberships are valid x years, unless subsequently revoked or resigned in accordance with section 2.g or 2.h, and may be renewed at the discretion of the board."
| | [[Category:bylaws]] |
| *2.b.iii. - Added the provision that a recently lapsed member may immediately regain "good standing" status upon payment of dues.
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| :'''Rationale''': The one month delay is intended to prevent the stacking of a General Meeting after it is called with new members for a single issue. People who have forgotten to renew their memberships should not be prevented from having a vote in the affairs of the society when this oversight is brought to their attention.
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| *2.c.iii. added - This provision allows the board to waive dues as they deem appropriate.
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| :'''Rationale''': The board's ability to set dues has always implied the ability to set dues of $0 if they so choose. This clause makes it explicit that dues may be waived for members without explicitly making them honorary members.
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| *3.a. - the size of the Board has been changed from 5-11 to 7-12. A list of secondary director portfolios has been removed.
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| :'''Rationale''': Board quorum is 5 people, a five person board would rarely have quorum, and<br /> the list of secondary portfolios was rigid and unable to change with the organization. Most particularly, the portfolio of "office director" was irrelevant in an organization with staff.
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| *6.c. - Added this section and renumbered subsequent subsections. This provides allowance for acclamation.
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| :'''Rationale''': If someone is opposed to some board members nominated, they can nominate more and force an election. Acclamation simplifies the process if fewer people are nominated than there are openings.
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| *6.e. (formerly 6.d.) - Shortened to simply provide for 2 year terms without the requirement for 50% election every year.
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| :'''Rationale''': The old bylaws required that, in the event that some board members resigned and more than 1/2 the board was up for re-election, some board members would only be elected to 1-year terms. This was administratively complicated (required a secret ballot vote even if there were no more candidates than board positions), and seemed that it would be hurtful to those who were elected, but only for one year.
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| *10.a. - Removed "and payments made by cheque, signed by two officers of the board."
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| :'''Rationale''': The world has changed since 1995. Electronic payment is now the norm. Removing this clause allows the board to set financial policies to ensure sufficient controls, while still allowing us to use conveniences like web banking, automatic withdrawal (which we already use to pay the phone bill, in violation of the bylaw) and direct deposit paycheques.
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| *10.e. - Changed to simply indicate compliance with the law.
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| :'''Rationale''': The existing bylaws required filing our society annual return with 30 days of the society's anniversary of registration (August 8, so deadline Sept 7). Our fiscal year ends August 31, so this left only a week to prepare the return. The legal deadline is currently 30 days from the end of the anniversary ''month'', so deadline Sept 30, which makes a lot more sense. | |
| *Section 11 - Rewrote to allow small borrowing at board discretion, large borrowing (such as a mortgage or bond issue) requires membership approval
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| :'''Rationale''': The previous version said we had borrowing powers, but could only exercise them with a special resolution of the membership. Since a special resolution is the same thing required to change the bylaws, this was the same thing as saying that we don't have borrowing powers. | |
| :This restriction could be interpreted to prevent the society from incurring any debt whatsoever, including making purchases on account. A strict interpretation would prevent the normal flow of business.
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| :This change will also allow the board additional flexibility in financial matters, and could include establishing a low-limit credit card to pay for Babac purchases, currently paid by a former board member's credit card.
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| :The issue of debentures still require a special resolution, as this is explicit in the Societies Act. For those not in the know, debentures are different from other debts in that they are long term and unsecured. A bond issue is a debenture; a mortgage is not because it is backed by collateral, and a line of credit is not because it is short term in nature.
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| *13.c. - Changed 2/3 to 3/4 of members attending meeting.
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| :'''Rationale''': "Special Resolution" is actually defined in the Societies Act, and requires a 3/4 vote. We either need to update or remove this clause so that there's no confusion on the requirements.
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| *All instances requiring communication by mail have been revised to allow for electronic communication.
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| :'''Rationale''': The bylaws have not been updated in 15 years. It's not 1995 anymore.
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| *Various typos corrected.
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| ** Section 9 is renamed "Remuneration" from "Renumeration"
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| **7.b.ii. - The word petition has been added to the sentence "must present the Secretary with a ''petition'' setting forth"
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| **8.a.i. - The spellings of warranted and judgment have been corrected.
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