The Novacadia Independence Party of Nova Scotia

Draft Constitution and Bylaws

1. The name of the Society is The Novacadia Independence Party of Nova Scotia (hereinafter referred to as the "Party").
2. The purposes of the Party are:
   1. Foster and encourage the principle that pending ecological degradation and attendant social crises as a consequence of depleted global oil reserves and global warming will engender drastic reformulation of social, economic and political institutions.
   2. Recognize the social, economic and political consequences that will unfold during this century of depleted global oil reserves and global warming, and formulate policies accordingly.
   3. Transfer the recognition of a legitimate economic and cultural designation comprising the Maritime provinces to a historically necessary political designation called Novacadia.
   4. Return integrity, self-determination and a necessary pre-Confederation commonality-of-vision to the Novacadia bioregion.
   5. Foster and encourage the eco-political principles of institutional decentralization and recognition of identifiable bioregions as self-governing political jurisdictions.
   6. Support and promote the political notion of Maritime Union for the Atlantic provinces and regions consisting of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Gaspé Peninsula.
   7. Foster, encourage and support the creation of provincial Novacadia parties in the Maritime provinces which will recognize and support the constitutional principles contained herein.
   8. Support and promote a political affiliation, under the identity of Novacadia, of the Maritime provinces with the American New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, up to and including the right and necessity of secession from the Canadian and American nation states in order to create the Republic of Novacadia.
   9. Support and promote ecological principles for bioregional stewardship.
   10. Foster and encourage the principle that no individual or group shall initiate the use of force or fraud against any other or as a means of achieving political, economic or social goals.
   11. Support the principle that the right to own private property is essential to the preservation of human liberty and integrity.
   12. Support the principle that privileges, monopolies, and powers that certain private and public corporations have won from government threaten the health, prosperity, and liberty of the common weal and that such corporations have greatly compromised free enterprise and self-government by the people.
   13. To bring about the election of Party candidates to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

    

Draft Bylaws of the Novacadia Independence Party of Nova Scotia

Part 1 - Interpretation

1. (1) In these Bylaws, unless the context otherwise required,
   1. "Party" means the Novacadia Independence Party of Nova Scotia;
   2. "Constituency" means any of the individually designated geographic areas within the Province of Nova Scotia as described in the Elections Act as having the right to elect one or more members to the Provincial House of Assembly;
   3. "Constituency Association" means all of those Party members resident within the boundaries of a Constituency;
   4. "directors" means the directors of the Party for the time being;
   5. "Societies Act" means the Societies Act of the Province of Nova Scotia from time to time in force and all amendments to it;
   6. "registered address" of a member means his address as recorded in the register of members.

(2) The definitions in the Societies Act and the guidelines of Elections Nova Scotia on the date these bylaws become effective apply to these bylaws.

2. Words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa; and words importing a male person include a female person.

Part 2 - Membership

3. The members of the Party are the applicants for incorporation of the Party, and those persons who subsequently have become members, in accordance with these bylaws and, in either case, have not ceased to be members.
4. Membership in the Party is open to both Canadian and American citizens.
5. A person may apply to the directors for membership in the Party and on acceptance by the directors shall be a member.
6. Every member shall uphold the constitution and comply with these bylaws.
7. The amount of the first annual membership dues shall be determined by the directors and after that the annual membership dues shall be determined at the annual general meeting of the Party.
8. A person shall cease to be a member of the Party
   1. by delivering his resignation in writing to the secretary of the Party or by mailing or delivering it to the address of the Party;
   2. on his death;
   3. on being expelled; or
   4. on having been a member not in good standing for 12 consecutive months.

8. (1) A member may be expelled by a special resolution of the members passed at a general meeting.

(2) The notice of special resolution for expulsion shall be accompanied by a brief statement of the reason or reasons for the proposed expulsion.

(3) The person who is the subject of the proposed resolution for expulsion shall be given an opportunity to be heard at the general meeting before the special resolution is put to a vote.

9. All members are in good standing except a member who has failed to pay his current annual membership fee or any other subscription or debt due and owing by him to the Party and he is not in good standing so long as the debt remains unpaid.

Part 3 - Meetings of Members

10. General meetings of the Party shall be held at the time and place, in accordance with the Societies Act and the guidelines of Elections Nova Scotia that the directors decide.
11. Every general meeting, other than an annual general meeting, is an extraordinary general meeting.
12. The directors may, when they think fit, convene an extraordinary general meeting.
13. (1) Notice of a general meeting shall specify the place, day and hour of the meeting and, in case of special business, the general nature of that business.

