2020 AGM Motions

Amendments to the Constitution

You can reference the existing Constitution here.

Replacement of Article 4 : Rules of Procedure

MOVED BY: James R Beddome SECONDED BY: Beverley Eert

Whereas the Green Party of Manitoba Governance Committee has developed a more detailed and comprehensive Rules of Procedure document;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

Article 4 of the Constitution be replaced with the attached “Rules and Procedures” document.

Amendment to Article 15: Filling Council Vacancies

MOVED BY: James R Beddome SECONDED BY: Pearson Singbeil Montgomery

Whereas the process for filling vacancies of Elected Officer as outlined in Article 12 of the Constitution and Bylaw 11 is not entirely clear;

Whereas this resolution seeks to clarify the process for filling vacancies of elected officers;

Whereas this resolution simply seeks to confirm what has been past practice; and

Whereas for convenience the changes proposed are reproduced in APPENDIX “A” below with new insertions recorded as green text, and deletions are included as pink text with a strike-through; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The the words “but any vacancies may be filled by Executive Council appointment until the next General Meeting” be added after the words “Executive Council”, but before the semi-colon as reproduced in APPENDIX “A” below.

APPENDIX “A”

15. The Party shall elect the following officers to Executive Council, but any vacancies may be filled by Council appointment until the next General Meeting;

Adoption of Article 24: Document Up-Keep

MOVED BY: James R Beddome  SECONDED BY: Pearson Singbeil Montgomery

Whereas the Green Party of Manitoba Constitution presently does not have a provision to allow for routine clean-up of the Constitution and By-Laws;

Whereas the Green Party of Canada does have such provisions, upon which this resolution has been based; and

Whereas the Constitution and Bylaws include some gendered language that should be replaced with gender neutral language;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

the following text be adopted as Article 24 of the Constitution:

24. After each General Meeting at which this Constitution or the Bylaws are amended, Executive Council, or designate thereof, shall ensure the publication of the amended Constitution and Bylaws on the party website, and/or through other means as necessary, and at that time may:

(1) Renumber the provisions of this Constitution or the Bylaws to accommodate the changes that have been made,

(2) Correct references between provisions which are no longer accurate,

(3) Correct cross-references between provisions that are no longer accurate,

(4) Correct typographical errors,

(5) Correct spelling errors,

(6) Correct grammatical errors,

(7) Replace gender biased language with gender neutral language,

(8) Make any other obvious corrections as needed provided they do not change the meaning or substance of any provision.

Amendments to the By-Laws

You can reference the existing By-Laws here.

Amendment to By-Law 1: Free Youth Membership

MOVED BY: Pearson Singbeil Montgomery, SECONDED BY: James Beddome. Approved by Council: 31 August 2020.

Whereas, at its 2019 AGM, the Green Party of Manitoba created the position of youth
representative without passing any measures to increase youth membership;

Whereas youth, who often lack a stable source of income or enough savings, find it
particularly difficult to justify the purchase of memberships or making of donations;

Whereas purchasing membership in the GPM requires a credit card, which is inaccessible to youth under 18;

Whereas offering party membership free-of-charge to youth would be a great opportunity to
improve youth engagement by the GPM;

Whereas the Green Party of Manitoba would become the first party in Manitoba to offer free
youth membership, an excellent opportunity to engage with the media;

Whereas membership fees represent a largely insignificant portion of the party’s income;
and

Whereas the Green Parties of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec all offer free
membership to youth;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

§1 of the By-Laws of the Green Party of Manitoba be amended to read (where bold represents an amendment):

“The membership fee shall be set at:

Adult membership
$10.00 annually, or $25.00 tri-annually for an individual 30 years of age or older.

Youth Membership
Free of charge, issued annually, for an individual between the ages of 14 and
29.

Sustaining Members
Individuals who make monthly auto-donations to the Party shall be deemed
sustaining members and the first $10.00 donated every
year shall be applied to a membership in the Party, unless the individual making the
auto-donation declares otherwise.”

Amendment to By-Law 11: Elected Officer Deputies

MOVED BY: James Beddome SECONDED BY: Pearson Montgomery

Whereas the there is currently some incongruence between By-Law 8 and By-Law 11; 

 

Whereas it would seem that the original intent of By-Law 11 was to refer to deputies for elected officers, not deputy leader; 

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

Certain instances of the words “council,” “council position,” “councillor,” and “executive council” in By-law 11 be replaced with “elected officers” such that By-Law 11 reads as outlined in APPENDIX “A,”  with changes denoted in Bold and deletions in Strike-through.

 

APPENDIX “A”

11. There may be a designated deputy for each elected officer council position. Deputies shall receive all executive council communications and may attend all executive council meetings, but will not be counted for quorum and may not vote, except when attending on behalf of an absent elected officer councillor, in which case the deputy shall for that meeting exercise the responsibilities of that position. If an elected officer councillor resigns or is absent from his/her position for more than three months without prior arrangement with executive council, his/her deputy shall be appointed in his/her place. Only if an elected officer councillor resigns and his/her deputy is unable or unwilling to assume that position, shall the position be deemed vacant. Vacancies on executive council of elected officers may be filled by appointment until the next general meeting. Where there is a contest for any elected officer council position, the person receiving the second-highest number of votes shall be designated deputy for that position. Where a position is uncontested/filled by acclamation, the elected officer councillor or another member of the Party may propose a deputy for his/her position, subject to executive council approval. Members-at-large may serve as deputies for other elected officers executive council positions but do not themselves need to have designated deputies.