News

On September 16, 2020, a letter was sent out  to CALL members on behalf of CALL President, Wassim Garzouzi, to provide notice of proposed amendments, pursuant to section 11.2 of the Constitution. You can view this letter and the proposed amendments here.

Please see the following update from CALL Council.

1. We regret to advise that Kate Hughes has resigned as President. Kate notes her term of President should have been over in June of this year, the same time as she was retiring from the full time practice of law and moving back to BC. Of course COVID intervened and the election to be held did not occur when the Conference scheduled for Halifax was cancelled. In light of all the circumstances, Kate felt it made sense to remove herself from the Executive Committee and Council effective July 27, 2020. Council passed a motion thanking Kate for her service at its meeting that day.

2. Under the Constitution (Art. 6.7), the Executive Committee is tasked with filling vacancies on Council or the Executive Committee for the balance of the term of the vacant office. The Executive Committee was of the view that the Interim President should come from the present Council given the anticipated short term remaining prior to an election and need to move forward quickly in organizing a virtual Membership Meeting (see the Motion passed by Council below). As such, the Executive Committee canvassed for volunteers from Council and at its meeting on July 29th voted unanimously to appoint Wassim Garzouzi, subject to ratification by Council. Council has now ratified Wassim's appointment.

3. Finally, Council unanimously passed the following motion at its July 27th meeting in order to provide a process to address the issues raised in the BIPOC Caucus communication sent to the membership on July 24th. Further information from Council, along with the formal Notice for a virtual Membership Meeting will follow shortly.

COUNCIL MOTION JULY 27, 2020

WHEREAS the correspondence of the BIPOC Caucus of July 17, 2020, including the Memorandum of Wassim Garzouzi, dated June 4, 2019, sent to the membership on July 24, 2020, sets out demands for action, some of which would require Constitutional Amendment, but all of which would require discussion and debate by the CALL/ACAMS membership prior to adoption or implementation; and

WHEREAS, given the cancellation of the 2020 Halifax Conference due to the COVID 19 Pandemic, unless action is taken by Council otherwise a Membership Meeting of the CALL Membership pursuant to Article 7.1 of the Constitution would not be held until the next conference scheduled for 2021 Regina; and

WHEREAS scheduling a virtual Membership Meeting this year with enough time for regular members to submit any desired Constitutional Amendments consistent with the one month submission process set out in Article 11.1 and 11.2 of the Constitution, would also allow for the forum opportunity to discuss and debate all demands for action set out in the BIPOC Caucus communication; and

WHEREAS a delay in the elections for the Executive Committee and Council until after the Membership Meeting will allow for any Constitutional amendments adopted at the Membership Meeting that might impact on the governance structure of CALL/ACAMS and thus the nature and scope of the elections;

NOW THEREFORE, Council adopts the following motion:

1. That Council directs that pursuant to Article 7.1 of the Constitution notice be given to the membership for a virtual Membership Meeting to be held on Saturday, September 26, 2020 between the hours of 11AM-5PM Eastern Daylight Time.

2. That the Notice of Membership Meeting subsequently sent to the Membership includes a copy of the Constitution and a summary of the constitutional amendment process set out under Article 11;

3. That a Committee of Council investigate and report back to Council by the end of August on a recommended platform, or possibly multiple platforms, and a proposed set of procedures for which the virtual Membership Meeting may be conducted;

4. That the elections required to be held by the end of 2020 for President, Treasurer, Recording Secretary and Vice-Presidents, pursuant to Articles 5.2 and 5.7, be held in abeyance pending the conclusion of theMembership Meeting; and

5. That Council immediately subsequent to the Membership Meeting determine and initiate an election process, including an electronic voting process in which elections would be conducted, to allow for completion of elections by October 31, 2020.

M/S Barnacle/Garzouzi

On behalf of Council