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Rules and Procedures for a Special Meeting of Members to be held December 6, 2003
1. Meeting Sites
1.1 The Special Meeting of Members to be held on 06 December 2003 ("Special Meeting of Members") shall be convened from 101 Lyon Street, Ottawa and will commence at 13:00 EST.
1.2 Simultaneously with the convening of the Special Meeting of Members in Ottawa, and by means of audio connectivity at a minimum, the Special Meeting of Members will commence and be carried on at locations in the additional following cities, with all voting delegates in attendance in Ottawa or at any one of the stated locations being entitled to participate in the meeting:
1.2.1 Calgary;
1.2.2 Charlottetown;
1.2.3 Edmonton;
1.2.4 Fredericton;
1.2.5 Halifax;
1.2.6 Iqualuit;
1.2.7 Kelowna;
1.2.8 London;
1.2.9 Montreal;
1.2.10 Quebec City;
1.2.11 Regina;
1.2.12 St. John's;
1.2.13 Saskatoon;
1.2.14 Sudbury;
1.2.15 Toronto;
1.2.16 Vancouver;
1.2.17 Victoria;
1.2.18 Whitehorse;
1.2.19 Winnipeg;
1.2.20 Yellowknife; and,
1.2.21 such additional cities as may be added by the National Meeting Organizing Committee.
1.3 The specific locations of each local site in Article 1.2 above shall be provided by the National Meeting Organizing Committee to each delegate entitled to participate in the Special Meeting of Members prior to the Special Meeting of Members.
1.4 Each delegate shall be entitled to attend and vote at Ottawa or at any one of the local sites.
1.5 Each local site shall have a designated area that shall be restricted to those voting delegates who, in accordance with Article 4 below, have registered and received a voting card.
2. Appointed Officials
2.1 The Management Committee shall appoint a Chair of the Special Meeting of Members who shall be fluent in both English and French and who shall:
2.1.1 to the best of his/her ability, ensure that the meeting, including the debate proceedings, is conducted in a fair and orderly manner and that these Rules and Procedures are respected at all times; and,
2.1.2 for each local site, appoint a Deputy Chair who shall, within their local site to the best of his/her ability, ensure that these Rules and Procedures and any and all decisions of the Chair are respected at all times.
2.2 The National Meeting Organizing Committee shall appoint a Chief Returning Officer who shall:
2.2.1 oversee the accreditation of delegates in Ottawa and, in accordance with Article 7 below, oversee the voting procedures in Ottawa; and,
2.2.2 for each local site, appoint a deputy returning officer who shall oversee the accreditation of delegates and, in accordance with Article 7 below, oversee the voting procedures for that local site.
3. Accreditation and Promotion of Alternate Delegates
3.1 Duly elected alternate delegates shall be eligible for promotion to delegate status in the event that a duly elected delegate declines or is unable to attend the Special Meeting of Members and provided that:
3.1.1 by no later than 23:59 EST on Wednesday, December 3, 2003, the delegate has notified PC Party Headquarters, in writing by facsimile transmission to (613) 238-7073 or by email to bjoan@pcparty.ca, that s/he declines or is unable to attend the Special Meeting of Members;
3.1.3 the alternate delegate stood for election as an alternate delegate at the same Delegate Selection Meeting at which the elected delegate who has declined or is unable to attend was elected as a delegate; and,
3.1.4 in the case of a constituency association, the alternate delegate promoted, shall be the duly elected alternate delegate who received the greatest number of votes and who has not otherwise been promoted to delegate status;
4. Accreditation of Delegates
4.1 Prior to the opening of registration at Ottawa and at each local site, the National Director shall provide to the Chief Returning Officer and to each Deputy Returning Officer a certified list of voting delegates which shall contain, at a minimum, the name and address of each delegate eligible to attend and vote at the Special Meeting of Members.
4.2 Registration of delegates shall open at Ottawa and at each local site at 11:00 a.m. EST and shall close when the Chair has called the Special Meeting of Members to order.
