Subject: Draft
By-Law No. 2, V
May 21, 2002
BOY
SCOUTS OF
CANADA
BY-LAW NO. 2
ARTICLE V - BOARD OF GOVERNORS
(a)
Responsibilities - The property and business of the Corporation
shall
be managed by an executive committee called
the Board of Governors.
The Board of Governors shall
administer the affairs of the
Corporation in all
things and make or cause to be made for
the
Corporation, in its name, any kind of contract which
the
Corporation may lawfully enter into and, except
as otherwise
specifically provided herein, shall
exercise all such other powers
and do all such other
acts and things as the Corporation is by its
Act of
incorporation or otherwise authorized to exercise and
do.
Without limiting the foregoing, the Board of
Governors shall have
power to authorize expenditures
on behalf of the Corporation from
time to time. Also
without limiting the foregoing, the principal
responsibilities of the Board of Governors shall be the
following:
(i) ensuring
that the Corporation adheres to its mission and
to
its principles and methods in force from time to
time;
(ii) ensuring strategic
planning is done and guiding
its
development;
(iii) ensuring that
appropriate structures are in place to
ensure
that the policies of the Corporation are carried
out;
(iv) developing and
maintaining fiscal responsibility at all
levels
in the Corporation including, without limitation, approval
of
the annual budget of the Corporation;
(v) ensuring a risk management program is in place and
monitoring
its results;
(vi) ensuring
that an effective and responsible management team
is
in place and overseeing its activities ;
(vii) ensuring that the work performed by the Board of Governors
is
transparent and that it is well communicated to its
Members,
to the parents of its Members (where applicable) and
others
as deemed appropriate;
(viii) ensuring
that appropriate succession planning is in place
at
the Board of Governors and senior management
levels;
(ix) preparing an
annual report for presentation to the
annual
general meeting of Members;
(x) ensuring that audited financial statements are
prepared
and
presented to the annual general meeting of Members;
and
(xi) recommending the
appointment of an auditor to the
annual
general meeting of Members.
(b) Composition - The Board of
Governors shall be comprised of the
following, each
of whom shall be at least eighteen (18) years of age
and have power under law to contract:
(i) Chief Commissioner;
(ii) Executive Commissioner & Chief Executive Officer
(CEO);
(iii) Vice Chair of the Board
- Strategic;
(iv) Vice Chair
of the Board - Finance;
(v) seventeen (17) individuals with at least one (1)
individual
from each Province and four (4) of the seventeen (17) must
be
youth members (under twenty-seven (27) years of age
at
September 1);
(vi) Honorary
Legal Counsel; and
(vii) the Past
Chief Commissioner.
(c) Other Offices - No member of the Board of
Governors shall hold
concurrently the office of
chair of a board, president, vice-president,
treasurer, commissioner, deputy commissioner or assistant
commissioner
at any level in Boy Scouts of Canada
except as otherwise provided in
this By-Law No.
2.
(d) Term of Office - The term of office of each member of the
Board of
Governors shall commence on the termination
of the annual general
meeting of Members at which
such member was elected and shall end at
the
conclusion of the next succeeding annual general meeting
of
Members. The Board of Governors (except for
the Executive
Commissioner & Chief Executive
Officer (CEO), who is appointed by the
Board of
Governors, and the Chief Commissioner, who is appointed
by
the Chief Scout) shall be elected by the Voting
Members at each annual
general meeting of Members
for a term of one (1) year. No member of
the
Board of Governors, other than the Executive Commissioner &
Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) who shall hold office
for such term as may be
set out in the employment
agreement referred to in Article IV(b), and
the most
recent Past Chief Commissioner of the Board shall be
eligible
to serve more than three (3) consecutive
one (1) year terms in any
one (1)
office.
(e) Vacancy - The office of a member of the Board of
Governors shall be
automatically
vacated:
(i) if he/she resigns
his/her office by delivering a
written
resignation to the secretary of the Corporation in care of
the
national
office of the Corporation;
(ii) if he/she
is found by a court to be of unsound mind;
(iii)
if he/she becomes bankrupt or is unable to pay his/her
debts
as they
become due;
(iv) if at a special general
meeting of the Members, a
resolution
is
passed by at least sixty-six and two thirds
percent
(66
2/3%) of the Voting Members present at such meeting
that
he/she be
removed from office; or
(v) on
death.
Where a position on the Board of
Governors becomes vacant by death,
resignation or
inability to serve, the Board of Governors may
appoint
a person to fill the vacancy until the
dissolution or adjournment of
the next annual
general meeting of Members. Where a position
has
been filled within six (6) months from the date
of the previous
annual general meeting, the
appointee shall be deemed to have served
a term. An
appointee whose term commences later than six (6)
months
following the date of the previous annual
general meeting, shall be
deemed not to have served
a term.
If a vacancy occurs which is not filled
by the Board of Governors, the
members of the Board
of Governors remaining in office may exercise all
the powers of the Board of Governors provided that a quorum of the
Board
of Governors is elected or remains in office
as the case may be.
