2024 Special General Meeting

Note from Proposal Shepherds: This proposal is 1 of 4 Constitutional amendment proposals and 1 Directive proposal on Co-Leadership. The Policy Development Process Committee recommends reviewing the comments posted by Green Party of Canada members, and the Proposal Shepherds, under each Co-Leadership proposal in the WeDecide Workshop: D001, C001, C002, C003, C004.

Article 9 - Co-Leaders 

9.1 There shall be two spokespeople for the Green Party of Canada, known as Co-Leaders. 

9.2. Purpose 

9.2.1 The Co-Leaders will follow the principles of “servant Leadership". They shall be the primary public faces of the party, responsible for presenting Green Party policy and promoting its electoral activity and campaigns to the public on a daily basis. 

9.2.3 They will be called to inspire, motivate, mobilize and help grow the Green movement and to influence public opinion and decision-making in the Parliament of Canada. The Co-Leaders are expected to run in federal elections. 

9.2.4 Prior to an election, the Co-Leaders will jointly decide on a primary spokesperson - filed as ‘Leader’ pursuant to the Canada Elections Act - tasked with attending the National Party Leaders’ debates. 

9.3 Duties and Powers 

9.3.1 The Co-Leaders shall: 

9.3.1.1 Act in accordance with the Constitution, Bylaws and Principles of the Green Party of Canada; 

9.3.1.2 Speak for the Party concerning political issues and be guided in so doing by the Party’s member-made policies and platform; 

9.3.1.3 Share one vote on Federal Council and the Executive Committee; 

9.3.1.4 Chair the Caucus and Shadow Cabinet; 

9.3.1.5 Appoint or remove a Deputy Leader as needed; 

9.3.1.6 Appoint or remove members of the Shadow Cabinet; 

9.3.1.7 Attend to any other duties and responsibilities pursuant to the Canada Elections Act; 

9.3.1.8 Be an integral part of discussions and decision-making about the Party’s Electoral Strategy. 

9.3.1.9 Report to the Party membership at every General Assembly 

9.3.2 The Co-Leaders may: 

9.3.2.1 Raise issues with Federal Council which they consider puts the party at risk; 9.3.2.2 Use all means available to encourage the membership at large to engage in internal discussions and democratic proceedings to ensure a vibrant grassroots democracy. 

9.4 Election and Appointment of Co-Leaders 

9.4.1 Upon ratification of this amendment, the Leader shall appoint a Co-Leader. The Leader and Appointed Co-Leader will subsequently be publicly known and referred to as Co-Leaders. 

9.4.2 Appointed Co-Leaders may not appoint a Co-Leader. 

9.4.3 Should an Elected Co-Leader resign or be incapacitated within two years of a Federal Election, the Appointed Co-Leader will act as Interim Leader - with all the responsibilities, duties and powers contained in this Article - until after the Federal Election. Baring the Interim Leader becoming Prime minister or joining cabinet, a Co-Leadership election is to be scheduled within six (6) months of the Election. 

9.4.4 Should one of the jointly-elected Co-Leaders resign, the remaining Leader shall appoint a new Co-Leader. The resulting new co-leadership pair will be required to fulfill the requirements identified in 9.4.6 

9.4.5 Should both of the elected Co-Leaders resign, an interim Leader will be appointed through a process that involves both Federal Council and Caucus, and a new leadership election shall begin within six (6) months, in which candidates to Co-Leadership will run as slates 

9.4.6 The Party Co-Leaders positions are elected in accordance with the Party’s Electoral Bylaws and shall always include:

9.4.6.1 At least one woman; and one person of any gender;

9.4.6.2 At least one person who has native-level proficiency (C2) in French, and at least one person who has native-level proficiency (C2) in English.

9.4.6.3 Both co-leaders shall demonstrate at least an early-intermediate (B1) spoken language level in both official languages upon their election or appointment. Indigenous co-leaders are exempt from this requirement. 

9.4.7 Co-Leadership candidates must have been Members of the Party in good standing at least 3 months prior to an election; 

9.4.8 Two hundred (200) Members of the Party in good standing shall be required to nominate a Co-Leadership slate; 

9.4.9 All Members of the Party in good standing shall be eligible to vote for the position of the Leader. 

9.4.10 Voting shall be exercised using a form of the single transferable vote (STV) requiring a majority of votes cast for election. 

9.5 Dispute Resolution 

9.5.1 Candidates to Co-Leadership and Co-Leaders will commit to: 

9.5.1.1 Flagging any apparent disagreements early and openly to one another; 

9.5.1.2 Keeping any disagreements or dispute private and confidential between until resolved; 

9.5.1.3 Attempting compromise and the search for consensus if and where disagreements exist; 

9.5.1.4 Pursuing mediation from a mutually agreed upon mediator skilled in dispute resolution should one of them feel the disagreement requires it; 

9.5.1.5 Avoiding adversarial, legalistic solutions at all costs. 

9.6 Accountability and Leadership Review 

9.6.1 Co-Leaders are accountable to the Members assembled as General Meeting. 

9.6.2 A Co-Leadership Review shall take place: 

9.6.2.1 Within six months of a Federal General Election, unless one of the Co-Leaders becomes Prime Minister or is appointed to Cabinet as part of a Coalition Government, a Leadership Review, where all Members in good standing may vote, shall be held; 

9.6.2.2 Should at least 50% of the Membership petition Federal Council to hold a Co-Leadership Review; 

9.6.2.3 Should a resolution approved by at least the two-thirds (2/3) of Federal Council and the two-thirds (2/3) of Caucus at an extraordinary Federal Council meeting calls for a Co-Leadership Review. 

9.6.3 The date of the Leadership Review vote will be set by Federal Council and may coincide with a General Meeting. 

9.6.4 The Co-Leaders’ terms shall end if Members in good standing do not pass a resolution endorsing the Co-Leaders by at least sixty percent (60%). 

9.7 Consistency

9.7.1 This Constitution and Bylaws, as well as all other existing internal and external literature will be amended to reflect Article 9 and refer to Co-Leaders instead of Leader.

Submitter: Jonathan Pedneault

Sponsors: Kyle Hutton, Ian Soutar, Bridget Burns, Clément Badra, Kathryn Noddin, Michael Coon, Jaden Braves, Stuart Hunter, Tara Howse, Nicholas Loughton, Elizabeth May, Marlene Wells, Derek Menard, Blocked user, Bob MacKie, Tim Grant, John Weston, Maria Rodriguez, Marianna Padolsky, Tyler Beaulac, Megan Durnford, Paul Gallagher, Jonathan Bussières, Heather Ramsay, Shelagh Levey, Johan Hamels, David MacFarquhar, Bruce Livingstone, Randi Ramdeen, Charles Eyton-Jones, Lindsay Grillet, Dyanoosh Youssefi, Mr. Drew Fenwick, Farrukh Chishtie, Joe Mazerolle, Thomas Trappenberg, David Hachey, Hannah Bell, Evelyn Tanaka, Dr. Sarah Colwell, Laurie MacMillan, Maureen Bodie, Sharon Forrester, Mr. David Hunter, Richard Demontigny, Harald Wolf, Linda Brown, Harmon Pope, David Lewis, Shel Goldstein, Frances Litman

Note from staff: This proposal is for consideration at the 19th Annual General Meeting. A second copy, with additional background information, has been posted in the Workshop to allow you to collaborate on amendments. You can access the workshop version of this proposal here, which the submitter is still able to edit.