Talk:NPC Bylaws draft

From Pirate Party of Canada

Contents 1 Comments - Rob.s.brit (2009.08.27) 2 Comments - Rob.s.brit (2009.08.11) 2.1 Comments that have led to Changes 3 Rob.s.brit

Comments - Rob.s.brit (2009.08.27)

How should liquidation work? The best solution I think would be to just divide up any assets among the members, after paying off any outstanding debts. In the current application I'm doing, I put:

• "It is specifically provided that in the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the corporation, all its remaining assets after payment of its liabilities shall be distributed evenly amongst the members, after any outstanding debts are paid."

Also, should we have any provisions for debt/bonds? I'm just looking at the sample application here, section VII. I don't think it is really necessary at the moment.

Comments - Rob.s.brit (2009.08.11)

• "Any citizen or resident of Canada, who is eligible to vote in Canadian federal elections" - this is inconsistent with our main party bylaws which allow for permanent residents and citizens under the age of 18. The problem with this is only because we have "All members of The Party will be members of The Fund" since some people are eligible for Party membership but not Fund membership.
  • Yeah that is a mistake. While we are at it if we are having special youth membership in the Party then we should probably have the same special membership in the Fund. So we need to decided exactly what membership is going to be so we can get it right in the Fund bylaws. (Odemia)
• Should we put a note about the current membership fees paid? I think that they should last until one year after the registration date of the party
  • Sounds good to me (Odemia)
• Do we need to have criteria for who can be an officer?
  • Confidence of the Board or the members. Do we need any other criteria? (Odemia)
• 14 days might be too short for those who would book flights to come. But then again people can just come electronically. Ideas?
  • 14 is the minimum, I agree that this may be too short even as the minimum. What is a good length of time for AGM notification? What is a good length of time for SGM notification (ie should special general meetings happen faster they are usually in response to some kind of crisis)? 21 days? 31 days?
  • Let's just leave it as it is. Since it is a minimum, we can put out the notification at a longer period than this.

Comments that have led to Changes

• "produce charity receipt to those who make donations to The Party" - can we do this as a political party?
  • "Receipts...The official agent or registered agent must issue a receipt for each contribution over $20." from www.elections.ca.
    • I guess it is not a charity receipt, just a receipt. It is corrected now (Odemia)
• Do directors have the power to step down?
  • That "Any Board member may resign by submitting a letter of resignation to the Board of Directors." That somehow got edited out, back in now.
  • Also noticed this is missing for officers, adding that back in. (Odemia)

Rob.s.brit

Do we need to keep any of this discussion? Does it still apply? (Odemia)

• We should add a definition called "The Fund" which represents the corporation being created. We should use "The Fund" anywhere we are referencing the corporation, and "The Party" whenever we reference the party. Done (Odemia)
• The rights/responsibilities section is not necessary. Removed (Odemia)
• "All members of the corporation will be made members of the Party thirty (30) days after its registration as a federal political party"
  • At the last Montreal meeting we talked about something like this, however we said something like, "All people who sign up via the Elections Canada form and have paid the membership fee will have membership in The Fund. When The Party is registered, all members of The Fund will become members of The Party immediately. Anyone who signs up to The Party or The Fund after The Party has been registered will become members thirty (30) days after their application has been received." What do we think about that?
  • I agree in principle. My only concern is that things will be hectic and I was trying to give The Fund time to convert memberships. Do we know how easy/difficult converting memberships will be? Perhaps I am just being paranoid (Odemia)
  • Hmm, good call. Let's make it say "All members of The Fund will be made members of The Party within thirty (30) days after its registration as a federal political party." (Rob.s.brit)
  • Took out any specific time line, and made the cross membership trigger on becoming chief agent of The Party
    • "All members of The Fund will be made members of The Party (Provisio: This bylaw only takes effect upon The Fund being made chief agent of The Party)" (Odemia)
• "shall pay the membership fee directly to The Party"
  • Should say "The Fund" Done (Odemia)
• For the Board of Directors:
  • I think we should have three directors:
    1. Executive Director - manages the operations of The Fund
    2. Finance Director - manages the finances of The Fund
    3. Technical Director - manages the technical aspects of The Fund, ie. software used to manage membership, electronic methods of communication, etc.
  • The other two positions in The Party (Marketer, Leader) are not necessary for The Fund, but should we have them anyway? If we only have three directors then we should change the 3/4 to 2/3 for removal of a director by the other members of the board. Added 2 Directors at Large and making votes unanimous also making removal require all other board members (4/5) (Odemia)
  • We should call people either "Member of the Board" or "Board Member" and use it consistently (just a little nit-picky thing I noticed). Board Member it is (Odemia)
• For the General Meeting:
  • We should have a fixed date each year for this meeting that can be adjusted if necessary. Any suggestions for this?
    • Narrow it down to a month? And let the The Board arrange the date and time within the month? (Odemia)
    • Sounds good to me. (Rob.s.brit) August, Board selects the exact date (Odemia)
  • "Petition to the Board submitted and signed by 10% of the members of The Party in good standing" - we should have an absolute minimum, since we won't have too many members at the beginning - maybe 20. Done (Odemia)
  • Let's put a note that meetings can happen electronically. Done (Odemia)
• We don't actually mention quorum anywhere in here. Added small sections on meeting procedures that include quorum and rules of order (Odemia)
• What are the "Rules of Order" and "Adopted Policy"?
  • "Rules of Order" are how meetings are conducted, we can use Robert's Rules for this and modify if needed.
  • "Adopted Policy" refers to things like privacy policy, reimbursement policy, fiscal policy...