A retiring member of
the Board of Governors whose resignation
stipulates
that it is not to be effective until a certain meeting
of
the Board of Governors or the Members shall
remain in office until
the dissolution or
adjournment of the meeting at which his/her
resignation is to be effective.
(f) Meetings - The Board of
Governors shall meet at least two (2) times
per
year.
(g) Telephone Calls - If all members of the Board of
Governors consent
thereto in advance, generally or
in respect of a particular meeting,
and all such
members have equal access, a member of the Board of
Governors may participate in a meeting of the Board of Governors
by
means of such conference telephone or other
communications facilities
as permit all persons
participating in the meeting to hear each other,
and
a member of the Board of Governors participating in such a
meeting
by such means is deemed to be present at the
meeting. The secretary
shall ensure each particular
meeting is handled in a secure fashion.
Quorum shall
be established by a verbal roll call conducted by
the
secretary at the beginning of each particular
meeting. Each vote cast
by a member of the Board of
Governors participating by teleconference
call shall
be recorded in the minutes by the secretary.
(h) Quorum - A quorum
at any meeting of the Board of Governors shall be
fifty percent (50%) plus one (1) of the members of the Board
of
Governors in office at the time.
(i)
Resolutions - A resolution, if signed by all members of the Board
of
Governors, shall be as valid as if passed at a
meeting of the Board
of Governors.
(j)
Notice - Meetings of the Board of Governors may be held at any
time
and place to be determined by the Board of
Governors, provided that
forty-eight (48) hours
written notice of such meeting shall be given,
other
than by mail, to each member of the Board of Governors.
Provided
further that, if notice is given by mail,
such notice shall be mailed
at least fourteen (14)
days prior to the meeting. No notice of a
meeting of
the Board of Governors shall be required if all members
of
the Board of Governors are present and waive
notice, or if those
absent have signified their
consent to the meeting being held in
their absence.
No error or omission in giving notice of any meeting
of the Board of Governors or any adjourned meeting of the Board
of
Governors shall invalidate such meeting or make
void any proceedings
taken thereat and any member of
the Board of Governors may at any time
waive notice
of any such meeting and may ratify, approve and
confirm any or all proceedings taken or had thereat. The
statutory
declaration of the secretary that notice
has been given shall be
sufficient and conclusive
evidence of the giving of such notice. The
Chief
Commissioner may, and shall upon written requisition
of
not less than a majority of the members of the
Board of Governors,
call a meeting of the Board of
Governors.
(k) Voting - Each member of the Board of Governors shall
be entitled to
exercise one (1) vote at each meeting
of the Board of Governors.
Except as expressly
provided herein, at all meetings of the Board of
Governors, every question shall be determined by a majority of
votes
cast at the meeting. A declaration by the
chair of the meeting that a
resolution has been
carried and an entry to that effect in the
minutes
shall be prima facie proof of the fact without proof of
the
number or proportion of the votes recorded in
favor of or against
such
resolution.
(l) Minutes - The acts or proceedings of meetings of
the Board of Governors
shall be adopted by
resolution and shall be entered in a minute book
and
confirmed at the next meeting of the Board of Governors.
The
minutes of meetings of the Board of Governors
shall be reported at
the next meeting of
Members.
(m) Board of Governors Remuneration - The members of the
Board of
Governors shall serve as such without
remuneration and no such member
shall directly or
indirectly receive any profit from his/her position
as such, provided that such a member may be paid
reasonable
expenses incurred by him/her in the
performance of his/her duties.
Nothing contained
herein shall be construed to preclude any such
member from serving the Corporation as an Officer or in any
other
capacity and receiving compensation
therefor.
(n) Finances - The Board of Governors shall take such
steps as they may
deem requisite to enable the
Corporation to acquire, accept, solicit
or receive
legacies, gifts, grants, settlements, bequests,
endowments,
payments and donations of any kind
whatsoever for the purpose of
furthering the objects
of the Corporation. The Board of Governors
shall
have the power to enter into a trust arrangement with a
trust
company for the purpose of creating a trust
fund in which the capital
and interest may be made
available for the benefit of promoting the
interest
of the Corporation in accordance with such terms as
the
Board of Governors may
determine.
(o) Borrowing - The Board of Governors may from time to
time:
(i) borrow money upon the
credit of the Corporation;
(ii) limit or
increase the amount to be borrowed;
(iii) issue
debentures or other securities of the
Corporation;
(iv) pledge or sell such
debentures or other securities for
such
sums and at
such prices as may be deemed expedient; and
(v) secure any such debentures, or other securities, or any
other
present or
future borrowing or liability of the Corporation
,
by mortgage,
hypothec, charge or pledge of all or
any
currently
owned or subsequently acquired real and
personal,
movable and immovable, property of the Corporation, and
the
undertaking
and rights of the corporation.
The Board of
Governors may delegate such powers to the Officers
or
certain members of the Board of Governors to such
extent and in such
manner as the Board of Governors
may, by resolution, determine.
Nothing herein limits
or restricts the borrowing of money by the
Corporation on bills of exchange or promissory notes made,
drawn,
accepted, or endorsed by or on behalf of the
Corporation.