GM 2012-04-18 Proposed Amendments to the Constitution

The following constitutional amendments were proposed at April 18th, 2012 General Meeting. Members who were present voted to sent the following for party-wide vote.

The constitution as it stands right now can be found here: http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18

= Amendment #1 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_III._Membership

Proposed amendments
Remove the sentence “Any person expelled from the Party may rejoin only if so authorized by a general meeting.” from the first paragraph.

Add a second paragraph after it stating:

"To expel someone from the party requires a motion and a vote of the General Meeting. The intention to make this motion must be made at the previous month's General Meeting. The person in question will be informed using all contact information submitted to the party about the upcoming motion and will have the opportunity to be heard before the motion is put to a vote. The person will have 5 minutes to speak but may be granted more time if a simple majority of the General Meeting agree. If the person is not present and they do not present themselves to the General Meeting following the one in which intention was made known then the General Meeting may vote without the person present. Any person expelled from the party may only rejoin the party by a vote at a General Meeting."

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_V._General_Meetings

Proposed amendments
Before the last paragraph (“Fifteen members shall constitute a quorum at a general meeting.”) add the following paragraph (this would make it the third paragraph in the section):

“The General Meeting has all the powers of the Political Council and the Executive Board at it's disposal and retains these powers even when it delegates these powers to other bodies. It is considered good practice to delegate powers to other bodies that meet more frequently to enact these measures or deal with the results.”

= Amendment #2 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#III.1_Membership_Fee

Proposed amendments
Remove the last sentence from the first paragraph (“The Party may award free membership for a period of time not to exceed two years with approval of a general meeting, of the Executive Board, and of the Political Council.”)

Add the following paragraph after the first one:

“The Party may award two types of free membership to individuals by approval of a General Meeting, Executive Board or Political Council (depending on the type of free membership granted) for a period of up to 2 years. The first type is an Honourary Membership which can only be granted by the Political Council or the General Meeting and should be granted to those who advance the party's goals and advocate for pirate issues. This type of membership allows the person to vote but not hold any official position on a committee, Executive Board or Political Council. The second type is an Earned Membership which can come from the Political Council, Executive Board or General Meeting vote and is a result of direct service to the party. This type of membership comes with no restrictions.”

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VII.3_Vacancies

Proposed amendments
There is a spelling mistake in the second paragraph where Political was spelt poliical. The following is the amended sentence.

“Current members of Political Council shall not be affected by or be candidates in this by-election.”

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_V._General_Meetings

Proposed amendments
Allow the Political Council to call a special general meeting as well as the Executive Board. The first paragraph will be changed to this:

“Special general meetings may be called with at least three days notice either by the Executive Board or Political Council with a two-thirds vote, or by the President upon presentation to him or her a petition of at least fifteen members of the Party.”

= Amendment #3 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#III.1_Membership_Fee

Proposed amendments
Add the following paragraph as the last paragraph:

“A member who has not paid their membership fee becomes a delinquent member. A delinquent member may not vote, or be a member of the Executive Board or Political Council. A delinquent member retains their membership number and retains any other rights of membership that may exist. If after six months the delinquent member has not renewed their membership it is lost.”

= Amendment #4 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_IV._Officers

Proposed amendments
Remove the last sentence from the first paragraph:

“No person shall be both President and Vice-President, or both Leader and Deputy Leader.”

Add the following as a new paragraph, after the first one:

“No Individual may hold more than one officer position. Officers of the party are the members of the Executive Council which comprise the Leader, Deputy Leader, President, Vice President and Secretary positions. The positions of President, Vice-President and Secretary shall not be eligible to hold a position on the Political Council.”

Remove the last paragraph:

“With the exception of the Leader and Deputy Leader, the officers shall each be elected by a general meeting and serve until the first regular general meeting one year or more after their election, or until their successors are elected. The Leader and Deputy Leader shall be elected along with the Political Council as defined elsewhere. Elections shall always take place by secret ballot, except if there is only one candidate and the vote is taken at a meeting.”

NOTE: If this is passed, then the following proviso will be made:

“Sean Hunt will retain his membership in the Political Council despite his additional role as President until a new candidate has been elected for either position through the normal election procedure.”

= Amendment #5 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_IV._Officers

Proposed amendments
The second paragraph of section IV shall be replaced by the following:

“IV.1 Elections

All Executive Board positions shall be voted on by an all-Party Ballot as described in Article IX.2. The positions that may be run for are President, Secretary and Leader. These elections shall occur at the next regular general meeting immediately after the Political Council elections. In the event that a Leader or Deputy Leader is not re-elected to Political Council they will keep their positions in the Executive Board and Political Council until the their positions are brought up for election and the results are known.

The office of President shall be awarded to the person who wins the election for the office of President. The office of Vice President shall be awarded to the runner-up in the election for the office of President.

