Council Responds to Eastern Membership Meeting Resolution

Please note: this is a reprint of an article which appears in the September issue of Equity News with an incorrect headline. Below is the corrected version.

At an Eastern Regional Membership Meeting on April 9, 2010 with a quorum present, Eastern Regional members in attendance approved the following resolution:

Observers on Committees will automatically become Committee members after having attended three meetings or six months having passed, which ever occurs first.

At its regularly scheduled meeting of July 20, 2010, the National Council considered the resolution and, following an in-depth debate, the Council voted to deny the resolution from the membership meeting. In response to the members' concerns, the Council approved the following resolution:

In keeping with existing practice, a Chair of a Committee will formally consider an Observer for full membership on a Committee immediately following an Observer's attendance at three working meetings of a Committee. The Chair will consider such factors as the size and composition of the Committee and the member's experience or expertise in the Committee's area. The appointment to full membership will not be withheld unreasonably.

It was noted in debate that Council has previously endorsed the principle that Equity Committees operate best when Chairs, Members and Staff work cooperatively in their assigned roles. Chairs are responsible for populating Committees, subject to the approval of the Council or Board. Council also held that Chairs are responsible for encouraging diversity of opinion and healthy debate within a Committee.

However, it is important for Chairs to be able to assess the compatibility of a Member with a Committee, a determination which may rest on various factors including the size of a Committee and a Member's qualifications, understanding of the Committee's scope of responsibility, ability to work in a group environment and comfort with different points of view.

The Council believes that Committee service is one of the most important roles a Member can play within the life of the Association. Committees are the incubators of the Union's policies and positions. Committee appointments should always be made in a timely fashion, with the greatest care, and an eye toward producing the most effective Committee work. Consequently, Council holds that such appointments should be neither arbitrarily withheld nor automatically granted.

In accordance with Equity procedures, the votes of the individual Councillors are listed below.

Voting in favor: Ms. Price, Mr. Mont, Ms. Karas, Mr. Aldrich, Mr. Ames, Mr. Bateman, Mr. Brody, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Denmark, Mr. Dunn, Ms. Flender, Mr. Hirsch, Ms. Horne, Mr. Jerome, Mr. Jue, Mr. Knapp, Ms. Kramer, Mr. Ludwig, Mr. Meyer, Ms. Moreland, Mr. Moye, Ms. Nevins, Ms. Rice, Ms. Robinette, Mr. Roddy, Mr. Rogers, Ms. Simpson, Ms. Smith, Mr. Smith, Ms. Snodgrass, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Watanabe, Mr. Williams, Ms. Fallon, Mr. Carfrae, Mr. Cahn, Ms Ground, Mr. Herzog, Ms. Marty, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Moriarty, Mr. North, Mr. Willet.

Voting against: None

Abstentions: Ms. Borts, Ms. Roberts