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BYLAWS |
ARTICLE
1 - Affiliations
ARTICLE
2 - Affiliation Fee
ARTICLE
3 - Council
ARTICLE
4 - Agenda
ARTICLE
5 - Standing Orders for Council of OTOWA
ARTICLE
6 - Voting and Elections
ARTICLE
7 - The Executive
ARTICLE
8 - Duties of the President
ARTICLE
9 - Finance
ARTICLE
10 - Budget
ARTICLE
11 - Television and Broadcasting
ARTICLE 1 - Affiliations
A provincial Tug of War team wishing to affiliate to OTOWA must send to the Secretary, the following documents:
(a) A written request for affiliation signed by Team Members of its Executive
(b) An initial subscription equal to the current affiliation fee must
accompany the application.
ARTICLE 2 - Affiliation Fee
The annual affiliation fee shall be paid in Canadian currency. The annual
affiliation fee for Members and Candidate Members shall be determined by Annual
Council.
ARTICLE 3 - Council
Members and Candidate Members shall be represented at Council by members of
their own team who will give proof of their membership, and also of their
appointment to amend Council. These members must be from the team they represent
and their credentials must be sent to the Secretary of OTOWA prior to the date
of Council. Before the opening of Council the Secretary of OTOWA will verify the
credentials of the delegates to Council. Any cases of doubt will be referred to
the Executive. All sessions of the OTOWA Council are private.
ARTICLE 4 - Agenda
One Agenda for Annual Council shall include the following items:
1. An Address by the President
2. The appointment of scrutineers
3. Confirmation of the Minutes of the previous Council
4. Matters Arising from the minutes of the previous Council
5. Report covering the period since the previous Council
6. Submission and vote on the Balance Sheet and Accounts
7. Affiliation of New Members
8. Proposals and questions submitted by Members and all other matters which the Executive Committee wishes to propose
9. If required, the election or reselection of the Members of the Executive
10. Reports from Commissions appointed by Council
11. Approval of budget for the next year
12. Acceptance of Candidate Members
13. Any other business for the good of OTOWA
ARTICLE 5 - Standing Orders for Council of OTOWA
1. The date, time and place of Council must be notified to the Members and Candidate Associations, by letter from the Secretary, posted at least three months in advance.
2 All proposals and questions to be submitted to Council by the Members and Candidate Member must be sent by letter to reach the Secretary of OTOWA not later than two months or in time to put it on the mailed agenda before the next meeting of council.
3. The Agenda specifying the nature of the business to be discussed by Annual Council, a copy of the Accounts and Report of the Financial Inspection Committee will be sent to the teams one month before the date of Council.
4. The place, date and time and the Agenda for an extraordinary Council must be announced at least three weeks before it takes place.
5. Only those items included in the Agenda will be discussed by Council.
6. The President of OTOWA shall take the chair at Council.
7. The President shall ensure the strict application of the present Standing Orders. The President shall open and adjourn the Sessions and Debates, unless Council should decide otherwise, give permission to speak and conduct the proceedings. The President will open and close Council with an Address to Members and Candidate Members of OTOWA.
8. The President shall maintain order at Council and may propose to Council penalties to be inflicted on those Members who interfere with the proper procedure of the discussions, or are guilty of misconduct towards their colleagues.
The penalties shall be:
(a) A call to order;
(b) Censure;
(c) Exclusion from the Meeting
9. In the case of an appeal, Council shall decide immediately and without debate.
10. The Secretary will be responsible for the Minutes.
11. At the beginning of Council, scrutineers will be appointed to count votes for and against, whenever a vote is taken.
12. Official Interpreters will be allowed as necessary.
13. The Secretary shall be responsible for recording the debates.
14. Each discussion shall be opened by statement:
(a) By the President, or by the Executive to act for the president, if the item in question has been placed on the Agenda by the Executive.
(b) By the representative of the Member responsible for the inclusion of that item on the Agenda. The general discussion will then open.
15. The right to speak shall be granted in the order in which it is requested. No speaker shall start speaking before he has permission to do so. A speaker cannot obtain permission to speak a second time if a Member who has not yet spoken requests permission. The President will decide the number of speeches allowed to delegates and their duration.