The office of Leader can only be run for by someone on the Political Council. The office of Leader shall be awarded to the person who wins the election for the office of Leader. The office of Deputy Leader shall be awarded to the runner-up in the election for the office of Leader.

Candidates are individually responsible for complying with the financial administration requirements for leadership contestants set out in the Canada Elections Act.”

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VII.2_Elections_Generally

Proposed amendments
The section VII.2 Elections Generally shall be replaced with the following:

“VII.2 Elections Generally

Elections for the Political Council may be held only when authorized by this document. An election shall occur for the Political Council at the second regular general meeting following each federal general election. An election shall also occur at the regular general meeting in January unless an election was held during or after July of the previous year, or is scheduled to be held before the end of that year. Elections may be called by the Political Council with a two-thirds vote, or by a general meeting with a two-thirds vote taken by all-party ballot with notice.

Elections should be done on an approval basis. There should be a Yes option, a no option and an abstain option. The abstain option should be selected by default and should garner no effect on the approval percentage. 60% Approval garners a seat on the Political Council guaranteed. If there are not enough candidates with 60% approval then the top 5 candidates will make up the Political Council.”

= Amendment #6 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_IV._Officers

Proposed amendments
This paragraph to be added to the end of the section (or just before “Candidates are individually responsible for complying with the financial administration requirements for leadership contestants set out in the Canada Elections Act.” if it hasn't been changed):

“If the Leader and/or Deputy Leader is a currently sitting member of the Parliament of Canada then so long as they retain their seat then elections for these two positions will only come once every 4 years or after a federal general election or under a vote of no-confidence issued at a general meeting by all-party ballot.”

= Amendment #7 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VI.2_Powers_.26_Duties

Proposed amendments
Add the following two sentences to the end of the first paragraph:

“These duties aren't meant to be a restriction on action, but a statement of basic responsibility. The Political Council may assist the Executive Board with it's business, with the exception of internal elections and party funds approval.”

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VI.2_Powers_.26_Duties

Proposed amendments
Add the following two sentences to the end of the first paragraph:

“These duties aren't meant to be a restriction on action, but a statement of basic responsibility. The Political Council may assist the Executive Board with it's business, with the exception of internal elections and party funds approval.”

= Amendment #8 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VI.2_Powers_.26_Duties

Proposed amendments
Add the following paragraph after the first one:

“If a motion is presented to the Executive Board and is rejected due to the members feeling it is outside their duties as assigned by the constitution the motion must be referred to the Political Council. In this case the Executive Board is considered by default to have delegated its powers to the Political Council for the express purpose of dealing with that particular motion. The Executive Board when referring the motion may place limitations on the power granted. If even with these powers the Political Council decides it is not capable of handling the motion it will then be sent to the next scheduled General Meeting. This General Meeting will decide who has the authority to act on the proposed motion or whether to act upon the motion itself. If the General Meeting assigns responsibility for the motion to the Executive Board it may not be rejected on the grounds that it is outside their duties as defined by the constitution.“

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VII.4_Powers_.26_Duties

Proposed amendments
Add the following paragraph after the first one:

“If a motion is presented to the Political Council and is rejected due to the members feeling it is outside their duties as assigned by the constitution the motion must be referred to the Executive Board. In this case the Political Council is considered by default to have delegated its powers to the Executive Board for the express purpose of dealing with that particular motion. The Political Council when referring the motion may place limitations on the power granted. If even with these powers the Executive Board decides it is not capable of handling the motion it will then be sent to the next scheduled General Meeting. This General Meeting will decide who has the authority to act on the proposed motion or whether to act upon the motion itself. If the General Meeting assigns responsibility for the motion to the Political Council it may not be rejected on the grounds that it is outside their duties as defined by the constitution.”

= Amendment #9 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#VII.2_Elections_Generally

Proposed amendments
Add the following paragraph to the end of the section:

A candidate for the Pirate Party who wins their seat is automatically appointed to the Political Council with full voting rights. They will not, however, count towards quorum. A member of parliament who crosses the floor to sit as a Pirate MP shall also be appointed to the Political Council automatically as an ex officio member. In either case they retain membership in the Political Council as long as they continue to sit as a Pirate MP. Individuals who become members of the Political Council through either of these means will not count towards the minimum number of Political Council members as described above.

= Amendment #10 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#Article_VIII._Committees

Proposed amendments
Replace “The President and the Leader “ from the first sentence with “The Deputy Leader and the Vice President”.

= Amendment #11 =

The section as it stands
http://wiki.pirateparty.ca/index.php/Constitution_2011-12-18#IX.2_All-Party_Ballots

Proposed amendments
Add the following to the end of the paragraph:

“When voting has closed, the results will be announced through the same communication channel as the general meeting, within 24 hours. If there is any dispute with the results, 15 members may petition the President for an emergency General Meeting, before the next regularly scheduled General Meeting.”