There was some concerns and confusion being expressed on the GPC EDA list about a requirement that EDA executive members live within the electoral boundaries for that EDA.  I sent the following response to the list and I'm also posting it here in case there is some interest ...

Hi all,

There was never a requirement set by council that EDA executive members live in the riding.  I've attached below the requirements approved by council in March of this year.  It is unfortunate that there is confusion about this and I hope that if/when staff review the requirements it will help to correct this problem.

I'm the person that proposed the requirement that an individual should not be allowed to sit on the executive of more than one EDA.  There are a couple of reasons I made this proposal.  One was that I thought it  would help minimize problems for the party and for those EDAs if/when problems started to happen with that individual, the person moved, etc.   Another reason, at least as important, was that I thought the party needed to start to get beyond the mentality that one person needs to carry the load in multiple areas.  If we consider that we likely need to recruit and and mobilize 1000 or more members in a riding to get someone elected I think being an EDA executive in one riding should be more than enough work for one person.  Also, I think that having different executives in each EDA will help to increase the overall number of people who have the leadership experience within the party, and this will help to foster our long-term success.

There is nothing preventing an EDA executive in one riding to advise or otherwise help other EDAs get up and running.  In fact, I think this is something to be encouraged.

I understand the concerns that some EDAs have had with some of the council requirements.  However, I believe that council passed these requirements with the best of intentions.  The party is still growing and we are establishing many of our processes for the first time.  We should expect that these processes will need to be changed as we find out what works and what doesn't.  I'm not particularly tied to any given requirement myself, and it could be that council tried to put in too many requirements too soon.  But in my opinion, in the long-term, a well-organized EDA should be able to follow the requirements with a collective contribution of perhaps 25 hours per year - much of which the EDA is going to have to do anyways to be successful (at least that was the intention of council - I understand that it may not be working out that way).  But even if it took 100 hours I think this work is a drop in the bucket for an EDA that expects to elect a candidate.

I'd like to encourage leaders of the party (like those EDA executives on this list) to consider how we react to decisions that we disagree with, or other things that happen in the party that we may view as mistakes.  There are processes in place to ensure that bad decisions and mistakes can and will be corrected (e.g. by a new council decision or a decision at a General Meeting).  Certainly this might take time and there could be some inconvenience along the way.  But I think that showing a lack of respect or contempt for others in the party when we disgaree with them is damaging in its own way.  As leaders we can help to promote a better internal culture that ultimately will help to ensure that we are better able to work with other parties and the Canadian public once we start to elect MPs.  These skills will be necessary since many of our policies propose significant changes to Canadian society and may not be well-received in some quarters.

Regards,
Kevin Colton
Former GPC Council member
Acting EDA CEO for Calgary Centre

Minimum Requirements to Register and Operate a Green Party of Canada EDA

a) The EDA must abide by the Canada Elections Act

b) The EDA must abide by the Constitution and decisions of the GPC.

c) A registration kit will be assembled for interested members to use for the establishment of their EDA.  The kit will include, but will not be limited to:

• GPC registration checklist
• GPC Constitution 
• Template EDA constitution
• An annual plan template
• Budget template
• GPC EDA manual

d) In order to hold an EDA inaugural or annual general meeting:

• There needs to be 5 or more members in good standing in the ED
• The organizers of the general meeting need to provide the date, time, and place or medium of the general meeting to each GPC member in the ED and to the GPC National Office, 30 or more days before the general meeting.

At the discretion of the National Office, an official representative of the party may attend the meeting.

e) The inaugural general meeting must approve an EDA constitution and approve a minimum of 3 executive members who:

• Are GPC members in good standing
• Cover the following roles:

   o Chief Executive Officer
   o Financial Agent
   o Fundraising Chair
   o Membership Chair
   o Organizing Chair
   o Communications Chair

The Chief Executive Officer and Financial Agent roles cannot be combined. A person may only serve on the executive of one EDA at one time.

f) Any general meeting must be must be properly minuted, and a copy of the general meeting draft minutes, including any adopted or amended constitution, must be provided to the National Office within 7 days.

g) After the inaugural general meeting the new unregistered EDA executive will have 30 days in which to provide the National Office with:

• Completed Elections Canada forms to register the EDA with the name of the EDA following the standard form “[Name of Electoral District] Federal Green Party Association”

h) After the inaugural or an annual general meeting the EDA executive will have 30 days in which to provide the National Office with:

• an annual plan including budget, fundraising goals, election readiness goals, and membership development goal

i) Once all of the above is completed, the National Office will endorse the registration of the EDA with Elections Canada.  NOTE: An EDA is not formally registered until the EDA CEO receives official notification from Elections Canada. The EDA cannot engage in any fundraising activity or open a bank account until they are formally registered by Elections Canada.

j) Once formally registered and if the EDA wants to transact funds:

• The EDA must open a bank account (in the name as above).
• On opening, changing, or closing a bank account, the EDA must forward confirmation of that open, change, or close to the National Office within 7 days.

k) If the EDA receives funds, gathers supporter data, signs up members, or fundraises, the EDA is expected to report to the National Office, at least quarterly, a summary of these activities, including supporter data.

l) The National Office is expected to report to the EDA, at least quarterly, supporter information for the EDA including membership data.