16. If a Motion for Adjournment is proposed, discussion on the main question shall be suspended until a vote has been taken on the Motion.
17. All amendments to proposals shown on the Agenda shall be drawn up in writing and passed to the President before being put to the debate.
18. If proposal is made to close the discussion, it must immediately be put to the vote without debate.
19. If motion (as at 18) is approved, permission to speak shall however be granted only to those Members who have requested the right to speak before the vote was taken. As a general rule, the President shall close the discussion unless Council shall decide otherwise by a simple majority of those voting.
20. Decisions of Council will come into force after publication, which has to
be executed within sixty days.
ARTICLE 6 - Voting and Elections
Voting - Member Teams are entitled to ONE vote only. The vote shall be by a show of hands (voting cards). No-one shall be compelled to vote. Before each vote the President shall read aloud the text of the proposal and explain to Council the method of voting. In case of an appeal, Council shall decide it immediately. Proposals must be put to the vote in the order in which they are submitted. If there are more than two main proposals they shall be put to the vote in succession and no Member of Council may vote for more than one of the proposals. Amendments to amendments shall be put to the vote before the amendments, and amendments before the main proposal. Proposals which are not contested shall be considered as adopted. The President shall verify the results of the voting and announce them to Council.
No-one may obtain permission to speak during voting and until the result has been announced by the President.
Voting by Proxy - The Proxy Form has to be sent to the Executive by letter prior to the date of Council. It has to indicate clearly how the proxy has to vote on the different subjects on the Agenda and has to be verified by the Secretary.
Voting by Letter - The Executive having decided on voting by letter, mails a bulletin with the subjects to be voted on, to the Members indicating the date by which the vote has to be returned. Voting taken by letter must be approved by a simple majority. They have to be repeated at the next Annual or Extra-ordinary Council. If not approved, they are considered null from then on.
Elections - All Elections shall be carried out by secret ballot, by means of the ballot papers. The distribution and count of the ballot papers shall be done by the Secretary, assisted by the scrutineers.
The number of ballot papers issued shall be announced by the President before the count.
If the number of ballot papers returned is equal to or less than that of the ballot papers issued, the vote shall be valid. If the number exceeds that of the ballot papers issued, the vote shall be declared null and void and another vote shall be taken. Blank or cancelled papers may not be included the count.
Voting by simple majority is sufficient, for the election of Members. The
President shall announce the result of each vote to Council. The ballot papers
returned shall be retained until the last count has been verified and then
destroyed immediately afterwards. Committees (except the Executive) and
Commissions are considered elected until revoked by Council.
ARTICLE 7 - The Executive
During their term of office, Members of the Executive will not be eligible to
act as delegates for their own Associations. The Executive may, for its
belongings, always vote by letter sent to the Headquarters. The Executive may
bind OTOWA by joint signatures by two of its Members.
ARTICLE 8 - Duties of the President
(a) The President or his/her designate may attend World Championships, National Championships and other major events for Tug of War, and his/her expenses may be subsidised by OTOWA as approved by a vote of council.
(b) The President or president's designate, may represent OTOWA at a meeting of the Canadian Amateur Tug-of-War Association, and report on such meetings at the next Council.
(c) The President or president's designate shall take a principal part in the
opening and closing ceremonies at Tug-of-War Championship events and he may
present the Awards to the winning competitors.
ARTICLE 9 - Finance
1. All financial transactions shall require the signature of the Treasurer and one other member of the Executive.
2. The Treasurer will maintain an amount equal to $1000.00 - of such sum as
agreed by Council in a working Current Account. Funds in excess of this amount
will be transferred to a Hard Currency Account.
ARTICLE 10 - Budget
The Treasurer has to submit to Council a Budget for the coming year which, if
approved, has to be executed with a tolerance of 25%. To exceed the tolerance up
to 100% the Treasurer has to be backed by a unanimous vote of the
Executive.
ARTICLE 11 - Television and Broadcasting
(a) The rights of television and broadcasting, video taping or filming Tug-of-War Championships, Regional or Provincial Championships and other major International Contests under the control of OTOWA are the property of OTOWA.
(b) All fees involved will be decided and negotiated by the President in
consultation with Members of the Executive Committee and representatives of the
host organization.
