Annual General Meeting Update (attachment) ============================== Submitted by Lisa Donnelly, Executive Director (execdir@freenet.carleton.ca) 14 February 1997 Attachments - all motions for AGM is suggested format: ===================================================== * General business (four motions) * Special business (eight motions) * 'Questions of privilege' (four) * Unseconded motion (one) Remuneration of Agents, Mover: Jeff Bossert (au025, NCF Treasurer) Contractors, and Employees Seconder: Richard Taylor (aa333, an NCF director) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be it resolved that pursuant to By-law 15 of the National Capital FreeNet, all resolutions concerning the remuneration of agents, contractors and employees passed by the Board of Directors of the National Capital FreeNet since the February 1996 Annual General Meeting be confirmed. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Jeff Bossert, Treasurer) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NCF bylaws require the appointment of an auditor at the annual general meeting. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Appointment of Auditors Mover: Jeff Bossert (au025, NCF Treasurer) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Richard Taylor (aa333, an NCF director) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I move that the National Capital FreeNet appoint the firm of KPMG Peat Marwick Thorne as its auditors for the 1997 fiscal year. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Jeff Bossert, Treasurer) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NCF bylaws require the appointment of an auditor at the annual general meeting. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Rules and Regulations Mover: David Sutherland (aa001, NCF President) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Richard Taylor (aa333, an NCF director) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be it resolved that pursuant to By-law 40 of the National Capital FreeNet, all resolutions concerning rules and regulations passed by the Board of Directors of the National Capital FreeNet since the February 1996 Annual General Meeting be confirmed. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (David Sutherland, President) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The by-laws state that all rules and regulations set by the board of directors must be confirmed at an annual general meeting: "40. The board of directors may prescribe such rules and regulations not inconsistent with these by-laws relating to the management and operation of the corporation as they deem expedient, provided that such rules and regulations shall have force and effect only until the next annual meeting of the members of the corporation when they shall be confirmed, and failing such confirmation at such annual meeting of members, shall at and from that time cease to have any force and effect." SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Board size Mover: David Sutherland (aa001, NCF President) ~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Jean Wilmot (an NCF director) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be it resolved that the size of the Board of Directors be set at year-end at eleven (11) members, from fifteen (15) members. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (David Sutherland, President) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This motion was passed by the Board of Directors at the January meeting. Although the bylaws do not require members to set the board size (within the range of 8 to 15 members), it was thought to be reasonable that members ratify the change. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A board of 11 members is expected to be more effective, more responsive, and require less support from the Executive Director. The Board and ED recommend voting 'Yes' for this motion. Expression of thanks to NCF supporters Mover: David Sutherland (aa001, Pres) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Julie Chahal (ab161, NCF VP) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I move an expression of gratitude to everyone who makes NCF possible, including: * volunteers (including members of the board of directors), * staff, * community and corporate partners, * everyone providing community content * all the thousands of members who donate to support NCF Way to go! Thank you for making a difference in our region! SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (David Sutherland, President) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over 60,000 people benefit as members, and there are more to reach out to. So many people make NCF possible and we don't say thank you enough. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NCF is a large group of people joining together to share expenses and do something good for themselves and their community. All board members and the ED recommend voting 'Yes!' for this motion. Account renewals Mover: Joshua Gilbert (ba743, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Vivien Milat (bv684, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The National Capital Freenet shall not require renewal of its membership on a mass or random basis. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Joshua Gilbert, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The renewal process forced upon the members early this year will unfortunately see alot of members leaving not because they don't use the system, but because they found the renewals process too much of an inconvenience. Lower end users won't bother out of inconvenience and high-end power users will find the renewal process insulting. This will leave the NCF with only a small number of middle-end users. It has already become apparent this is the case with the statistics recently released by the NCF concerning how many users have renewed. While the users didn't have a say this year, they should have a say now. This issue has been argued to death in the unmoderated board discussion group, and it was mostly users versus the board. It's time we listened to what the users of this system want. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. ncf.* and ott.* newsgroups Mover: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Matthew Darwin (aa673, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I, Miranda Gray (ak717@freenet.carleton.ca) move that the National Capital FreeNet change its practices regarding ncf.* newsgroups to lessen the walls between NCF members and other participants in the local online community by 1) encouraging the creation of more ott.* newsgroups, 2) encouraging its Information Providers to consider alternatives to private ncf.* newsgroups and 3) discouraging the use of ncf.sig.* newsgroups when a comparable ott.* newsgroups exists or is created. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Miranda Gray, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Ottawa-Hull area needs free, open, accessible, community meeting places on the net which are not dominated or controlled by commercial or government interests. These meeting places can't be owned by one community organization either. Newsgroups are these meeting places. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Usenet access for ISP-based members Mover: Matthew Darwin (aa673, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be it resolved that the NCF allow access to hiearchies of regional interest (e.g. ott.*, qc.*, can.*) through its NNTP server in the same way news.* and ncf.* are currently available. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Matthew Darwin, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many members do not have access to news except through NCF's services. NCF's mission states: "[NCF] links the people and organizations of this region, provides useful information, and enables an open exchange of ideas with the world". This motion is in keeping with this mission. Implementation: The exact implementation details of this motion are operational, but a procedure similar to the existing procedure for adding sites to NCF's proxy server shall be followed. It is anticipated that the impact on the NNTP server will be minimal. This is due to the fact that hierarchies that are likely to be added are on the smaller size. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Bylaw 8 Mover: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~ Seconder: Sean P. Maguire (af706, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I (Miranda Gray ak717@freenet.carleton.ca) move that Bylaw 8 be amended as follows: 8. Directors shall be elected at the annual general meeting of the members. The term of a director is up to but no more than three years. There is no limit on the number of consecutive terms which may be served. that Bylaw 10 be truncated and inserted after Bylaw 8 as follows: 9. Any vacancy on the board may be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the board of directors until the next Annual General Meeting. and that a new Bylaw be inserted before Bylaw 9 as follows: 10. To provide for rotation, each year at least one third of the board positions must be opened for election to a three year term. The candidate elected with the most votes shall receive the longest term and so on until all positions are filled. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Miranda Gray, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This motion reflects concerns raised during the board's February 20 1996 meeting and throughout the recent discussion in ncf.agm97.motions.drafts. Changes Bylaw 8: It would be good to clearly state that board members may serve as long as they can convince people to re-elect them. The length of the term is no longer legislated (since I think this is where the problems are arising). As long as no one serves as director for more than 3 years without being re-elected the practice will be as intended. Matters concerning how rotation of board members is handled will be covered in a separate bylaw. The current bylaw reads: 8. The Directors shall be elected for a term of three years. However, to provide for a rotation, one third shall be elected for one year, one third for two years and one third for three years. Thereafter, the term shall be three years. They shall be elected each year by the members at an annual general meeting of members. Changes Bylaw 10: The bylaw is moved to a better location in the bylaws where other aspects concerning the composition of the board are placed. Matters concerning the length of the term each position is for is handled in a separate bylaw. Currently this is what Bylaw 10 says: 10. Any vacancy on the board may be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the board of directors until the next Annual General Meeting. At that time, the members shall elect a director to fill the remaining years of the term. The candidate with the most votes shall receive the longest term until all positions are filled. The new bylaw: This is the bylaw that will cover who is elected for how long. It also provides for rotation among board members. As long as at least one third of the board is up for re-election each year, there is rotation and the members will get to participate in their governance. [This practice would be easier to codify if the number of board members was clear. Note that 11 board members does not divide well into three year terms.] SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Bylaw 13 Mover: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Sean P. Maguire (af706, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I move that NCF amend Bylaw 13 to read: 13. Retiring directors shall remain in office until the dissolution or adjournment of the meeting at which their retirement is accepted. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Miranda Gray, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a housekeeping change to make the bylaw clearer and consistent with NCF tradition. The grammar has been adjusted and the final clause deleted. The current wording implies that the successor will be immediately elected (a wording error -- vacancies are filled by appointment). The board may need more time for the search process. Current wording: 13. Retiring director shall remain in office until the dissolution or adjournment of the meeting at which their retirement is accepted and a successor is elected. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Bylaw 23 Mover: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Matthew Darwin (aa673, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I (Miranda Gray ak717@freenet.carleton.ca) move that Bylaw 23 be amended and that two new Bylaws be added after Bylaw 23 as follows: 23. The officers of the corporation shall hold office for one year from the date of appointment or election. There is no limit to number of consecutive terms which can be held. 24. Officers shall be subject to removal by majority resolution of the board of directors at any time. 25. Officers shall remain in office until the dissolution or adjournment of the Board of Director's meeting at which their resignation is accepted. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Miranda Gray, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Changes and Rationale: 23. The term of office has been shortened from two years to one year. Reopening these positions each year gives board members a chance to formally evaluate how the executive has been performing. [Note: There is no reason why the same people could not be elected to the same positions for another term.] The bylaw now clearly states that the office may be held for as long as the member is willing to serve and the board of directors is willing to appoint the same person. 24. This is the exact wording from the current Bylaw 24. It has merely been divided off as a separate bylaw as it covers a different matter. 25. This is a new bylaw. It is based partially on the current bylaw regarding resignations from the board. Currently no bylaw details how resignations by officers shall be handled. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. Bylaws 30-33 Mover: Miranda Gray (ak717, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Seconder: Matthew Darwin (aa673, NCF Member) SECTION ONE: Motion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I (Miranda Gray ak717@freenet.carleton.ca) move that Bylaws 30 through 33 be subdivided and amended as follows: 30. The annual or any other general meeting of the members shall be held at the head office of the corporation or at any place in Canada as the board of directors may determine and on such day as the said directors shall appoint. The members may resolve that a particular meeting of members be held outside Canada. 32. Each voting member present at a meeting shall have the right to exercise one vote. A member may, by means of a written proxy, appoint a proxy holder to attend and act at a specific meeting of members, in the manner and to the extent authorized by the proxy. A proxy holder must be a member of the corporation. 33. At every annual meeting, in addition to any other business that may be transacted, the report of the directors, the financial statements and the report of the auditors shall be presented and auditors appointed for the ensuing year. 34. The members may consider and transact any business either special or general at any meeting of the members. Special business includes: a) motions requiring the resignation of a member (ref. By-Law 5, requires 3/4 of votes); b) motions requiring the resignation of a director (ref. By-Law 10d, requires 2/3 of votes); c) motions requiring the resignation of a member of the executive (ref. By-Law 17d, requires 2/3 of votes); d) amendment of By-Laws (ref. By-Law 37, requires majority of directors and 2/3 of votes) e) motions recommending rules and regulations to the board of directors (ref. By-Laws 34 & 40, requires majority of votes). 35. Members wishing to have special business transacted at a general meeting shall present the business and supporting information to board of directors so that it may be presented to the general membership. 36. The board of directors or the president or either vice-president shall have power to call, at any time, a general meeting of the members of the corporation. 37. The board of directors shall call a special general meeting of members on written requisition of members carrying not less than 5% of the voting rights. Thirty members present in person at a meeting will constitute a quorum. 38. Fourteen (14) days' written notice shall be given, sent or posted electronically to each voting member of any annual or special general meeting of members. Notice of any meeting where special business will be transacted shall contain sufficient information to permit the member to form a reasoned judgment on the decision to be taken. Notice of each meeting of members shall remind the member that he has the right to vote by proxy. The notice for annual general meetings shall indicate how to submit items of special business. 