Young Greens Constitution
Article 1 Purpose
1.1 The name of this organization shall be the Young Greens of Canada, hereafter referred to as “the Young Greens.”
1.1.1 The Young Greens of Canada is a unit of the Green Party of Canada, hereafter referred to as "the GPC", representing youth members of the GPC from the ages of 14 to 29 years old.
1.1.2 The purpose of this constitution is to guide the activities of the Young Greens and limit and set the powers of the Young Greens Council as defined by the bylaws.
1.2 The purpose of the Young Greens is as follows:
1.2.1 to promote the core principles of green politics as stated in the Charter of the Global Greens and the constitution of the GPC;
1.2.2 to facilitate the involvement of young Canadians within the Young Greens;
1.2.3 to facilitate the involvement of young Canadians within the GPC;
1.2.4 to facilitate networking between Green campus clubs and between the Young Greens and external green organizations;
1.2.5 to act as an advocate for youth within the GPC and Canadian government.
1.3 The purpose of the Young Greens Council is to serve as the elected governing and decision-making body of the Young Greens of Canada.
Article 2 Membership
2.1.1 The non-voting membership of the Young Greens shall be informal and primarily based upon a person's involvement in the organization.
2.1.2 The voting membership of the Young Greens shall be composed of all GPC members in good standing who are 14 to 29 years old at the election date.
2.1.3 All members of the Young Greens Council (hereafter referred to as "the Council") must have been members of the GPC for at least 30 days as of the Council election date.
Article 3 Council Composition
3.1 The Council shall be composed of the following positions:
3.1.1 Chair (Male)
3.1.2 Chair (Female)
3.1.3 Organizing Chair (Male)
3.1.4 Organizing Chair (Female)
3.1.5 Francophone Communications
3.1.6 Anglophone Communications
3.1.7 Administration and Finance Chair
3.2 An individual may not hold more than one council position concurrently, unless appointed to fill a vacancy on a temporary basis not to last more than 90 days. A council member holding two posts exercises a single vote on council.
3.3 The term of office for each council position shall be no more than 13 months. Council elections shall be held in accordance with Section IV of this constitution.
3.4 Each council member shall have the right to appoint his/her own assistants at his/her pleasure and assign tasks to whomever s/he may choose. Each council member shall be responsible to the Council for these appointments and assignments.
Article 4 Election of Council
4.1 All members of the Young Greens who are members in good standing with the GPC shall be eligible to vote in the selection of the Council members.
4.2 An election of council may be initiated by 75% of the council members or a petition that contains the signatures and addresses of at least 100 voting members of the Young Greens at any time prior to the end of term as outlined in Section III of this constitution.
4.3 Invitations to vote shall be sent out to the membership of the Young Greens at least 30 days prior to the election day.
4.4 In elections, where one place is to be filled, and where there are more than two candidates, the preferential ballot shall be used.
4.5 Council has the authority to fill any vacancies by appointment until the next election period. All council members shall be notified of the vacancy within 7 days of any council member learning of the vacancy. Appointments shall be made with the agreement of at least 75% of the council members and attention shall be given to the need for balanced gender representation on Council.
Article 5 Other Bodies
Young Greens Ezine/Newsletter
5.1 The Managing Editor of the Young Greens ezine/newsletter shall be elected at the same time as the Council and according to the same timeline.
5.2 The managing editor must meet at least once a month with at least one of the Communications co-chairs to develop an effective communications strategy.
5.3 The Council and the Managing Editor of the Young Greens ezine/newsletter shall appoint the rest of the editorial board within 10 days of the election with attention to the need for gender parity and regional representation.
5.4 The appointment process for the editorial board of the ezine/newsletter shall begin with a call for applications to all members and this call shall be made no less than 30 days prior to the election of the Managing Editor.
5.5 Appointments for the editorial board shall be made with the agreement of the Managing Editor and at least 50% of the Council.
5.6 All final decisions regarding the content, style, and publication of the Young Greens ezine/newsletter shall ultimately be made by the editorial board.
Campus Clubs
5.7 The YGC will recognize and support Young Greens campus clubs in accordance with our bylaws.
Council Committees
5.8 The Council shall have the freedom to appoint a chair from among the membership to form a Council Committee in order to complete a specific project in service to the Young Greens as the Council deems necessary.
5.9 A committee chair shall be appointed with the agreement of at least 75% of the council members present.
5.10 A Council Committee may stand for no more than one year without review and re-appointment of the committee chair.
5.11 A Council Committee Chair shall select members for her/his committee to serve at her/his pleasure but shall give attention to the need for gender parity.
