2024 Special General Meeting

Member’s Guide to Reviewing and Understanding the Motions for the SGM

Amending the Constitution and Bylaws to adopt a co-leadership model involves more than a yes/no answer. We need to be able to define the rules and the mechanics for the model to work and this involves making changes at several important decision points. There are different options for this and our job as members in General Meeting is to make decisions on those options. These will result in amended language for a number of Constitution and bylaw sections which, if adopted, will define how co-leadership will look like in the Green Party of Canada.

SCOPE

Our Committee reviewed the 4 constitutional amendment proposals put forward at the 2024 GM to ensure that we addressed the issues raised by these proposals in developing the process that would allow members to consider and, if deemed appropriate, adopt the Proposed Amendment Text (“PAT”) at the SGM scheduled for November 16-17, 2024.

METHODOLOGY

Our Committee determined that there are three important steps required to develop and present options to members for their consideration at the SGM:

1. Determine the basic questions that need to be answered. To that end we developed a Decision Tree (the “Tree”) that would show graphically how various options can be considered and where each option leads, resulting in a component of the model. Here is the link to the complete Tree. Insert hyperlink.
2. Develop and present the PAT to the members. Each component of the model will require an amendment to either the Constitution or the By-laws. We have identified all of the Articles in the Constitution and the specific By-laws that would need to be amended. The PAT can be viewed here. Insert hyperlink. In addition, each component of the Tree contains a hyperlink to the particular Article or By-law and the PAT associated with each in order to allow members to consider each option one by one.
3. Create a narrative Guide (this document) to provide members with an overview of the entire process and to serve as a reference when moving back and forth between the questions in the Tree and the PAT that would form the final motion at the SGM.

GOAL

By following through these 3 steps it is anticipated that by the end of the deliberations at the SGM there will be one motion containing all of the PAT necessary to adopt (or reject) the form of co-leadership model considered by the members to be appropriate for the GPC at this time.

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT SESSIONS (“MES”)

Members should be aware that there will be five (5) MES which will provide them with the opportunity to review, ask questions about, and comment on the Tree and the PAT. All members are strongly encouraged to attend as many sessions as they can as their input is critical to the success of this process.

STEP 1- THE TREE

In order to make informed decisions with respect to a proposed co-leadership model, we need to ask some basic questions. These questions are not independent of each other, they are all interrelated, as you will see below:

• Is Co-Leadership mandatory or optional, and how are Co-Leaders elected?
• How will Co-Leader vacancies be filled, and under what circumstances will a (Co-)Leadership Contest be triggered?
• Are there language requirements for Co-Leadership contestants?
• Are there gender requirements for Co-Leadership contestants?
• How many nominators are required to run for the position of (Co-)Leader?
• How many Deputy Leaders can Co-Leaders have?
• How will we decide who is filed as “Party Leader” officially with Elections Canada?

As mentioned above, the answers to each of these questions will be reflected in proposed changes to the constitutional text (PAT). The purpose of the Tree is to present systematically the options associated with each question and to identify the questions that arise out of each option so that members can decide which branch they may prefer to follow. By the end of this process, each branch will have been examined, a decision identified and a proposal for a co-leadership model constructed with the collective input and support of members.

STEP 2- DEVELOP AND PRESENT THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TEXT 

Providing members with the text associated with the decisions from Step 1 is a key component of this process. Hence, Step 2 is critical in order to give the members the timely notice of proposed governance amendments as required by our Constitution. To this end, every article of the Constitution and every By-law which may be affected by a change to a co-leadership model has been identified and the PAT laid out, which can be accessed here. Insert hyperlink again to the PAT document. By toggling back and forth between the Tree and the PAT document, members will be able to follow the relationship between any particular final decision and the PAT that would be required in order to effect the change.

STEP 3- CREATE THE NARRATIVE GUIDE

In this Step we focus on viewing and understanding the Tree. Once members understand how the Tree works it is a simple matter for them to link into the Proposed Amendment Text (PAT) which, when compiled based on the decisions made in Step 1, will comprise the motion to be considered at the SGM..

1-   Viewing and Understanding the Tree.

As mentioned in Step 1, there are a number of basic questions that need to be addressed. Tabs at the bottom of the first page of the Tree will take you to the page that deals with that question. For the purposes of this Guide we will only look at Tabs A, B and F as these are probably the most fundamental questions and also because, once the reader becomes familiar with those Tabs, the others should be relatively simple to view and navigate.

Viewing Tab A- Mandatory/Optional/Election Procedures

Two preliminary comments.  

First, the colour of the boxes is important. Blue boxes are the major questions and Red boxes represent the possible decisions related to that line of questions.. Red boxes will lead to the Proposed Amendment Text which would be required in order to reflect that change in our Constitution and By-laws. Red boxes will contain a hyperlink to the PAT for ease of reference. Clear white boxes (referred to as “INFOCHUNKS”) represent information that needs to be considered when making a particular decision.

