Collaborative Proposal Creation
Create, improve and sponsor proposals in a respectful, fully bilingual environment. Grow proposals in the "Hothouse", for promotion to the "Workshop", to become official GPC policy.
- Proposal text
- The constitution should be amended to allow members to propose new motions on an ongoing basis, not dependent on the arrival of an annual general meeting. As things stand, while motions concerning GPC policies do not have to be approved at a general meeting, Directives and constitutional Amendments do. Removing this requirement from our constitution will make it easier for members to amend bylaws and constitution and remove processing bottlenecks associated with general meetings. This proposal specifically aims to amend sections 10.1.3, 10.1.4, and 10.1.5 of the constitution, as well as bylaws 10.2.3 and 10.3.1 to make amendments less dependent on general meetings, and thus more accessible to all members. Proposed changes in capital letters: " 10.1.3 Amendments shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast by Members in good standing at a General Meeting OR VIA WEDECIDE OR A SIMILAR ONLINE CONTINUOUS MOTION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS PLATFORM, and shall only become effective upon Members in good standing passing an identically worded amendment by a vote of greater than 1/2 (50%) of the votes cast in a Members' vote conducted by mail-in ballot, with a ballot return date of no later than one-hundred-twenty (120) days following the General Meeting at which the amendment was passed OR THE DATE AT WHICH THE AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED BY A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF MEMBERS, AS DICTATED BY GM QUORUM REQUIREMENTS". "10.1.4 Notwithstanding any other provision concerning an amendment of the present Constitution, all proposed amendments concerning Article 10, Article 11, or Bylaw 1.2.3 will be adopted if: 10.1.4.1 more than 3/4 (75%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing at two (2) consecutive General Meetings are in favour of an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment OR MORE THAN 3/4 OF THE VOTES CAST BY MEMBERS VIA WEDECIDE OR A SIMILAR ONLINE PLATFORM; and 10.1.4.2 an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment is passed by a vote of greater than 1/2 (50%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing in a Members' vote conducted by mail-in ballot, with a ballot return date of no later than one-hundred-twenty (120) days following the second General Meeting at which the amendment was passed OR 120 DAYS FOLLOWING THE DATE AT WHICH THE MOTION RECEIVED SUFFICIENT SUPPORT FROM MEMBERS, AS DETERMINED IN RELATION TO GM QUORUM REQUIREMENTS. 10.1.5 After each General Meeting at which this Constitution is amended OR AFTER ANY AMENDMENT PASSED VIA WEDECIDE OR SIMILAR ONLINE PLATFORM, the Constitution Committee and any legal advisers must oversee the publication of this Constitution as amended and may, in so doing, and subject to the ratification of the Federal Council:" "10.2.3 Amendments shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast by Members in good standing at a General Meeting OR BY A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF ENDORSEMENTS RECEIVED ON WEDECIDE OR SIMILAR ONLINE PLATFORM, AS DETERMINED IN RELATION TO GM QUORUM REQUIREMENTS". "10.3.1 After each General Meeting at which this Constitution or the Bylaws are amended OR ONCE ANY AMENDMENT TO THE BYLAWS OR CONSTITUTION IS PASSED VIA WEDECIDE OR SIMILAR ONLINE PLATFORM, Federal Council shall ensure the publication of the amended Constitution and Bylaws, and at that time may:"
- Type of Proposal
- A constitutional amendment to change the constitution or bylaws
- Objective / Benefit
- To make the Green Party's motion development process as accessible and functional as possible
- If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
- 10.1.3 " Amendments shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast by Members in good standing at a General Meeting, " and 10.1.4 "Notwithstanding any other provision concerning an amendment of the present Constitution, all proposed amendments concerning Article 10, Article 11, or Bylaw 1.2.3 will be adopted if: 10.1.4.1 more than 3/4 (75%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing at two (2) consecutive General Meetings are in favour of an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment; and 10.1.4.2 an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment is passed by a vote of greater than 1/2 (50%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing in a Members' vote conducted by mail-in ballot, with a ballot return date of no later than one-hundred-twenty (120) days following the second General Meeting at which the amendment was passed." 10.1.5 After each General Meeting at which this Constitution is amended, the Constitution Committee and any legal advisers must oversee the publication of this Constitution as amended and may, in so doing, and subject to the ratification of the Federal Council: 10.2.3 Amendments shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast by Members in good standing at a General Meeting. 10.3.1 After each General Meeting at which this Constitution or the Bylaws are amended, Federal Council shall ensure the publication of the amended Constitution and Bylaws, and at that time may:
- List any supporting evidence for your proposal
- see constitution
- Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
- no
- Jurisdiction: Is this proposal under federal jurisdiction?
- No
- Please indicate the language the proposal is being submitted in.
- English
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Reference: PVC-PROP-2023-08-4199
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Conversation with James Mihaychuk
This proposal is too complicated for members to understand its implications and therefore is unlikely to pass. It would be better to propose a clear idea to which almost all members are likely to agree. There is no time during a general meeting to deal with educating people about what WeDecide or similar platforms are good at and are not good at. Also, the loophole to get past the ratification and passage at two GMs requirement by using a higher threshold is a non-starter for me. It's only slightly better than enacting GPC policies using Facebook polls.
I agree that specifying a specific online platform should be avoided, but I am open to considering using an online platform OR the AGM as long as the quorum number, the voting thresholds, and the all member ratification vote are preserved.
When I reviewed Article 10 of the constitution, I think you are mistaken that constitutional amendments have to be passed at 2 AGMs. Amendments to Article 10, 11 or Bylaw clause 1.2.3 must be passed at 2 AGMs to become effective.
Constitutional amendments can be passed at 1 AGM and then ratified via ratification vote:
Constitution:
10.1.3 Amendments shall be adopted by a majority of the votes cast by Members in good standing at a General Meeting, and shall only become effective upon Members in good standing passing an identically worded amendment by a vote of greater than 1/2 (50%) of the votes cast in a Members' vote conducted by mail-in ballot, with a ballot return date of no later than one-hundred-twenty (120) days following the General Meeting at which the amendment was passed.
Changes to Article 10,11, Bylaw clause 1.2.3 must be passed at 2 AGMs then ratification vote to become effective:
10.1.4 Notwithstanding any other provision concerning an amendment of the present Constitution, all proposed amendments concerning Article 10, Article 11, or Bylaw 1.2.3 will be adopted if:
10.1.4.1 more than 3/4 (75%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing at two (2) consecutive General Meetings are in favour of an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment; and
10.1.4.2 an identically worded resolution to enact the amendment is passed by a vote of greater than 1/2 (50%) of the votes cast by Members in good standing in a Members' vote conducted by mail-in ballot, with a ballot return date of no later than one-hundred-twenty (120) days following the second General Meeting at which the amendment was passed.
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