Allowing in-person General Meetings
- Introductory Statement
- At the last general meeting, during the height of the pandemic, an amendment was made that prevents the Party from holding in-person only General Meetings. While that may have made sense at the time, over 2 years later this needs to be reviewed as in-person meetings are a critical part of social organizations such as political parties.
- Emergency Motion Statement
- Article 8.7 be amended to read: "A General Meeting may be held in person, online, or a hybrid of online and in person."
- Type of Emergency Motion
- A constitutional amendment to change the constitution or bylaws
- Benefit
- This amend gives the Party flexibility to host General Meetings in a way that makes sense for that particular cycle, either online, in person, or a hybrid of the two. Currently technological and organizational limits make hybrid meetings nearly impossible, hence preventing any in-person get togethers. The lack of in-person gathering hampers the ability of members and volunteers to connect with one another, forming bonds and connections, sharing stories and experience in formal and informal ways. So much happens outside the official programming of a meeting that can't be replicated in an online environment.
- Who does this motion impact?
- Party members, volunteers, and staff
- Impact on exisiting GPC policy.
- Not applicable (e.g., directive to council, constitutional amendment)
- Green Values
-
SustainabilitySocial JusticeParticipatory Democracy
- Supporting Evidence
- Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
- Unsure or Not applicable (e.g. directives and constitutional changes)
- Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
- English
This proposal has been rejected because:
This motion failed to meet the 66.6% threshold of support needed to be considered as an emergency motion. Therefore, this motion was not presented for consideration by membership.
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Conversation with Eric Gilmour
I think the experience during Saturday's session shows why hybrid meetings aren't currently working. Staff and volunteers spent a lot of energy trying to create a hybrid in person experience for Ottawa, and while everyone appreciated the effort it was clunky, it wasn't a real hybrid experience, more a watch party which actually made it harder for us to participate online.
And then, when we had to leave the building after the scheduled closing of events, the plenary chairs tried to continue on without us anyways, despite numbering over a dozen members, including the Leader, Executive Director, and Deputy Leader. Hybrid meetings clearly aren't working. This is why we need to be able to go back to in person only as an option, and I hope the experience yesterday demonstrates the urgency of it
The meeting in Ottawa was never framed as a 'hybrid' official experience. It was a "watch party". It was not organized in any way as part of the official GM experience. It was a nice way to get together, and I was under the impression was organized by the Ottawa EDAs, not the GP central. I've been an active participant in GMs since 2006 and as far as I've experienced, we have yet to even officially attempt a hybrid General Meeting. I have no doubt that when we do attempt to organize a hybrid meeting that it will be amazing. We are amazing at in-person meetings, but these exclude Greens who can't afford or are not able to travel. Not ok. We are getting pretty amazing at online GMs - I felt the 2021/2022 Phase 1 and 2 GMs were amazing, and this one this weekend is also great, given the very small team of volunteers trying to pull it off. Greens can and will marry the two for an amazing hybrid experience in 2025. Let's have a little faith.
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