(2) The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting to, or the non-receipt of a notice by, any of the members entitled to receive notice does not invalidate proceedings at that meeting.

14. The first annual general meeting of the Party shall be held not more than 15 months after the date of incorporation and after that an annual general meeting shall be held at least once in every calendar year and not more than 15 months after the holding of the last preceding annual general meeting.

Part 4 - Proceedings at General Meetings

15. Special business is
    1. all business at an extraordinary general meeting except the adoption of rules of order; and
    2. all business transacted at an annual general meeting, except,
       1. the adoption of rules of order;
       2. the consideration of the financial statements;
       3. the report of the directors;
       4. the report of the auditor, if any;
       5. the election of directors;
       6. the appointment of the auditor, if required; and
       7. the other business that, under these bylaws, ought to be transacted at an annual general meeting, or business which is brought under consideration by the report of the directors issued with the notice convening the meeting.

16. (1) No business, other than the election of a chairman and the adjournment or termination of the meeting, shall be conducted at a general meeting at a time when a quorum is not present.

(2) If at any time during a general meeting there ceases to be a quorum present, business then in progress shall be suspended until there is a quorum present or until the meeting is adjourned or terminated.

(3) A quorum is 5 members present or a greater number that the members may determine at a general meeting.

17. If within 30 minutes from the time appointed for a general meting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened on the requisition of members, shall be terminated; but in any other case, it shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week, at the same time and place, and if, at the adjourned meeting, a quorum is not present within 30 minutes from the time appointed for the meeting, the members present constitute a quorum.
18. Subject to bylaw 19, the president of the Party, the vice president or in the absence of both, one of the other directors present, shall preside as chairman of a general meeting.
19. If at a general meeting
    1. there is no president, vice president or other director present within 15 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting; or
    2. the president and all the other directors present are unwilling to act as chairman, the members present shall choose one of their number to be chairman.

20. (1) A general meeting may be adjourned from time to time and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at an adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place.

(2) When a meeting is adjourned for 10 days or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of the original meeting.

(3) Except as provided in this bylaw, it is not necessary to give notice of an adjournment or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned general meeting.

21. (1) Every resolution proposed at a meeting must be seconded and the chairman of a meeting may move or propose a resolution.

(2) In case of an equality of votes the chairman shall not have a casting or second vote in addition to the vote to which he may be entitled as a member and the proposed resolution shall not pass.

22. (1) A member in good standing present at a meeting of members is entitled to one vote.

(2) Voting is by show of hands or, if demanded, by ballot.

(3) Voting by proxy is not permitted.

Part 5 - Directors and officers

23. (1) The directors may exercise all the powers and do all the acts and things that the Party may exercise and do, and which are not by these bylaws or by statute or otherwise lawfully directed or required to be exercised or done by the Party in general meeting, but subject, nevertheless, to
    1. all laws affecting the Party;
    2. these bylaws; and
    3. rules, not being inconsistent with these bylaws, which are made from time to time by the Party in general meeting.

(2) No rule, made by the Party in general meeting, invalidates a prior act of the directors that would have been valid if that rule had not been made.

24. (1) The president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and three Members-at-Large shall be the directors of the Party.

(2) The number of directors shall be 7 or a greater number determined from time to time at a general meeting.

(3) If a Party Leader and a Deputy Party Leader have been chosen, they shall automatically be permitted to attend and participate in all meetings of directors, but they shall have no vote.

25. (1) The directors shall retire from office at each annual general meeting when their successors shall be elected.

(2) Separate elections shall be held for each office to be filled.

(3) An election may be by acclamation, otherwise it shall be by ballot.

(4) If no successor is elected the person previously elected or appointed continues to hold office.

26. (1) The directors may at any time and from time to time appoint a member as a director to fill a vacancy in the directors.

(2) A director so appointed holds office only until the conclusion of the next following annual general meeting of the Party, but is eligible for re-election at the meeting.

27. (1) If a director resigns his office or otherwise ceases to hold office, the remaining directors shall appoint a member to take the place of the former director.

(2) No act or proceeding of the directors is invalid only by reason of these being less than the prescribed number of directors in office.

28. The members may be special resolution remove a director before the expiration of his tem of office, and may elect a successor to complete the term of office.
29. No director shall be remunerated for being or acting as a director but a director shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by him while engaged in the affairs of the Party.

Part 6 - Proceedings of Directors

30. (1) The directors may meet together at the places they think fit to dispatch business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings and proceedings, as they see fit.

(2) The directors may from time to time fix the quorum necessary to transact business, and unless so fixed the quorum shall be a majority of the directors then in office.

