NWHPS Ratifies 2019 Constitution & Bylaws at February 2019 AGM

The New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society recently updated its Constitution and Bylaws, in accordance with the BC New Societies Act & Transition. The Societies Act includes significant updates to allow for more flexibility in how societies operate, while still protecting the public interest; and governs how societies (not-for-profit corporations) are created and run in B.C.

This document was reviewed and ratified by all NWHPS members in good standing  at our  Tuesday, March 12, NWHPS Annual General Meeting at Galbraith House at 131 Eighth Street, New Westminster.

CONSTITUTION OF HERITAGE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEW WESTMINSTER

Name

1. The name of the Society is NEW WESTMINSTER HERITAGE PRESERVATION SOCIETY.

Purpose

2. The purpose of the Society is to advocate for the preservation of historical sites, built heritage, social history, streetscapes, landscapes, and vegetation in New Westminster.

BYLAWS OF HERITAGE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEW WESTMINSTER

Part 1 — Interpretation

(1) In these bylaws, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a) “directors” means the directors of the society for the time being,

(b) “Society Act” means the Society Act of the Province of British Columbia from

time to time in force and all amendments to it,

(c) “registered address” of a member means his address as recorded in the register of

members.

(2) The definitions in the Society Act 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 and a corporation.

Part 2 — Membership

3. The members of the society are the applicants for incorporation of the society, and those persons who subsequently have become members, in accordance with these bylaws and, in either case, have not ceased to be members.

4. A person may apply to the directors for membership in the society and on acceptance by

the directors shall be a member.

5. Every member shall uphold the constitution and comply with these bylaws.

6. 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 society.

7. A person shall cease to be a member of the society

(a) by delivering his resignation in writing to the secretary of the society or by

mailing or delivering it to the address of the society,

1. on his death or in the case of a corporation on dissolution,

1. on being expelled, or

(d) by failure to pay yearly membership fee.

(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.

(4) A member must be in good standing for at least 30 days in order to vote at any meeting.

Part 3 — Meetings of Members

9. General meetings of the society shall be held at the time and place, in accordance with

the Society Act, that the directors decide.

10. Every general meeting, other than an annual general meeting, is an extraordinary general

meeting.

11. The directors may, when they think fit, convene an extraordinary general meeting.

(1) Notice of a general meeting shall specify the place, day and hour of 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.

13. The first annual general meeting of the society 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.

Part 4 — Proceedings at General Meetings

14. Special business is

(a) all business at an extraordinary general meeting except the adoption of rules of

order, and

(b) all business transacted at an annual general meeting, except,

(i) the adoption of rules of order,

(ii) the consideration of the financial statements,

(iii) the report of the directors,

(iv) the report of the auditor, if any,

(v) the election of directors,

(vi) the appointment of the auditor, if required, and

(vii) 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.

(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 10 members in good standing present or a greater number that the members may determine at a general meeting.

16. If within 30 minutes from the time appointed for a general meeting 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, 5 members in good standing are present within 30 minutes from the time appointed for the meeting, the members present constitute a quorum.

17. Subject to bylaw 19, the president of the society, the vice president or in the absence of both, one of the other directors present, shall preside as chairman of a general meeting.

18. If at a general meeting

(a) there is no president, vice president or other director present within 15 minutes

after the time appointed for holding the meeting, or

(b) 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.

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.

1. 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.

1. 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.

1. Resolution proposed at a meeting needs to be seconded and the chairman of a meeting

may move or propose a resolution.

1. In case of an equality of votes the chairman shall cast a vote.

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

1. Voting is by show of hands.

1. Voting by proxy is not permitted.

22. A corporate member may vote by its authorized representative, who is entitled to speak and vote, and in all other respects exercise the rights of a member, and that representative shall be reckoned as a member for all purposes with respect to a meeting of the society.

Part 5 — Directors and Officers

1. The directors may exercise all the powers and do all the acts and things that the society 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 society in general meeting, but subject, nevertheless, to

1. all laws affecting the society,

1. these bylaws, and

1. rules, not being inconsistent with these bylaws, which are made from time

to time by the society in general meeting.

(2) No rule, made by the society in general meeting, invalidates a prior act of the directors

that would have been valid if that rule had not been made.

(1) The president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and one or more other persons shall be the directors of the society.

1. The number of directors shall be at least 5 or a greater number determined from time to time at a general meeting.

1. The directors shall retire from office at each annual general meeting when their

successors shall be elected.

1. Separate elections shall be held for each office to be filled.

1. An election may be by acclamation, otherwise it shall be by ballot.

1. If no successor is elected the person previously elected or appointed continues to hold

office.

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.

1. A director so appointed holds office only until the conclusion of the next following

annual general meeting of the society, but is eligible for re-election at the meeting.

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.

1. No act or proceeding of the directors is invalid only by reason of there being less than the

prescribed number of directors in office.

28. The members may by special resolution remove a director before the expiration of his

term 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 society.

Part 6 — Proceedings of Directors

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.

1. The directors may from time to time fix the quorum necessary to transact business, and

unless so fixed the quorum shall be 50% of the directors then in office.

1. 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.

1. A director may at any time, and the secretary, on the request of a director, shall, convene

a meeting of the directors.

1. The directors may delegate any, but not all, of their powers to committees consisting of

the director or directors as they think fit.

1. 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 British Columbia may send or deliver to the address of the society a waiver of notice, which may be by letter, email, or text, 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

(b) any and all meetings of the directors of the society, notice of which has not been given to that director shall, if a quorum of the directors is present, be valid and effective.

(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 will cast a vote.

37. No resolution proposed at a meeting of directors or committee of directors needs to 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.

Part 7 — Duties of Officers

1. The president shall

1. 1. preside at all meetings of the society and of the directors

1. 1. conduct the correspondence of the society,

1. 1. issue notices of meetings of the society and directors.

1. The president is the chief executive officer of the society and shall supervise the other

officers in the execution of their duties.

40. The vice president shall carry out the duties of the president during his absence.

41. The secretary shall

1. keep minutes of all meetings of the society and directors,

(b) have custody of all records and documents of the society except those required to be kept by the treasurer,

1. maintain the register of members.

42. The treasurer shall

1. keep the financial records, including books of account, necessary to comply with the Society Act, and

1. render financial statements to the directors, members and others when required,

(c) have custody of the common seal of the society.

(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 5 or the greater number that may have been determined pursuant to bylaw 25 (2).

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

Part 8 — Seal

45. The directors may provide a common seal for the society and may destroy a seal and substitute a new seal in its place.

46. 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 9 — Borrowing

47. In order to carry out the purposes of the society the directors may, on behalf of and in the name of the society, 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.

48. No debenture shall be issued without the sanction of a special resolution.

49. 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 10 — Auditor

50. This Part applies only where the society is required or has resolved to have an auditor.

51. The first auditor shall be appointed by the directors who shall also fill all vacancies occurring in the office of auditor.

52. At each annual general meeting the society shall appoint an auditor to hold office until he is re-elected or his successor is elected at the next annual general meeting.

53. An auditor may be removed by ordinary resolution.

54. An auditor shall be promptly informed in writing of appointment or removal.

55. No director and no employee of the society shall be auditor.

56. The auditor may attend general meetings.

Part 11 — Notices to Members

57. A notice may be given to a member, either personally or by mail to him at his registered address or electronically delivered.

(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

1. the auditor, if Part 10 applies.

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

Part 12 — Bylaws

59. On being admitted to membership, each member is entitled to and the society shall give him, without charge, a copy of the constitution and bylaws of the society.

60. These bylaws shall not be altered or added to except by special resolution.