Review Date:

February 28, 2016

Purpose:

To ensure the formation of the Board of Directors and Region Councils are compliant with Bill C-4 and with the regulations of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) associated with charitable organizations.

Background:

In 2014 CRA changed the regulations dealing with the elections of officers. The by-laws of the HKVCA were re-written to reflect these changes.

The four dealing with the elections of officers are:

1. Membership votes for Directors only.

2. The Board of Directors once elected, appoints the Executive Committee which is comprised of a President; Vice-President; Secretary; and Treasurer. 

3. The Board of Directors must ensure each region has a functioning council. There are no specifications as to how the region councils are staffed.

4. The maximum number of Directors serving on the Board is limited to twelve

Control:

The HKVCA Past President serves as Elections Officer. He/she is responsible to:

1. Issue a call for nominations via the spring edition of the association’s newsletter.
2. Compile a committee of three to:

1. verify that the ballot contains the names of all nominated individuals agreeing to serve if elected
2. count the ballots in committee, and
3. prepare a report to be presented at the General meeting.

The Board of Directors must be advised of the individuals on this committee prior to the issue of ballots, and approve their participation.

This committee shall be disbanded at the General meeting following the presentation of their report.

Frequency:

Annually

Nomination form:

This form is comprised of two sections, the upper box for nominations of Directors and the bottom box for recommendations for Region council. Sample (MS Word)

Upper box - The new regulations state that we must accept nominations without restrictions from members. Such nominations shall be limited to twelve (12) per member. There is no restriction placed on nominees for Directors at this stage; however, if elected, the individual must agree to join the association before the next Board meeting.

Bottom box – The regulations state there is no requirement of a formal election to staff the positions of Region council. In order to avoid confusion, it has been decided to permit elections for this council if the specific region so desires, else this box will solicit recommendations for the council positions.

The options for returning the completed form must be clearly displayed on the form.

An explanation of the nomination process must be included in the newsletter.

Validation of Nominees:

A member of the Elections committee shall contact the Nominees to ensure their willingness to serve if elected, and to inform them on the operational practices of the Board. A short biography will be solicited at this time

Ballot Preparation:

The Elections committee shall meet to prepare a ballot to

• be issued with the next edition of the newsletter. This shall contain the names of all willing to serve, the region of residence, and the Individual’s biographies. If this number is less than thirteen (13), an election is not necessary and these individuals shall be acclaimed as elected. In lieu of a ballot, a report so stating shall be submitted to the newsletter and later delivered at the General meeting.

• The ballot final acceptance date must be clearly stated.

Ballot Counting:

The Election committee shall meet on the appointed date to open and count ballots. They shall prepare a written report for the General meeting. This shall be presented by the Elections Officer.

Region Council:

If there are multiple individuals elected from a Region, the Board will appointed the person with the largest vote count as Region Director, unless

1. This individual accepts a position on the corporate Executive Committee (in this case the person with the second largest vote count shall be appointed), or

2. The individual refuses to serve in this capacity. Should this also occur, the Board shall determine who shall fill this position.