Article 6 Meetings and Reports
6.1 The Council shall conduct meetings no less than 12 times a year.
6.2 A Chair or 50% of the Council members may call a meeting of the Council.
6.3 Rules applying to meetings as outlined in the bylaws must be respected.
6.4 All and only members of Council may vote in Council meetings.
6.5 All decisions of Council shall be by consensus or, if consensus cannot be reached among those present, by a majority vote of those present.
6.6 The quorum for council meetings shall be 50% + 1 of the filled positions.
Article 7 Policies and Practice
7.1 The policies and practice of the Council will be in accordance with the following principles:
7.1.1 Ecological Wisdom;
7.1.2 Social Justice;
7.1.3 Participatory Democracy;
7.1.4 Non-violence;
7.1.5 Sustainability;
7.1.6 Respect for Diversity.
7.2 All activities, policies, and statements made on behalf of the Young Greens must be consistent with the above principles.
Article 8 Documents
8.1 Because the Council shall strive for openness and transparency, the Council shall make the following documents publicly available in both French and English:
8.1.1 The Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada
8.1.2 The Job Descriptions of the Young Greens Council
8.1.3 The Minutes of Council meetings (no later than 14 days after the meeting)
8.1.4 The Constitution of The Understory
8.2 The Council shall determine the meaning of The Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada with the approval of 75% of the Council members present.
8.3 The Council shall, along with the editorial board of The Understory, determine the meaning of The Constitution of The Understory with the approval of 75% of the Council members present and 75% of the editorial board members present.
Article 9 Disciplinary Action
9.1 If any member of the Council fails to attend two meetings in a row without good reason and without providing a report to the Council in lieu of attendance at least 24 hours prior to the meeting in question, s/he shall be suspended from council until s/he provides such a report. If any member of Council fails to attend three meetings in a row without good reason and without providing a report to the Council in lieu of attendance at least 24 hours prior to the meeting in question, s/he shall be removed from his/her position on council and considered ineligible to run for a council position in the next election. The Council must provide this member with written reasons explaining his/her removal within 7 days of the decision, make the vacancy public, and provide reasons for the removal to any member who requests such reasons.
9.2 If any member of the Council fails to attend three meetings in a row the Council may remove this member with a 50% approval vote among the Council members present even if s/he provides reasons. The Council must provide this member with written reasons explaining his/her removal within 7 days of the decision, make the vacancy public, and provide reasons for the removal to any member who requests such reasons.
9.3 Any member of Council may be removed from Council for lack of productivity with a 75% approval vote among the Council members present. The Council must provide this member with written reasons explaining his/her removal within 7 days of the decision, make the vacancy public, and provide reasons for the removal to any member who requests such reasons.
9.4 The Council has the right to remove from his/her position any member of the Council, a Council Committee, or the editorial board of The Understory who is convicted of a criminal offence. The Council may remove this member with a 50% approval vote among the Council members present. The Council must provide this member with written reasons explaining his/her removal within 7 days of the decision, make the vacancy public, and provide reasons for the removal to any member who requests such reasons.
9.5 The Council has the right to remove from his/her position any member of the Council, a Council Committee, or the editorial board of The Understory who is found to have engaged in unconscionable or illegal conduct. After the Council has given the member in question a period of 3 days to provide an explanation for his/her actions and this explanation has been made available to all council members, the Council may remove this member with 75% approval vote among the Council members present. The Council must provide this member with written reasons explaining his/her removal within 7 days of the decision, make the vacancy public, and provide reasons for the removal to any member who requests such reasons.
Article 10 Dissolution
10.1 The Young Greens shall not be dissolved without the approval of 80% of the Council members present followed by 80% of the votes cast by the voting members of the Young Greens. The vote regarding dissolution shall be sent out to the membership at least 30 days prior to the voting day and shall be accompanied by an explanation of the relevant situation.
10.2 In the event of dissolution of the Young Greens, all funds shall be held in trust by the Green Party of Canada until such time as this constitution should again govern an elected Young Greens Council.
10.3 Elections may be called by the Green Party of Canada for a new Council after one year if the membership has not already done so. The membership may call an election of the Council at any time following the dissolution of the Young Greens Council.
Article 11 Amendments
11.1 Amendments to this constitution shall not be made without the approval of 80% of the Council members present followed by 66% of the votes cast by the voting members of the Young Greens. The vote regarding amendments shall be sent out to the membership at least 30 days prior to the voting day and shall be accompanied by an explanation of the proposed amendments.
11.2 Amendments to the Bylaws of this constitution shall not be made without the approval of 80% of the Council members present. Amendments to these Bylaws shall be made public no later than 14 days after the vote by Council.
