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Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association

Constitution

As adopted at the General Meeting of the Membership on July 17, 1980)
(Amended February 23, 1983; May 23, 1984; February 12, 1986; March 11, 1987; March 9, 1988; May 31, 1989; April 10, 1991; April 30, 1993; June 1, 1995; June 14, 2007; February 5, 2013)

Article 1.  NAME

The organization shall be known as “The Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association”. (Herein after referred to as the “Association”).

Article 2. PURPOSE

The objectives of the Association are to provide the structures for the exchange of visits, information and ideas between Canadian parliamentarians and parliamentarians from:

  1. The European Parliament;
  2. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe;
  3. The Western European Union Assembly;
  4. The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE;
  5. Similar European parliamentary organizations;
  6. Individual parliaments of all countries of Europe and provide opportunities to identify mutual goals and problems and strive for attainment and solution.

Article 3. MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall be open to all Members of the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada on application and payment of an annual membership fee.

Article 4. WORKING YEAR

The operating year of the Association shall be the fiscal year, commencing on the first day of April and ending on the thirty-first day of March.

Article 5. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

  1. At least one meeting of the general membership shall be held each fiscal year.
  2. An AGM must be held within 60 calendar days of the Opening of a new Parliament.
  3. The Executive Committee or 10 members of the Association may, upon a minimum of two weeks notice, call an Annual General Meeting.
  4. The quorum shall be set at 20 or one-third of the total membership, whichever is the lesser amount, provided that the Senate and the House of Commons are represented.
  5. The assembly shall:
    1. Elect the members of the Executive Committee composed of:

      (i)   the President;

      (ii)  two Vice-Presidents;

      (iii) one Director representing the Canadian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assemby of the OSCE;

      (iv) ten other members of the Executive.

    2. receive a summary report of the expenses of the previous fiscal year and a written report of the Association’s activities for that year from the chair;
    3. amend, where necessary and with one week’s notice, the Association’s statutes by a two-thirds vote of the members’ present at the meeting;
    4. make suggestions and adopt resolutions in accordance with the aims of the Association;
    5. transact any other necessary business.

Article 6. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

  1. The Executive Committee or 10 members of the Association may, upon two weeks notice, call a special general meeting. It shall transact only such business as defined in the notice of the meeting including but not limited to amendments to the constitution.
  2. The quorum shall be set at 20 or one-third of the total membership, whichever is the lesser amount, provided that the Senate and the House of Commons are represented.

Article 7. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

  1. An Executive Committee shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting to be composed of 14 members, with 30% of its members from the Senate and 70% from the House of Commons.
  2. Each recognized political party in Parliament should be represented on the Executive Committee; nothing precludes an independent Senator or MP from being a member of the Executive.
  3. The position of Chair cannot be held by the Chair or Co-Chair of another parliamentary association.
  4. The Executive Committee may appoint a member to replace any Executive member who is unable or unwilling to complete his or her term of appointment.
  5. The Executive Committee shall meet at the call of the Chair or any four of its members.
  6. Quorum should be set at five or at one third of the total membership in the Executive Committee, whichever is the lesser amount, provided that a representative from each house is present.

Article 8. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE

  1. The Association Secretary shall distribute nomination forms to all members of the Association.
  2. The Executive Committee shall provide to the Secretary of the Association the proportional distribution of the members of the Executive per house and per political party to be included in the notice of the Annual General Meeting and the nomination report.
  3. Nominations shall be received at least 3 sitting days of the House of Commons in advance of the AGM. The Association Secretary shall prepare a nominations report based on nominations received. Once the deadline has passed, the nomination report shall be sent to all members of the Association.
  4. In order to be eligible to vote, parliamentarians shall be members of the Association at least seven days prior to the AGM. Once the deadline has passed, the names of all members eligible to vote shall be placed on a voters list.
  5. Nominations will only be accepted from the floor at the AGM for positions for which no candidate has been nominated, in accordance with paragraph (2), except that an opportunity will also be given to members that have been defeated in the election to the position of President, Vice-President or director representing the Canadian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
  6. The election shall be presided over by a parliamentarian to be chosen from a list that has received the approval of the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons and who is not nominated for a position on the Executive of the Association.
  7. Elections shall be conducted by secret ballot with the support of the Association Secretary and additional necessary staff from the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate.
  8. The ballot box shall be placed in full view and each parliamentarian shall insert his or her own ballot into the box.