4.3 During the registration period and prior to receiving a voting card, the Chief Returning Officer in Ottawa or the Deputy Returning Officer in each local site or his/her designate(s) shall verify that the voting delegate is on the certified list of voting delegates. Voting delegates shall be asked to produce two (2) forms of identification that together prove, to the satisfaction of the Chief Returning Officer in Ottawa or the Deputy Returning Officer in each local site or his/her designate(s), the voter's identity, place of residence and, where deemed to be required, age.
4.4 For the purposes of Article 4.4, the following are deemed to be acceptable forms of identification:
4.4.1 driver’s license;
4.4.2 property tax bill;
4.4.3 utility bill;
4.4.4 automobile insurance pink card;
4.4.5 Passport;
4.4.6 Social Insurance Card;
4.4.7 Birth Certificate;
4.4.8 Certificate of Citizenship;
4.4.9 Student Registration card;
4.4.10 Health Insurance Card;
4.4.11 Permanent Residence Card; and,
4.4.12 any other form of identification which may be deemed acceptable by the Chief Returning Officer in Ottawa or the Deputy Returning Officer in each local site.
4.5 Once the Chief Returning Officer in Ottawa or the Deputy Returning Officer in each local site or his/her designate has verified that the voting delegate is eligible to vote, the Chief Returning Officer in Ottawa or the Deputy Returning Officer in each local site or his/her designate(s) shall highlight the name of the voting delegate on the certified list of voting delegates, initial and hand to the voting delegate a voting card.
4.6 Only those voting delegates with an authorized voting card shall be permitted to vote.
5. General Proceedings
5.1 The official languages for the purposes of conducting the meeting shall be English and French; any individual addressing the meeting shall, unless otherwise required by these Rules and Procedures, be entitled to address the meeting in English and/or French.
5.2 At approximately 1:00 p.m. EST, the Chair in Ottawa shall begin a roll call to determine all local sites are on-line and shall call the Special Meeting of Members to order.
5.3 The quorum of the Special Meeting of Members shall be one-third (1/3) of those delegates entitled to attend and vote at the Special Meeting of Members. The Chair shall determine from the Ottawa attendance and by reports from the Deputy Chairs in each local site whether an aggregate of all delegates in attendance represents quorum for the Special Meeting of Members.
5.4 The sole business before the Special Meeting of Members shall be the consideration of the following resolution:
Whereas on October 15, 2003 the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada entered into an Agreement-in-principle on the Establishment of the Conservative Party of Canada (the "Agreement");
And whereas the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement, has requested that the Agreement be placed before the Members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for consideration and the Leader seeks the support and approval of the Members of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for the Agreement;
Be it resolved that:
The Agreement-in-principle on the Establishment of the Conservative Party of Canada be approved and the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and its Management Committee are instructed and authorized to take all necessary steps to implement the Agreement.
5.5 No amendments to the resolution shall be entertained by the Chair.
5.6 No motion to suspend, nullify, recess, or otherwise postpone or cancel the Special Meeting of Members shall be entertained by the Chair.
5.7 No motion concerning the placement of the resolution before the members or the vote thereon shall be entertained by the Chair.
5.8 No motion to adjourn the meeting shall be entertained by the Chair until such time as the Chair has, in accordance with Article 7.7, declared the resolution carried or defeated.
5.9 Any point of order, point of privilege or point of information shall be brought forward on behalf of a voting delegate(s) by the deputy chair of a local site and the Chair shall have absolute discretion in considering or in terminating the receipt of such points of order, privilege or information. No such points of order, privilege or information shall be heard during the debate proceedings, the voting procedures or the vote counting procedures.
5.10In the event that the connectivity of Ottawa with any local site is interrupted, the Chair, in his/her sole discretion, will determine whether a quorum has been maintained and in such case the meeting shall continue and all debate proceedings, voting procedures and vote counting procedures will be valid not withstanding the interruption of any such connectivity.