Bylaws
Bylaw 1 Young Greens Council Elections
1.1 Calls for nominations will include a message encouraging diversity including but not limited to gender and region.
1.2 Staff and interns of the Green Party of Canada can not run for Young Greens Council with the exception of a seasonal intern or staff working the equivalent hours of a seasonal intern during their term provided they are committed to fulfilling their duties on the Young Greens Council during a general election.
Bylaw 2 Young Greens Council
2.1 Young Greens Councilors cannot run as Green Party of Canada candidates during general elections during their term on Council.
2.2 Young Greens Councilors may not reside outside of Canada for longer than 30 consecutive days during their term, and these 30 days may not coincide with the first 30 days of their term or a general election.
Bylaw 3 Young Greens Council Meetings and Reports
3.1 One or both Chairs of the Council shall chair the meetings. If neither Chair is present, an Organizing Chair shall chair the meeting.
3.2 The Council may adopt procedural rules for conducting their meetings, not inconsistent with this constitution.
3.3 The Council shall send out an annual report to all members at least 30 days prior to the annual elections.
3.4 A Council Committee shall submit written reports to the Council at least every 2 months.
3.5 The Council may ask for a written Council Committee report at any time with 14 days notice given to the committee chair prior to the reporting date.
3.6 The Council Committee reports shall be made available to any member who requests such reports.
Bylaw 4 Voting Representative on Federal Council
4.1 Within 30 days of being elected, the Young Greens Council must ensure that there is a Young Greens Councilor elected by the Young Greens Council to serve as our voting representative on Federal Council.
Bylaw 5 Young Greens Council General Election Action
5.1 Once a writ is dropped, there will be a campaign committee formed from Young Greens Council.
5.1.1 Young Greens Council will appoint a committee of 2-3 people to organize Young Greens election campaigns.
5.1.2 The Chair of the election committee has decision-making capacity with input from Young Greens Councilors
5.1.3 The election committee chair will collect input from Young Greens Council and take the final decision in a timely fashion.
5.1.4 The Young Greens Council is still the governing body, has authority over the election committee, and has capacity to annul decisions made by the election committee.
5.1.5 The election committee must develop and implement a communications strategy during a general election.
5.2 All of the Young Greens Council is responsible for developing an election plan.
Bylaw 6 Young Greens Campus Clubs
6.1 Young Greens campus clubs are defined as groups of Young Greens who meet the following criteria:
6.1.1 Respect the purpose of the Young Greens
6.1.2 Respect the restrictions of their student union
6.1.3 Have had their constitutions approved by the Young Greens Council
6.1.4 Have reported the names of their President(s)/Chair(s) and contact information to their respective Regional Coordinator
Bylaw 7 Young Greens International Involvement
7.1 A youth delegate to the Global Greens will be nominated by the Administrative Sphere of Young Greens Council and appointed by the Young Greens Council.
7.2 The youth delegate to the Global Greens will be expected to participate in online forums of the Global Greens and the Global Young Greens.
7.3 The youth delegate to the Global Greens will be expected to liase with the International Committee of the GPC.
Bylaw 8 Youth Policy Development
8.1 The Administrative Sphere must field candidates for a Youth Policies and Education critic for the Shadow Cabinet when the position becomes vacant.
8.2 The Young Greens Council will accept applications for nomination to the position of Youth Policies and Education critic for the Shadow Cabinet
8.3 The Youth Policies and Education critic will be nominated by the Administrative Sphere of the Young Greens Council, approved by the Young Greens Council, and recommended for appointment to the Co-Chairs of the Shadow Cabinet.
8.4 The Youth Policies and Education critic is expected to liase between the Shadow Cabinet and the Young Greens Council.
Bylaw 9 Young Greens Council Positions
9.1 Young Greens Council will involve three spheres of organization each with their own elected council members:
9.1.1 Administrative - Young Greens Co-Chairs (male and female), Administration and Finance Chair
9.1.2 Organization - Co-Organizing Chairs (male and female)
9.1.3 Communication - Co-Communications Chairs (Anglophone and Francophone)
9.2 Each of these three spheres of the Young Greens Council will appoint functionaries within 30 days of a Young Greens Council election.
9.3 The Organization sphere will appoint regional coordinators for the regions of:
9.3.1 British Columbia and the North
9.3.2 Prairies
9.3.3 Southern Ontario
9.3.4 Northern and Eastern Ontario
9.3.5 Quebec
9.3.6 Maritimes
9.4 The Organization sphere will appoint two teen outreach coordinators (male and female).
9.5 The Communication sphere will appoint a Chief Administrator of the Young Greens website.
9.6 The Communication sphere will appoint a francophone translator for the Young Greens Council.
Bylaw 10 Young Greens Council Job Descriptions
10.1 All Young Greens Councillors shall be equally responsible for the following duties:
10.1.2 Work in partnership with other members of Council to develop and implement a yearly plan in accordance with the purpose of the Young Greens as stated in Article 1 of the Young Greens Constitution.