Second, the first page presents the three initial questions and the three possible decisions:

(1) is CL mandatory, with leaders elected together; 

(2) is CL mandatory with leaders elected separately; and 

(3) is CL optional, such that the members may vote on a ticket that contains either a pair of candidates or a single candidate

and for ease of reference these decisions are designated A1, A2 and A3.

How to proceed through the first page of the Tree.

In order to arrive at a decision, the first question to be addressed is whether co-leadership (“CL”) is mandatory or optional.  

If CL is mandatory (i.e. there must be 2 CLs at all times), the question becomes whether they are elected together or separately. This leads to 2 possible answers or components which in turn will lead to 2 possible decisions (which appear in Red Box 1 and or Red Box 2). If CL is optional, i.e. we could have a single leader or co-leaders, we end up in Red box A3, with its corresponding INFOCHUNK providing additional factors for the reader to consider.

Hence we arrive at either Red Box A1 where the decision is that they are elected as a pair (one box on the ballot representing the two persons comprising the pair) or Red Box A2 where the decision is that they are elected separately or Red Box 3 where the decision is that they run on a ticket of either 1 or 2 candidates on the ticket.

Note the INFOCHUNK attached to Red Box 2 provides the reader with information regarding ramifications for the particular choice. In this particular case, the INFOCHUNK highlights the fact that we would also need to consider such matters as gender and/or language requirements if this option was selected.

Remember, each Red box contains a hyperlink to the PAT that would comprise the motion to be presented to the member for consideration at the SGM.

Once members have decided on A1, A2 or A3, we move to subsequent Tabs and each subsequent Tab presents the followup questions that need to be considered, depending on whether the members decided on A1, A2 or A3. Readers will note that the Yellow boxes at the top of each subsequent page are actually the three Red Boxes from the first page, so if the members decide A1 is their choice initially, then each question on each succeeding page only has one branch of further questions that need to be answered and the branches that run down from the other two Yellow Boxes can be ignored.

Viewing Tab B- Vacancy Filling

This section looks like it is the most complicated part of the Tree as it starts with 3 Yellow Boxes (which as noted above, are actually the three Red boxes from Tab A). However, when the reader focuses on one branch at a time it becomes apparent that it is not quite as complicated as it might first appear.

Looking at the top left Yellow box where CL is mandatory and elected as a pair, the INFOCHUCK provides that if both leave we would have an Interim Leader appointed and then a leadership contest (LC). Same scenario as we have currently if the leader leaves.

More involved is the question as to what happens if CL is mandatory, they are elected as a pair, but only one leaves. There are 3 possible conclusions or decisions. 

Red Box B1, is that if one leaves they both leave. If this is the decision, the hyperlink within the box takes the reader to the PAT associated with that decision.

If members decide against Red Box B1, the remaining CL gets to stay on and the suggestion is that FC appoints an interim co-leader, but now we have to determine how long the pair continues in office. These decisions are shown in Red Box B2 and Red Box B3.

Now looking at the top middle Yellow box where CL is mandatory, CL are elected separately and one CL leaves, there are two possible decisions as shown in Red Box B4 and Red Box B5, with each leading to the PAT found by clicking the hyperlink.

Finally, the Yellow box top-right deals with vacancies where CL is optional. There are 4 possible conclusions or decisions in this scenario. Interestingly, the decision in Red Box B6 is the same as in Red Box B1, the decision in Red Box B8 is the same as in Red Box B2 and the decision in Red Box B9 is the same as in Red Box B3. So the only “new” decision is in Red Box B 7 which provided the remaining incumbent can remain, provided that they meet the Language Requirement (Tab C), if applicable. Query, should this be in an INFOCHUNK?

Viewing Tab F- Transition Provisions

Once we have worked through the various questions and arrived at a decision for each, effectively we have compiled the Proposed Amendment Text and the members have the opportunity to vote on the motion that includes all the compiled PAT.  

At that point, we have further questions, which are contained in the 2 Green boxes.  

If members don’t approve the motion with all the amendments, they are given the option of saying “Drop it” altogether being Red Box R2 or they can vote to have it sent to a committee for further investigation, which is Red Box R1. Note that Box R1 does not have PAT since it is not part of the amendment. Red Box R2 is effectively the following motion, which was not considered at the 2024 GM

G23-D001 Establish a Committee on Co-Leadership

"This motion directs Federal Council and the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) to strike an Ad Hoc Co-Leadership Subcommittee under the CRC to, if determined appropriate, recommend by-law or constitutional changes for members to adopt co-leadership at the earliest feasible General Meeting or through a Continuous Motion Development Process. The Committee’s work should include evaluating international practices and surveying and consulting members and EDAs."
If members approve the motion with all the amendments there are 4 options (T1, T2, T3 and T4) each with its corresponding Motion which deals with how we transition from our current regime to the new regime. The text of those motions is included in the Proposed Amendment Text document. Insert hyperlink.