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Executive Meeting Minutes

Executive Club Wiki

Annual General Meeting Minutes

Constitution Changes

1. Added Article II – Showing that recreation and marathon are 2 separate divisions.

   * The statement in the constitution which describes the Marathon & Recreation Division merely supports the situation that already exists. It "enshrines" the current Divisions of the club in the constitution, something that is not currently the case in the old constitution. It ensures that a change in the constitution is required in the future to make changes to this arrangement, it could not be a simple vote of the executive or a motion brought to the floor at a general meeting. The maintenance of the Divisions as separate entities is very important for funding from the provincial body, Canoe Kayak Saskatchewan.

   A couple of years ago, in an effort to foster greater cooperation and integration between the divisions a suggestion was put forth that the divisions be merged or eliminated with everything simply existing under the banner of the Saskatoon Canoe Club. That motion did not pass, but it generated a lot of discussion and it was good in that it affirmed the reasons behind the existence of both divisions of the club. Since we are reviewing our constitution and by-laws, now is the time to highlight that separateness within the constitution, as well as to remove referrals to the long-defunct Whitewater Division (now basically part of Recreation Division).

   You will still have the option to join both Divisions as has occurred in the past.

2. Article IV – Changes the membership year to be January 1 to December 31.

   * The change in membership year to reflect the calendar year simplifies a few things. First, it better allows memberships to be purchased through the winter in advance of the paddling season. we will still likely have our main membership purchases in the spring, but it allows the renewals to be taken care of earlier and spreads out the huge influx of memberships that we usually have in May. Our club has grown over the past decade from about 150 members to nearly 600 members and to deal with the majority of the membership applications in May & June has become a major chore. It also works much better with our new membership database system.

3. Article VI – Changes the executive members to be President, Secretary and Treasurer, plus other executive members as decided by these three members. This removed the requirement of listing all the executive members and enables the club to create positions as needed.

   * Currently, the constitution lists each of the executive members. It was felt that reducing the executive listed in the constitution to these critical three and giving the executive the freedom to create additional positions as required gives greater flexibility to operate. The President, Secretary and Treasurer are the three positions required by the provincial body which oversees and regulates non-profit organisations such as ours.

4. Bylaw I – Changes the voting at the general meetings to be by show of hand instead of by written ballot. It also states quorum of the executive as a simple majority of those executive members that are present.

   * This change was intended to simply bring the bylaws in-line with how we currently operate at general meetings. Note however that we misused the word quorum in the statement above and the document circulated. A motion will be drafted to change this at the General Meeting in order to bring it inline with the intent, that a simple majority of those present voting in favour of a motion be required to pass the motion.

5. Bylaw IV – Changes the fiscal year to be January 1 to December 31. It sets the annual general meeting to be no later than November. Quorum is stated to be simple majority. And, the meetings shall follow Robert’s Rules of Order if parliamentary procedure issues arise.

   * The fiscal year change is together with the membership year change and will simplify our bookeeping and budgeting exercises.

6. Bylaw VI (VII in the old version) – Notice to change the bylaws and constitutions needs to be given to the membership 30 days prior to the general meeting.

   * This change simplifies what is currently in the old bylaws.

7. Finally, in all cases, “giving notice to members” will be via means of email notice and posting to the club website EXCEPT in cases where the member has specified that they want to be notified by mail.

   * This change brings us firmly into the digital age and affirms the changes in procedures that have happened gradually over the last decade or so.

These changes will be voted upon at the upcoming Annual General Meeting this fall. The AGM is tentatively scheduled for November 9th, 2009. Notice will go out at least one month in advance of the meeting. If you would like to discuss these changes, or the reasons behind them, before that time please contact one of the executive.