10.1.3 Develop a standing election plan which includes developing strategies, projects, initiatives, and resource materials to encourage youth to vote for the Green Party of Canada and increase youth voter-turn-out overall.
10.1.4 Support the work of the Council, and work cooperatively with all Young Greens.
10.1.5 Fulfill the requirements of correspondence associated with meetings of Council as well as your specific responsibilities.
10.1.6 Participate as a member of Council in the decision-making required to conduct the business of Council.
10.1.7 Support the work of the Council, including assisting with major event and campaign coordination and facilitating an increased profile.
10.1.8 Appoint functionaries to the Council who will appropriately uphold Article 1 of the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada.
Administration Sphere
10.2 The responsibilities of the Administration Sphere as a whole are:
10.2.1 Maintain communication between the Young Greens of Canada (YGC) and the Green Party of Canada (GPC).
10.2.2 Organize and record YGC activities.
10.2.3 Ensure that the YGC is in compliance with the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada and Elections Canada regulations.
10.2.4 Ensure that the Young Greens of Canada are represented in the international Green movement by appointing a youth delegate to the Global Greens.
Co-Chairs
10.3 The specific responsibilities of the Co-Chairs are:
10.3.1 Alternate acting as presiding officer of all meetings of the Council.
10.3.2 Ensure that process people are duly selected and in place for meetings of the Council.
10.3.4 Work with Co-Chair to prepare the agenda for meetings.
10.3.5 Distribute to the members before the meeting the packet of material needed for the meeting, including but not limited to the agenda.
10.3.6 Send out the call of the meeting (the official notice of a meeting given to all members of the organization).
10.3.7 Serve as a resource to the Co-Chair serving as Presiding Officer of the meeting, having access to all YGC minutes and governing documents.
10.3.8 Ensure that the Constitution of the YGC is followed.
10.3.9 With Co-Chair, prepare an annual report based on the submissions of the entire YGC Council.
10.3.10 Facillitate communication between spheres and oversee the work of the entire Council to ensure that responsibilities are being met.
10.3.11 Either one or both Co-Chairs will fill the position of Youth Representative to Federal Council and attempt to attend all Federal Council calls and meetings.
Administration and Finance Chair
10.4 The specific responsibilities of the Finance and Administrative Chair are:
10.4.1 Prepare and provide to the YGC membership minutes of YGC Council meetings.
10.4.2 Maintain files of all minutes, reports, and the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada.
10.4.3 If any YGC governing documents were amended at a meeting, make the changes in the governing documents and distribute new copies to the appropriate parties.
10.4.4 Through a process of deliberation with YGC Council, draft any new YGC governing documents.
10.4.5 Give each committee any information that has been referred to them.
10.4.6 Ensure that the YGC remains within the regulations set out by Elections Canada.
10.4.7 Through a process of deliberation with YGC Council, draft the basic framework and ideas for the YGC Annual Plan and Budget for the following year.
10.4.8 Facilitate budget deliberations with YGC Council through e-mails and at meetings to draft an internal YGC Annual Plan and Budget for the following year.
10.4.9 Draft and submit to Federal Council a Young Greens departmental submission for the Green Party of Canada Annual Plan and Budget in accordance with the GPC budget schedule (must be completed approximately by August of the previous year).
10.4.10 Report on any budget activities and provide regular budget updates.
10.4.11 Write atleast two requests for YGC donations to be sent out in e-mails to the YGC membership.
Organization Sphere
10.5 The responsibilities of the Organizing Sphere as a whole are:
10.5.1 Develop federal campaign programs aimed at coordinating campus clubs and other groups within the Young Greens with their corresponding GPC electoral district association, in consultation with the GPC’s Federal Campaign Committee, other members of the Council, Young Greens, and campus clubs
10.5.2 Track the success of these projects, iniatiatives, and resource materials and report these to the Council regularly, as well as assemble this information and deliver it to the Chairs for inclusion into Annual Report.
10.5.3 Compile and maintain a list of the current membership as well as the list of campus clubs, Young Greens clubs, and their leaders/executive members.
Co-Organizing Chairs
10.6 The specific responsibilities of the Co-Organizing Chairs are:
10.6.1 Field candidates for their respective functionaries and present them to Council for appointment with sufficient time for Council discussion in order to fulfill Bylaw 3.2 of the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada. The recommendations of candidates to Council are to made keeping gender parity and cultural diversity in mind.
