BarTalk June 1999
Volume 11, Number 3

Reforms to be debated

by Margaret Sasges

The BC Branch Planning and Priorities Committee and the Provincial Council Reform Task Force have recommended changes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Provincial Council, and to support the recruitment and retention of volunteers for Council and Executive Committee. Further debate on these recommendations will take place at the Council meeting of June 26, 1999, and any resulting by-law changes will be proposed at the September 25, 1999 Branch AGM.

Many of the changes are directed at ensuring fairness and transparency in the election process for Provincial Council and for Executive Committee. For example, there will be new procedures for encouraging Provincial Council members to consider running for positions available on Executive Committee, and the Nominating Committee will take an active role in recruiting people to stand for election. Nominations will close 30 days before the June election date, and information regarding the candidates circulated no later than two weeks before the meeting. This process is designed to eliminate “last minute” candidacies and to provide adequate opportunity for considering information about the candidates prior to the vote.

The most controversial issue to be resolved at the June 26 Provincial Council meeting will be the recommendation of a $50,000 per annum stipend for the President, beginning in the 1999/2000 fiscal year. The Task Force and Planning and Priorities Committee agreed that the time commitment involved in fulfilling the role of President is significant (from 1/3 to 2/3 time for one year), and that a stipend would provide some recognition of this reality and support the ability of the President to offset the economic impact on his or her practice. This was considered of particular importance as a means to remove a perceived barrier to participation by sole practitioners and lawyers from small firms.

To support the role of Provincial Council, and to ensure the involvement of active and interested members, it is also recommended that all members be required to attend at least one-half of all Provincial Council meetings (i.e. at least two meetings per year) unless there is a reasonable excuse for absence. Any elected member who does not meet the attendance minimum will be removed from Council and will be prohibited from standing for election for three years.

Options which were considered, debated and then rejected by the Task Force included: expanding the Executive Committee to include a Second Vice President position; expanding the presidential term from one year to two; eliminating or significantly changing the position of Treasurer, in light of the full-time employment of a staff Director of Finance; reducing the size of Council, either by restricting it to elected members only and not Section Chairs, or by combining like Sections from different areas of the province into “Conferences”, with one representative from each Conference attending Council.

If you wish to provide feedback on the BC Branch Provincial Council Reform initiatives, please contact your elected Provincial Council representative.

If you have questions regarding the work of the Council Reform Task Force, please contact me in Victoria at 250.388.9477.

Margaret Sasges is a partner at Berge, Sasges & Co.

This article was published in the June 1999 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.