Article 9. FUNCTIONS OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

  1. The Executive Committee shall meet at least twice yearly. Its responsibilities include to:
    1. Direct and manage the affairs and budget of the Association in accordance with the decisions taken at its General Meetings and directives of the Joint Interparliamentary Council;
    2. Draw up a work plan and submit it to the Annual General Meeting;
    3. Approve any activities, including travel, that are added to the Association’s work plan over the course of the year;
    4. Convene the AGM;
    5. Draw up a draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year and submit it to the Joint Interparliamentary Council;
    6. Submit reports to the membership as required;
    7. Ensure that regular reports are submitted to the Senate and House of Commons, as required in the rules and practices of both Houses.
  2. The President shall assume the duties normally associated with that office including that of presiding officer at meetings of the Executive and general membership.
  3. One of the Vice-Presidents shall be the representative of the Chamber other than that of the President.
  4. If the President is a Senator, both Vice-Presidents shall be members of the House of Commons – but not vice-versa.
  5. The Director responsible for the Canadian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE shall in all ways use the Executive of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association in the development of the Delegation’s program, budget and execution of its mandate. The budget for this Delegation is to be kept separate from that of the Association.

    The budget for this Delegation is to be kept separate from that of the Association.

Article 10. SELECTION OF DELEGATES

  1. Upon the approval of its budget by the Joint Interparliamentary Council (JIC), the Executive Committee shall meet to establish its level of participation at each of the activities listed in its work plan for that fiscal year.
  2. If the names of the individual members who are to participate at each of these activities are known, these are to be noted on the record of the meeting and forwarded to the Whip of each party for information purposes.
  3. For all other vacancies on delegations, the Association must send applications to its general membership for selection as delegates. Once the Executive Committee has made its proposed choice of delegates, with due regard to the need to build strong Canadian delegations at international conferences, this choice is sent to the Whip of each party for information purposes.
  4. In making its selections the Association shall, as far as practical, achieve equitable representation of:
    1. The Senate and House of Commons in relation to the financial contribution of each Chamber to the budgets of the Association;
    2. The recognized political parties in Parliament in each Chamber;
    3. The contribution which each selected member may be expected to make to the success of a meeting and particularly the undertaking to attend briefing sessions in advance at home or abroad and all plenary, committee, seminar and other meetings, and
    4. An adequate balance between reasonable continuity of some members from each selected group and equitable opportunity for new qualified members to be chosen.

Article 11. DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT

In the event of a dissolution of Parliament, the Executive Committee in office at that time shall carry on the affairs of the Association until a new Executive is elected, with due regard to policies and related procedures set out in the Financial Management and Policy Guide for Parliamentary Associations.

Article 12. SUPPORT STAFF

  1. The Association may request the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate to designate an experienced person to act as Executive Secretary of the Association to coordinate its activities with those of the Directorate and other Canadian Parliamentary Associations.
  2. The Association may request the Parliamentary Information and Research Service of the Library of Parliament to designate an experienced person to act as Advisor of the Association to coordinate and deliver research and advisory services to support the activities of the Association.

Article 13. RULES OF PROCEDURES

Meeting of the Association shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures and practices of the Canadian Parliament as generally applicable to public meetings in Canada

Article 14. VOTING

Notwithstanding Article 8(6), voting at membership meetings shall be by show of hands unless a secret ballot is demanded by at least five members present (two in the case of an Executive Committee meeting).