(3) The president shall be chairman of all meetings of the directors, but if at a meeting the president is not present within 30 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the vice president shall act as chairman; but if neither is present the directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman at that meeting.

(4) A director may at any time, and the secretary, on the request of a director, shall, convene a meeting of the directors.

31. (1) The directors may delegate any, but not all, of their powers to committees consisting of the director or directors as they think fit.

(2) A committee so formed in the exercise of the powers so delegated shall conform to any rules imposed on it by the directors, and shall report every act or thing done in exercise of those powers to the earliest meeting of the directors to be held next after it has been done.

32. A committee shall elect a chairman of its meetings; but if no chairman is elected, or if at a meeting the chairman is not present within 30 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the directors present who are members of the committee shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.
33. The members of a committee may meet and adjourn as they think proper.
34. For a first meeting of directors held immediately following the appointment or election of a director or directors at an annual or other general meeting of members, or for a meeting of the directors at which a director is appointed to fill a vacancy in the directors, it is not necessary to give notice of the meeting to the newly elected or appointed director or directors for the meeting to be constituted, if a quorum of the directors is present.
35. A director who may be absent temporarily from Nova Scotia may send or deliver to the address of the Party a waiver of notice, which may be by letter, telegram, telex or cable, of any meeting of the directors and may at any time withdraw the waiver, and until the waiver is withdrawn,
    1. no notice of meeting of directors shall be sent to that director, and
    2. any and all meetings of the directors of the Party, notice of which has not been given to that director shall, if a quorum of the directors in present, be valid and effective.

36. (1) Questions arising at a meeting of the directors and committee of directors shall be decided by a majority of votes.

(2) In case of an equality of votes the chairman does not have a second or casting vote.

37. No resolution proposed at a meeting of directors or committee of directors need be seconded and the chairman of a meeting may move or propose a resolution.
38. A resolution in writing, signed by all the directors and placed with the minutes of the directors is as valid and effective as if regularly passed at a meeting of directors.
39. (1) The directors shall register as a Constituency Association any properly constituted group which has held a meeting, adopted a Constitution consistent with the Constitution of the Party and met with any necessary legal requirements.

(2) Only members of the Party may become executive officers of a Constituency Association.

(3) A person who is a member of a Constituency Association shall automatically be a member of the Party.

(4) The directors may, by a two thirds majority vote of the directors, de-register a Constituency Association which no longer complies with the requirements of this bylaw.

Part 7 - Duties of Officers

40. (1) The president shall preside at all meetings of the Party and of the directors.

(2) The president is the chief executive officer of the Party and shall supervise the other officers in the execution of their duties.

41. The vice president shall carry out the duties of the president during his absence.
42. The secretary shall
    1. conduct the correspondence of the Party;
    2. issue notices of meetings of the Party and directors;
    3. keep minutes of all meetings of the Party and directors;
    4. have custody of all records and documents of the Party except those required to be kept by the treasurer;
    5. have custody of the common seal of the Party; and
    6. maintain the register of members.

43. The treasurer shall
    1. keep the financial records, including books of account, necessary to comply with the Societies Act and the guidelines of Elections Nova Scotia; and
    2. render financial statements to the directors, members and others when required.

44. (1) The offices of secretary and treasurer may be held by one person who shall be known as the secretary treasurer.

(2) When a secretary treasurer holds office the total number of directors shall not be less than 7 or the greater number that may have been determined pursuant to bylaw 24(2).

45. In the absence of the secretary from a meeting, the directors shall appoint another person to act as secretary at the meeting.

Part 8 - Conventions and Delegates; Credentials Committee; Platform

46. (1) The Party shall hold a Convention at least every thirty-six months at a time selected by the Directors. Notification of the time and place of the Convention shall be sent to the members at least eight weeks prior to the date of the Convention.

(2) The directors shall appoint a convention chairman and shall announce this appointment with the Convention notice. The Convention chairman shall appoint the appropriate committees to conduct the business of the Convention.

(3) A delegate shall be a member as described in bylaw 47.

47. (1) The maximum number of delegates to a convention shall be five hundred. This shall be divided among the Constituencies and membership as follows:
    1. where the number of members who wish to become delegates is equal to, or less than, five hundred, all registrants will become delegates.
    2. where the number of members who wish to become delegates exceeds five hundred, each member who holds a seat in the Nova Scotia Legislature shall be a delegate. Each Constituency Association shall then be allowed four delegates plus any additional delegates that may accrue when the number of members in the Constituency is taken as a fraction of the total membership and multiplied by the number of delegate positions remaining. Where there are fewer than five party members of voting age residing in any Constituency, each member resident shall be allowed to be a delegate. Unrepresented Constituencies shall not participate in the distribution.