10.6.2 Meet with the entire Organizing Sphere at least once per month, and to chair these meetings following the same bylaws of meeting protocol for the Council as set out in Bylaw 5 of the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada.
10.6.3 Ensure that the Organizing Sphere is functioning as a team to meet their responsibilities as outlined in By-laws 10.5.1-10.5.4
Teen Outreach Coordinators
10.7 The specific responsibilities of the Teen Outreach Coordinators are:
10.7.1 Develop methods of effective teen Green membership tracking and recruitment in the form of materials for the Council and EDAs, as well as to implement these methods for the purpose of contacting younger members of the YGC to achieve Article I of the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada.
10.7.2 Facilitate mentoring between Canadians under 19 years of age and older Greens.
10.7.3 Serve as representatives of their age demographic when input is needed by all spheres of the Council.
10.7.4 Contribute to the responsibilities of the Organizing Sphere as outlined in Bylaws 10.5.1-10.5.4.
Regional Coordinators
10.8 The specific responsibilities of the Regional Coordinators are:
10.8.1 Track the progress of campus clubs within their region and, when needed, provide assistance to the executives of transitioning and new clubs.
10.8.2 Ensure proper dialogue between campus clubs and the Council.
10.8.3 Serve as representative of their region when input is needed by all spheres of the Council.
10.8.4 Contribute to the responsibilities of the Organizing Sphere as outlined in Bylaws 10.5.1-10.5.4
Communications Sphere
10.9 The responsibilities of the Communications Sphere as a whole are:
10.9.1 Appoint Communication Sphere functionaries (Chief Administrator of the Young Greens Website and a Francophone Translator) within 30 days of a Young Greens Council election as per bylaw 8.2.
10.9.2 Develop a national strategy to increase the visibility of the Young Greens of Canada in communities and campuses nationwide.
10.9.3 Develop a strategy for the various campaigns Council has planned for the year.
10.9.4 Ensure the development projects, initiatives, and resource materials to support Council, Green campus clubs, and Young Greens members to effectively communicate their messaging and networking with their communities and the rest of Canada.
10.9.5 Provide information to Young Green members on the structure, processes, and up-to-date news of the GPC as well as the YGC.
Anglophone Chair
10.10 The specific responsibilities of the Anglophone Chair are:
10.10.1 Alongside the Francophone Chair, field candidates for their respective functionaries and present them to Council for appointment with sufficient time for Council discussion in order to fulfill Bylaw 3.2 of the Constitution of the Young Greens of Canada.
10.10.2 Coordinate the regular production of press releases representing the YGC alongside the Francophone Chair.
10.10.3 Allow for open, regular communications with the Chief Administrator of the Young Greens of Canada website as well as the Managing Editor of The Understory.
Francophone Chair
10.11 The specific responsibilities of the Francophone Chair are:
10.11.1 To facilitate with the communication strategy on both a national scale with an emphasis placed on the francophone communities and campus clubs.
10.11.2 To aid with the selection and appointment of the Francophone Translator position as per bylaw 8.2.
10.11.3 Manage and support the production of regular, current, French content for the YGC communication mediums including the Young Greens website, forums, chatrooms, blogs, podcasting and others as they see fit.
10.11.4 Coordinate the regular production of press releases representing the YGC alongside the Anglophone Chair.
10.11.5 Allow for open, regular communications with the Chief Administrator of the Young Greens of Canada website as well as the Managing Editor of The Understory.
Francophone Translator
10.12 The specific responsibilities of the Francophone Translator to council are:
10.12.1 Aid in the french translation of documents as assigned by YGC including but not limited to emails, campaign materials, press releases, articles, and other important documents as assigned by the Communication Sphere.
10.12.2 Aid in the french translatrion of documents prepared by the Organizing Sphere as laid out in Bylaws 10.5.1-10.5.4.
Web Administrator
10.13 The specific responsibilities of the web administrator are:
10.13.1 The Chief Administrator must meet a least once a month with at least one of the Communication co-chairs to develop an effective online communications strategy.
10.13.2 Their primary duty is to ensure the regular updates, proper functioning, and up-keep on the Young Greens of Canada website.
10.13.3 Work in collaboration with the communication sphere to produce up-to-date campaign content for the website.
10.13.4 Work alongside the Francophone Chair and Francophone Translator to ensure a balanced portion of french content on the website.
10.13.5 He/She may choose to appoint Young Greens to serve as members of a "web-team" to help with the maintenance of the many aspects of the website.