6. Debate Proceedings
6.1 For the purpose of debate, only voting delegates are eligible to speak to the resolution.
6.2 The debate proceedings shall not last for more than ninety (90) minutes in total after which time the Chair shall declare further debate on the resolution closed and shall call upon the Chief Returning Officer to, in each official language, review the voting and vote counting procedures and to instruct the deputy returning officers to begin the voting procedures at each local site.
6.3 The Leader shall be granted five (5) minutes to speak to the resolution.
6.4 Following the remarks of the Leader, the Chair of the meeting shall conduct the debate in the following manner:
6.4.1 The Chair shall call on the first local site, which shall be chosen by means of random selection, to begin the debate;
6.4.2 At each local site only one (1) delegate shall be entitled to speak for up to one (1) minute in opposition to the resolution and only one (1) delegate shall be entitled to speak for up to one (1) minute in support of the resolution;
6.4.3 At each local site, all voting delegates wishing to speak to a particular side of the resolution shall, amongst themselves, decide which voting delegate shall speak to the resolution. Where the voting delegates cannot reach a consensus on who shall speak to the resolution, the deputy chair shall have the authority to decide which voting delegate shall speak in opposition to the resolution and which delegate shall speak in support of the resolution;
6.4.4 Each voting delegate speaking to the resolution shall identify themselves by name and the constituency association, youth association, campus club or affiliated organization that s/he represents;
6.4.5 Upon conclusion of the debate from each local site, the Chair shall call upon the next local site, which shall be chosen by means of random selection, to continue the debate in accordance with Articles 6.4.2 through 6.4.4 until such time as each and every local site has, in accordance with Articles 6.4.2 through 6.4.4, had an opportunity to debate the resolution;
6.4.6 In the event that each and every local site has had an opportunity to debate the resolution prior to the expiration of the ninety (90) minute time limit, the Chair shall, in his/her sole discretion, call upon such local site(s) as s/he may choose to continue the debate in accordance with Articles 6.4.2 through 6.4.4; and,
6.4.7 For the purposes of this Article 6.4, Ottawa shall have the same standing as a local site.
6.5 The Chair, through the deputy chairs shall be empowered to take all necessary and appropriate actions to ensure that a voting delegate speaking to the resolution does not exceed the time limits pursuant to Articles 6.3 and 6.4.
7. Voting Procedure
7.1 Once the Chief Returning Officer has so instructed, the deputy returning officer in each local site shall call for the vote in their local site and ask that those voting delegates in support of the resolution raise their voting card. The Deputy Returning Officer shall then count and record the number of voters in support of the resolution.
7.2 The Deputy Returning Officer shall then ask that those voting delegates in opposition to the resolution raise their voting card at which time the Deputy Returning Officer shall proceed to count and record the number of voting delegates in opposition to the resolution.
7.3 The Deputy Returning Officer shall then ask that those voting delegates wishing to abstain raise their voting card at which time the Deputy Returning Officer shall proceed to count and record the number of voting delegates abstaining.
7.4 Once the vote count has been completed in each local site, the Deputy Returning Officer shall indicate to the Chief Returning Officer, without disclosing the result, that the vote has been completed.
7.5 The Chair shall then declare the votes in favour, in opposition and abstained for Ottawa. The Chair shall then request that the Deputy Returning Officer for each local site declare the votes in favour, in opposition and abstained for each local site.
7.6 After all deputy returning officers have reported, in accordance with Article 7.5, the Chief Returning Officer shall tally the vote count and shall deliver to the Chair the results of the vote.
7.7 Once the Chair has received the result of the vote, in accordance with Article 7.6, the Chair shall announce the result to the meeting and shall, provided that at least two-thirds (2/3) of the delegates have voted in support of the resolution, declare the motion carried or shall otherwise declare the motion defeated.
7.8 The Chair shall then declare the meeting adjourned.
8. General
8.1 For each local site, the Deputy Chair shall be empowered to take all necessary and appropriate actions to maintain order at the local site.
8.2 Any complaint or grievance related to the voting procedures shall be referred to the Chief Returning Officer, whose decision shall be final, binding and not subject to appeal.
