2023 Bylaws Update

This page documents changes to the Bylaws made in 2022 by the Elderberries Board

Letter to Members

Subject: Elderberries Society Bylaws Update

Hello Cherished Elderberry!

To ensure stability and fairness, every group like the Elderberries has a set of rules about how they operate - who is a member, how we choose boardmembers, how they make decisions. These are "The By-Laws." These rules are registered with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies (RJSC.)

RJSC publishes a template By-Laws which we adopted 13 years ago with very minimal changes. Starting about a year ago, we began a discussion about rewriting them to be more in tune with how we do business; a team of your board members spent many many hours around a table discussing every line of the 2100 word document.

At the upcoming AGM (technically at a meeting called a Special General Meeting which we'll have the same afternoon as the AGM) we'll be asking you to vote on adopting the new version of the By-Laws.

Below is a summary of the changes from the old By-Laws to the new, and a link to the complete new By-Laws.

Proposed changes:

• early on there was some discussion of having two classes of members: social members and voting members, but this would have required major changes and additions to the Bylaws so we didn't.

Substantive changes

• A person is considered a member and is allowed to vote at a meeting if they have attended one previous meeting or event, including picnics.
• The requirement to pay annual dues has been removed
• The geographic requirement -- living in Canada -- has been removed
• Members may be "those aged 50 and over, and our families, friends, and allies."
• Article 27, ability to engage a General Manager, has been removed.

Minor changes

• Everywhere, the word "Director" is changed to Boardmember or Board
• Voting "by proxy" is changed to voting "on line"
• President and Vice President have been changed to Chair and Vice-Chair
• Notification of members may be done by "newsletters, email, phone, or other electronic means,"
• Item 6: "Address" is changed to "Contact Information". Register of Members is changed to Membership database.
• the AGM date is changed from "within 4 months of the fiscal year end" to "March 31st."
• The word "auditor" has been changed to "independent reviewer" everywhere.
• The reference to an official seal of the organization has been removed

Here is the link to the entire new By-Laws:

https://gay.hfxns.org/pics/ElderBerries/2023-01-29_Bylaws.pdf