(2) Delegates need to attend a Convention in person, as proxies are not allowed.

(3) Each director shall automatically be a delegate from his Constituency unless he declines.

(4) A Constituency Association may pass a bylaw describing the method of appointing delegates and setting the length of term.

48. (1) The directors shall appoint a Credentials Committee to determine the eligibility of each registrant to be a delegate.

(2) At the beginning of each session, and when otherwise called upon, the Chairman of the Credentials Committee shall report how many delegates are on the floor.

49. (1) The directors shall develop an election platform which is consistent with the Constitution of the Party and which addresses current provincial issues.

(2) The directors may appoint a Platform Committee, chaired by the Party Leader or his Agent or Designate for the purpose of studying and developing a Platform consistent with the Constitution of the Party. The Platform Committee shall hold open sessions and give due consideration to written submissions from any member.

Part 9 - Election of Party Leader and Deputy Party Leader

50. (1) Nomination and election of the Party Leader shall take place at each Convention. Nomination and election of the Deputy Party Leader shall immediately follow election of the Party Leader.

(2) Any candidate nominated must express a willingness to accept and be willing and eligible to run for office in the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly.

(3) The Deputy Party Leader shall succeed the Party Leader, should that position be vacated.

(4) In the event that the position of Party Leader or Deputy Party Leader is vacated, a new Party Leader or a Deputy Party Leader shall be chosen by members elected to the Legislature from among their own number. In the event that there are no elected members, a Party Leader or a Deputy Party Leader shall be chosen by those members who were candidates in the most recent provincial election.

Part 10 - Election Rules

51. (1) Candidates for party office shall be allowed to distribute campaign material to the complete Party mailing list by supplying the directors with sufficient copies of such material. The directors shall mail this material within two weeks of receipt, with all mailing costs to be borne by the candidate.

(2) All costs for any campaign for Party office shall be the responsibility of the candidate incurring the expense.

(3) Party envelopes and letterhead shall be barred from use by any candidate for his campaign.

(4) A member or group of members supporting a specific amendment to the constitution or Bylaws or a general resolution of the Party shall be allowed to distribute material in the same manner as a candidate for Party office.

52. Nominations for Party offices shall proceed from the floor of the meeting.
53. Candidates for Party offices shall have an opportunity to address the Convention and to take questions from the floor.

Part 11 - Parliamentary Authority

54. The most current edition of ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER shall be the parliamentary authority for all matters of procedure not specifically covered by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Party.

Part 12 - Seal

55. The directors may provide a common seal for the Party and may destroy a seal and substitute a new seal in its place.
56. The common seal shall be affixed only when authorized by a resolution of the directors and then only in the presence of the persons prescribed in the resolution, or if no persons are prescribed, in the presence of the president and secretary or president and secretary treasurer.

Part 13 - Borrowing

57. In order to carry out the purposes of the Party the directors may, on behalf of and in the name of the Party, raise or secure the payment or repayment of money in the manner they decide, and, in particular but without limiting the foregoing, by the issue of debentures.
58. No debenture shall be issued without the sanction of a special resolution.
59. The members may by special resolution restrict the borrowing powers of the directors, but a restriction imposed expires at the next annual general meeting.

Part 14 - Auditor

60. This Part applies only where the Party is required or has resolved to have an auditor.
61. The first auditor shall be appointed by the directors who shall also fill all vacancies occurring in the office of auditor.
62. At each annual general meeting the Party shall appoint an auditor to hold office until he is re-elected or his successor is elected at the next annual general meeting.
63. An auditor may be removed by ordinary resolution.
64. An auditor shall be promptly informed in writing of appointment or removal.
65. No director and no employee of the Party shall be auditor.
66. The auditor may attend general meetings.

Part 15 - Notices to Members

67. A notice may be given to a member, either personally or by mail to him at his registered address.
68. A notice sent by mail shall be deemed to have been given on the fifth day following that on which the notice is posted, and in proving that notice has been given it is sufficient to prove the notice was properly addressed and put in a Canadian post office receptacle.
69. (1) Notice of a general meeting shall be given to
    1. every member shown on the register of members on the day notice is given; and
    2. the auditor, if Part 14 applies.

(2) no other person is entitled to receive a notice of general meeting.

Part 16 - Bylaws

70. On being admitted to membership, each member is entitled to and the Party shall give him, without charge, a copy of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Party.
71. These Bylaws shall not be altered or added to except by special resolution.