Collaborative Proposal Creation
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- Proposal text
- Replace Bylaw 7 Ombuds and Appeals Committee with the following: Bylaw 7 Governance Appeal Committee The Governance Appeal Committee: 7.1 Shall have between five (5) and seven (7) members at all times. 7.2 Shall be elected by members for a term of two (2) years or until their successor is elected, and it may fill its vacancies between elections. 7.3 Shall be chaired by two co-Chairs, of different genders, that are selected by the committee. 7.4 Shall have Terms of Reference, processes and procedures, ethics and conduct guidelines (i.e. conflicts of interest) and investigation standards. 7.5 Is accountable between General Meetings to Federal Council regarding implementing 7.4 and if any legal or ethical concerns are brought up about its work. 7.6 Reports to members at annual General Meetings. 7.7 The Governance Appeal Committee shall: 7.7.1 Receive complaints from members and Units of the Party regarding adherence to the Constitution and Bylaws, including but not limited to procedural rules for conducting Federal Council meetings (bylaw 2.4.6). 7.7.2 Decide whether or not to accept and deal with each complaint, and inform the complainant of the decision. 7.7.3 For accepted cases, issue evidence-based reports with the committee's recommendations sent to all the parties involved. 7.7.4 Act as an appeal body in other instances when requested to do so by Federal Council.
- Type of Proposal
- A constitutional amendment to change the constitution or bylaws
- Objective / Benefit
- Given Article 13, adopted in 2022, regarding creating a Conduct Committee, the Ombuds and Appeals Committee would be renamed Governance Appeal Committee (GAC) to reflect its new role centered on governance complaints. This proposal also makes the GAC more representative by being elected by all members, more rigorous in its operation and work, and accountable to both members and Federal Council.
- If your proposal replaces an existing policy or policies, which one does it replace?
- It would replace the following bylaw. Bylaw 7 Ombuds and Appeals Committee 7.1 The Ombuds and Appeals Committee shall be selected at a General Meeting of Members, and such selection shall have due regard and respect for gender and regional balance. 7.2 The Ombuds and Appeals Committee may fill its vacancies between General Meetings of Members. 7.3 The Ombuds and Appeals Committee shall be chaired by two co-Chairs, of different genders, that are selected by the committee. 7.4 The Ombuds and Appeals Committee is a committee of the Party membership, responsible to the membership at General Meetings. 7.5 The Ombuds and Appeals Committee shall: 7.5.1 Receive complaints from Members of the Party regarding decisions made by organized Units or Functionaries of the Party that affect their rights as members, or concerns regarding Party governance. 7.5.2 Decide whether or not to accept and deal with each complaint, and inform the complainant of the decision. 7.5.3 For accepted cases, issue reports with the committee's recommendations to all the parties involved. 7.5.4 Inform Federal Council regularly of its activities. 7.5.5 Maintain guidelines for conduct and operation of the Ombuds and Appeals Committee.
- List any supporting evidence for your proposal
- N/A
- Does this proposal affect any particular group and what efforts have been made to consult with the group or groups?
- N/A
- 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
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Reference: PVC-PROP-2023-08-4209
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I do wish this motion stated that members of this new unit must not also sit on Federal Council. The Governance Committee is run by Federal Councillors, and can therefore make decisions about who can run for Federal Council. This has been abused in the past. For example, I tried to run for English VP in 2021, and was blocked by two young Annamie Paul supporting Federal Councilors, for "crossing that line". Vague, eh?. I guessed it's because I had made a YouTube video showing evidence of why I was legitimately critical of Annamie's leadership. Was the line crossed when it got 2000 views? 3000? I asked them for specifics on what "line" I had crossed, and got the same vague response. Of course, I couldn't bring my complaint to the existing OAC because, well, see comments above. So, it's imperative that this new unit NOT be populated by anyone on existing, or even recently on, Federal Council, or the Political Hub. Separation of Powers. We have to learn from our mistakes and create an institution that can be true to the Green original Pillars of Ecological Wisdom, Nonviolence, Social Justice, and in this case particularly, Participatory Democracy (members can only make good decisions when they have access to all the information).
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