39. No error or omission in giving notice of any annual or general meeting or any adjourned meeting, whether annual or general, of the members of the corporation shall invalidate such meeting or make void any proceedings taken thereat and any member may at any time waive notice of any such meeting and may ratify, approve and confirm any or all proceedings taken or had thereat. For purpose of sending notice to any member, director or officer for any meeting or otherwise, the address of the member, director or officer shall be his last address recorded on the books of the corporation. SECTION TWO: Comments from proposer of the motion (Miranda Gray, NCF Member) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Justification for subdivision: Bylaws 30 through 33 are long (more than 550 words). These bylaws cover a wide variety of matters about how NCF runs its special and annual general meetings. I have rearranged the paragraphs to keep the various related parts together. I have divided the text into shorter paragraphs to make the document more manageable. Almost all of the wording is unchanged. Justification for amendments: [Words in all caps are the altered bits. The original text is appended at the very end of this post as necessary. The full bylaws are available at go bylaws.] 35. Members wishing to have special business transacted at a general meeting shall present the business and supporting information to board of directors so that it may be PRESENTED TO THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP. The current wording is "posted in the online menu area used for the meeting". As NCF has not taken the step of formally restricting its meetings to an online format, the wording is not adequate. There needs to be provision for other types of presentations. 38. Fourteen (14) days' written notice shall be given, sent or posted electronically to each voting member of any annual or special general meeting of members. Notice of any meeting where special business will be transacted shall contain sufficient information to permit the member to form a reasoned judgement on the decision to be taken. Notice of each meeting of members SHALL remind the member that he has the right to vote by proxy. THE NOTICE FOR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS SHALL INDICATE HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS OF SPECIAL BUSINESS. The "shall" replaces "may". The change merely makes the directive explicit. The additional sentence strengthens the democratic process of NCF. Every year, someone complains after the AGM that they didn't know motions from the floor were possible. NCF has not been proactive in circulating this bit of information or stating what the process is. Parts dropped: Only one small item was dropped in the shuffling. From Bylaw 32: A resolution in writing, signed by all the members entitled to vote on that resolution at a meeting of members, is as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting of the members. NCF has grown past the point where this is at all feasible. SECTION THREE: Comments from your NCF board and Executive Director ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be written. All of these items were posted in ncf.agm97.general and many other newsgroups and mailed to Richard. Seconders were not received or (as far as is known) posted for any of them. ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: New business: LETS on the agenda Date: Mon, 03 Feb TURMEL: NCF: New Business: LETS on the Agenda There has been much discussion lately in Ottawa and on Freenet about the Local Employment Trading Systems (LETS). Some NCF members have urged that Freenet offer email LETS Greendollar or Greenhour accounting services to all our members. I do. I offered to raise $1 million in cash if NCF installed the simple LETS email financial accounting service to the whole database. Here's how I would to that and how you can always do it yourself: Thousands of Ottawa merchants have trusted my Casino Turmel cashiers to hold their cash while they used Casino Turmel chips over the years. LETS Greenchips work just like computerized Casino chips. I propose to let my NCF LETS cashiers hold their cash while they use NCF LETS Greendollar or Greenhour chips to facilitate Local Ottawa area employment trading between their companies and the local citizenry. That's how to get the million in cash in the NCF bank account. No more asking people for donations. From now on, when someone parts with $120 in federal cash for NCF, they'll get $120 Greendollars or 10 Greenhours worth of spending power in their LETS accounts. No more volunteers working for free. All time worked will be credited. NCF needs only earn service charges by facilitating their employment trading and that portion of the cash is liberated for administration. I have stated that I can raise $1 million dollars if Freenet installs the Greendollar or Greenhour accounting software necessary to handle those cash buy-ins. To prove that point, I am offering you my cash for NCF Greendollars if you open an account where you will credit it to. The Taj Mahal in Atlantic City has no difficulty at all in holding my cash while I walk around with their credit or chips in my pocket. I'm sure it should prove no difficulty for you to find a way to do the same. Enclosed is an undated check payable to NCF for $120 when NCF has informed me that they have credited my LETS account with either 120 NCF Greendollars or 10 NCF Greenhours. I will be urging all my friends and associates who see the advantage of an NCF-wide LETS at our disposal to make out checks to NCF payable under the same conditions, that they may be cashed only once the Green has been deposited to your new LETS account. Only by offering LETS email services to generate such cash funding will the National Capital Freenet really have any chance of staying free for all, even the poorest. It's time for the financial benefits of offering NCF members the LETS employment accounting service to be submitted to the Annual General Meeting in support of the motion that the Annual General Meeting authorize the installation of the LETS email software for all members who may wish to use it. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: ncf.ca.LETS Date: Mon, 03 Feb TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: ncf.ca.LETS Date: Feb 3 1997 An attempt was recently made by Russell McOrmond, et al, to "remove," "dissolve," "close," "not leave alive" an ncf newsgroup, ncf.ca.lets, and move discussion to a more-controlled non-ncf newsgroup. The NCF SIG Administrator made it clear that as long as NCF members want their newsgroups, no outside pressure will close them down. This NCF Question of Privilege is raised in support of a motion that the NCF General Meeting ratify the decision that NCF newsgroups are first and foremost for NCF members. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Board Size Date: Mon, 03 Feb TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Board Size Date: Feb 3, 1997 JCT: Andre L. Ouellette xx766@freenet.carleton.ca announced: AO: Newsgroups: ncf.announce Subject: AGM UPDATE - AGA - MIS-A-JOUR - IMPORTANT!! Date: Thu Jan 23 16:07:18 1997 A motion was placed before the Board of Directors that the National Capital FreeNet reduce the size of its board of directors from 15 members to 11 members. This motion was passed by the BoD at their meeting of January 21, 1997. Therefore, members will be able to vote for up to three (3) new directors at this year's AGM. JCT: That's instead of how many positions? Seven? Miranda Gray ak717@freenet.carleton.ca noted: MG: I have a procedural question. Can the Board decide to change the number of directors without a motion at the AGM? (The bylaws are not clear on how the number of board members is selected. The particular bylaw reads like a generic form blank which was never filled in.) JCT: Richard P. Taylor aa333@FreeNet.Carleton.CA opined: RT: Bylaw 7 says "The property and business of the corporation shall be managed by a board of a minimum of eight (8) directors to a maximum of fifteen (15) directors of whom five (5) shall constitute a quorum..." The Board has left that flexibility in the Bylaws so that it can be used to make adjustments to the Board without having to consult the entire membership. As long as we abide by Bylaw 8 and make sure a third of the Board is elected at each AGM, I think we have the authority to determine the actual number. JCT: A check of Robert's or Beauchamps' Rules of Order will show that though the current board has the authority to manage the property and business of the corporation, altering the executive corporate structure is a Question of Privilege for the corporate membership and thereore, ultra vires, beyond their jurisdiction. This NCF Question of Privilege is raised in support of a motion to rule the said constitutional amendment by the current administrative board as being ultra-vires and elect a full board. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: carleton.general access Date: Mon, 03 Feb TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: carleton.general access Date: Feb 3 1997 In summer 1996, I, a Carleton University electrical engineering alumnus, and all other off-campus alumni and interested parties were denied access to Carleton University's root newsgroup, carleton.general, by John Stewart with no adequate explanation. I asked the ncf board if they could help find out from John Stewart why the Carleton University root newsgroup, of all the newsgroups, should not be available to Carleton alumni and outside world scrutiny. This NCF Question of Privilege is raised in support of a motion for the NCF Board to get the Carleton University newsgroup administrators to reopen carleton.general to off-campus alumni and the outside world. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Surrepticious cancels Date: Mon, 03 Feb TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Surrepticious Cancels Date: Feb 3 1997. In 1995, I learned that Paul Tomblin, NCF News Administrator, had been surrepticiously cancelling my postings with no notice to me or to any other body. This NCF Question of Privilege is raised in support of a motion for the NCF Board to declare such surrepticious cancels as above the jurisdiction of the NCF News Administrator. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets ================= Begin forwarded message ================= From: bc726@freenet.carleton.ca (John Turmel) To: aa333 Subject: TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Third Party cancels Date: Mon Feb 3 00:33:07 1997 TURMEL: NCF: Question of Privilege: Third-Party Cancels Date: Feb 3 1997 Unauthorized third-party cancellations were a plague on my posts and when the culprit, Kia Mennie, was caught, a vandalism complaint was lodged and an investigation is now being pursued by Ottawa Police Services Officer Ross Broadfoot. This NCF Question of Privilege is raised in support of a motion to endorse the proposal that unauthorized cancellations of other members' communications are vandalism and should be treated as such. Submitted to: aa333@freenet.carleton.ca (Richard Taylor, Board Secreatary) -- John C. "The Engineer" Turmel, Leader, Abolitionist Party of Canada Box 111 Canada K2C 3L4, Tel/Fax:613-723-2739 All TURMEL topics to our "own.eco.lets" newsgroup Help Abolish Interest Rates by visiting www.u-net.com/gmlets