ARTICLE I

Name

The name of this Society shall be The Parliamentary Society of Toronto (known hereafter as the “Society”), and shall be a local chapter of The American Institute of Parliamentarians (“AIP”).

ARTICLE II

Object

The object of this Society shall be to promote:

1) The use of effective, democratic parliamentary practices, including the removal of unneeded complications, confusing ambiguities and archaic terminology from parliamentary usage;

2) Good meeting procedures and practices;

3) The preparation and use of parliamentary procedure;

4) The teaching of parliamentary procedure;

5) The training of parliamentarians; and

6) A wider use of parliamentarians.

ARTICLE III

Members

Section 1. Any member in good standing with the American Institute of Parliamentarians shall be eligible for membership in the Society, provided that such member shall be proposed by one member and seconded by another member of the Society. A proposal for membership, signed by the two endorsers, including a proof of the individual’s membership in the American Institute of Parliamentarians, shall be sent to the Secretary, who shall report it, together with the names of sponsors, at the next regular meeting of the Society. Voting upon the admission shall take place at the next regular meeting thereafter. A two-thirds vote shall elect the applicant to membership. A person so elected shall be declared a member of the Society upon payment of the annual dues for the first year.

Section 2. The annual dues shall be set from time to time by the Society, payable in advance on or before September 30 of each year. Those whose dues are not paid within one month thereafter shall be automatically dropped from the membership of the Society.

ARTICLE IV

Officers

Section 1. The officers of the Society shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Director of Programs. These officers shall perform the duties prescribed by these bylaws and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Society.

Section 2. At the regular meeting held on the first Tuesday in February, a Nominating Committee of three members of the Society who are not officers of the Society shall be elected by the Society. It shall be the duty of this committee to nominate candidates for the offices to be filled at the annual meeting in April. The nominating committee shall report at the regular meeting in March. Before the elections at the annual meeting in April, additional nominations from the floor shall be permitted.

Section 3. The officers shall be elected by ballot to serve for one year or until their successors are elected, and their term of office shall begin at the close of the annual meeting at which they are elected.

Section 4. In the event that only one nomination is received for any officer position, the nominee shall be elected by acclamation.

Section 5. No member shall hold more than one office at time.

ARTICLE V

Meetings

Section 1. The regular meeting of the Society shall be held on the first Tuesday of each month from September to May inclusive unless otherwise ordered by the Society or by the Executive Board.

Section 2. The regular meeting on the first Tuesday in April shall be known as the annual meeting and shall be for the purposes of electing officers, receiving reports of officers and committees, and for any other business that may arise.

Section 3. Special meetings can be called by the President or by the Executive Board and shall be called upon the written request of five members of the Society. The purpose of the meeting shall be stated in the call. Except in cases of emergency, at least three days notice shall be given.

Section 4. Five members of the Society shall constitute a quorum.

ARTICLE VI

The Executive Board

Section 1. The officers of the Society shall constitute the Executive Board.

Section 2. The Executive Board shall have general supervision of the affairs of the Society between its business meetings, fix the hour and place of meeting, make recommendations to the Society, and perform such other duties as are specified in these bylaws. The Board shall be subject to the orders of the Society, and none of its acts shall conflict with action taken by the Society.

Section 3. Unless otherwise ordered by the Board, regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held on the first Tuesday of each month from September to June inclusive. Special meetings of the Board can be called by the President and shall be called upon the written request of three members of the Board.

ARTICLE VII

Committees

Section 1. A Program Committee chaired by the Director of Programs shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Director of Programs promptly after the annual meeting. The Committees duty shall be to plan an annual program of the Society. This Committee's report shall be submitted to the Society by the Director of Programs for its approval at its regular meeting in September.

Section 2. An Auditing Committee of two members shall be appointed by the President at the Society's March meeting. The Committee's duty shall be to audit the Treasurer’s accounts after the close of the fiscal year and to report at the September meeting.

Section 3. Such other committees, standing or special, shall be appointed by the President as the Society or the Executive Board shall from time to time deem necessary to carry out the work of the Society. The President shall be ex officio a member of all committees except the Nominating Committee.

ARTICLE VIII

Parliamentary Authority

Pending review of other authorities, the rules contained in the current edition of "Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised" shall govern the Society in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these bylaws and any special rules of order the Society may adopt.

ARTICLE IX

Amendment of Bylaws

These bylaws can be amended at any regular meeting of the Society by a two-thirds vote, provided that the amendment had been submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting.

ARTICLE X

Dissolution

A. Voluntary Dissolution. The Society may disband by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the membership provided that a special meeting shall be called for that purpose; thirty (30) days written notice shall be given to all Society members and to headquarters; the notice shall state the purpose, date, and place of the special meeting; and members living at a distance shall be allowed to vote by mail. If approved, the report of the vote to disband, the Society’s charter, the Society’s minutes book, and any funds shall be sent to headquarters within ten (10) days following the special meeting. The Society may vote to designate a specific AIP use for its funds or assets, subject to the to the approval of the board. Unless otherwise designated, the assets shall remain in the name of the Society for two (2) years before reverting to AIP's general use. Other Society records and materials may be sent to headquarters.

B. Involuntary Dissolution. Involuntary dissolution will take place in accordance with the bylaws of the American Institute of Parliamentarians.

Approved by the Society on October 28, 1986 at its second meeting and amended subsequently at various times.

STANDING RULES OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SOCIETY OF TORONTO – CHAPTER 51 OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PARLIAMENTARIANS

1. The President will report to AIP Headquarters as required in the AIP Bylaws by June 10 each year. Adopted January 6, 1998

2. Parliamentary Service Protocol. Adopted April 6, 2004 (See Schedule A attached)

Schedule A

Parliamentary Service Protocol

Parliamentary Society of Toronto

Purpose

To ensure that:

The Parliamentary Society of Toronto provides quality service to the public and to organizations requiring parliamentary services;
Every qualified member of the Parliamentary Society of Toronto (the Society) has an equal opportunity to be considered for requests to the Society for a Parliamentarian; and
Responses to requests are done in a timely fashion.

Application

The protocol applies to all members of the Parliamentary Society of Toronto.

Definitions

A qualified member is:

A member holding an accreditation designation from the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP); or
A member who has been a member in good standing of the Society for five years; or
Any member can be deemed qualified by the Executive Board on review of their resume.
The Executive Board has the right to take any member off the qualified list.

Requirements and Responsibilities

The Secretary of the Society will coordinate all requests for a Parliamentarian that comes to him/her.
At the request of a member holding an AIP Accreditation the Secretary will post, on the Society’s web page “Able to Give Assistance to individuals and Organizations”, their name, accreditation and email address.
At an initial cost of $ 40 and an ongoing cost of $ 20 annually, that members with AIP Accreditation be permitted to provide a resume (one web page) describing their services on the Society’s website.
All qualified members will provide the Secretary with a current Resume setting out their experience and qualifications to be a Parliamentarian. Members are required to keep their resumes up to date.
The Secretary on receipt of a request for a Parliamentarian will ascertain the contact information, identity of the organization; nature, date, time and location of the assignment.
The Secretary will immediately, on receipt of the necessary information about the assignment, inform the qualified members by email who must then indicate their interest within 72 hours.
The Secretary within 7 days of receipt of the request and necessary information will then forward all resumes of interested qualified members to the requesting party requesting that they directly contact the qualified member(s) they are interested in.
The Secretary will only provide information contained in the resumes and will not make any recommendations.
Qualified members are required to negotiate their remuneration directly with the requesting party.

Adopted as a Standing Rule of the Society on April 6, 2004.