Annual General Meeting

Saturday, October 23, 2010
Whistler Conference Centre
8:30am - 12:30pm
APEGBC officials will be available to answer questions on the many programs and activities undertaken over the past year. This is your opportunity to assist Council in setting 2010/2011 priorities.

To obtain a voting card, members should be prepared to present their membership cards or numbers upon arrival.

Council recently considered how it might improve both the quality and quantity of member participation at the AGM and made some procedural changes that will take effect this year. The most significant change is that all proposed motions from members should be submitted to the Governance Committee c/o the Executive Director and Registrar 30 days in advance of the AGM.

2010 Advanced AGM Motions from Members

The purpose of this is to enable the Association to publish to the membership all proposed motions well in advance of the AGM. Currently, motions from the members are not published in advance of the AGM and there is no time for members to consider the motions or to prepare to debate them.

• Procedure for Proposing a Motion
• Background on Procedural Changes

Procedure for Proposing a Motion

To propose a motion:

1. Read the information on Format and Content of Motions (see below)
2. Download the Annual General Meeting Proposed Motion Form (.pdf)
3. Print your proposed motion in the area provided in the form, sign it, and have your "seconder" do so as well
4. Provide your contact information
5. Return the form no later than Thursday, September 23, 2010 to the Governance Committee c/o the Executive Director and Registrar via e-mail, fax or mail at the address provided below.

   Governance Committee c/o Derek Doyle, P.Eng., MBA
   Executive Director and Registrar, APEGBC
   #200 - 4010 Regent St.
   Burnaby, BC V5C 6N2

   E-mail: agm@apeg.bc.ca
   Fax: 604-430-8085

Background

Form and Content of Motions

In the past, considerable time has been spent at the business portion of the AGM fixing hastily drafted motions that were delivered just prior to the commencement of the New Business session. More time was spent in the meetings having the movers explain the intent of the motion and the assembly crafting amendments to the motion than debating the substance of the motion. In addition, some motions had lengthy and unnecessary preambles that side-tracked the debate. Finally, because motions passed at the AGM are not binding on Council, any motions that did not contain the phrase ”that Council consider” could generate unnecessary debate on that issue, rather than on the substance of the motion.

In response to these concerns and in an effort to increase attendance at and participation in the AGM, Council decided that starting with the 2010 AGM, proposed motions should be sent in advance to the Governance Committee for review. The Governance Committee will consider the form and content of the proposed motion and if there are any questions or concerns will contact the proposed movers to resolve those issues in advance of the AGM. Proposed motions will be published in the Association’s electronic newsletter, on this website, and, if time permits, in Innovation magazine prior to the AGM. This way the membership will know in advance what is going to be debated at the AGM. All proposed motions should be delivered 30 days in advance of the AGM. The deadline for this year’s proposed motions is Thursday, September 23, 2010.

Content

APEGBC bylaw 2(i) states:

The rules contained in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of meetings in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the bylaws or the special rules of this association.

According to Robert’s Rules of Order (RRO), there are four potential bases to refuse consideration of a motion:

1. Any main or other motion that is absurd in substance is dilatory and cannot be introduced (RRO, 10th edition, p. 331).
2. Motions that conflict with the corporate charter, constitution or bylaws of a society, or with procedural rules prescribed by national, state or local laws, are out of order, and if any motion of this kind is adopted, it is null and void (RRO, 10th edition, p. 332).
3. No motion can be introduced that is outside the object of the society or assembly as defined in the bylaws, unless by a two-thirds vote the body agrees to its consideration (RRO, 10th edition, p. 333).
4. A motion must not use language that reflects on a member’s conduct or character, or is discourteous, unnecessarily harsh, or not allowed in debate (RRO, 10th edition, p. 333).

Form

With respect to form, Robert’s Rules of Order has the following to say:

A main motion – particularly an original main motion – is frequently offered as a resolution, either because of its importance or because of its length or complexity. Any resolution – and any long or complicated motion, whether cast as a resolution or not – should always be submitted in writing…In preparing an important written motion or resolution (which should be done in advance of the meeting if possible), it is often advisable to consult with members who can be of assistance in perfecting it… (RRO, 10th edition, pp. 100-101).

USE OF PREAMBLE. It is usually inadvisable to attempt to include reasons for a motion’s adoption within the motion itself. To do so may encumber the motion and may weigh against its adoption – since some members who approve of the action it proposes may dislike voting for it if it states reasons with which they disagree…In general, the use of a pre-amble should be limited to cases where it provides little known information without which the point or the merits of a resolution are likely to be poorly understood, where unusual importance is attached to marking certain reasons for a matter of record, or the like (RRO, 10th edition, p. 102).

Summary

In summary, proposed motions should:

• relate to the mandate of the Association
• be respectful
• generally not contain a preamble