REPORT OF THE ELECTIONS APPEALS COMMITTEE

At the 2012 AGM, a motion was passed to create an Elections Appeals Committee to review all elections appeals to decisions on elections complaints, taken by the National Elections Committee or by a Group’s Elections Committee (or Group Executive in the absence of an Elections Committee).

Appeal Procedures

Any party directly affected by an elections complaint may submit an appeal of the decision to the Elections Appeals Committee to determine whether the Elections Committee has acted within its mandate in rendering such a decision.

A request for an appeal must be done, on the prescribed form, within forty-eight (48) hours of receipt of any such decision of the Elections Committee. The request is to be addressed to the Chair of the Elections Appeals Committee and copied to the Staff Resources.

If the appeal is regarding a Group election, the appellant must also provide the name of the Chair of the Group Elections Committee or the name of the Chair of the Group Executive in the absence of an Elections Committee.

The Elections Appeals Committee shall acknowledge receipt of the appeal within seventy-two (72) hours.

The Elections Appeals Committee shall conduct the necessary investigation and render its decision within seven (7) days of receipt of the appeal. All members of the Elections Appeals Committee must, unless in a conflict of interest, participate in the deliberation and decision.

The appellant shall have the right to present his or her case to the Elections Appeals Committee via electronic means. He or she may be called to participate on a teleconference call on short notice, along with the Chair or a member of the Elections Committee (or decision-making body) in question.

The decision of the Elections Appeals Committee shall be final and binding. The Elections Appeals Committee will convey the decision to the appellant and inform the Elections Committee who will follow-up, if need be.

The committee met twice via teleconference to render decisions on three elections appeals. The committee as mentioned above has only seven days to decide and convey their decision to the appellant and the Elections Committee.

I would like to thank the dedicated members on the committee for their valuable work.  It was a huge pleasure to work with such magnificent members this year.

Members of the Committee are:

Michael Forbes - Chair

Richard V. Sanschagrin - Atlantic Region

Sima Vyas - National Capital Region

Atiq Rehman - National Capital Region

Mandeep (Meena) Bhatti - Prairie/NWT Region

I would also like to thank the staff resources and I am very grateful for their help and support this year:

Staff Resources

Isabelle Roy - General Counsel

Sara Bassile-Carvalho - Special Assistant to the Office of the General Counsel

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Forbes,

Chair, Elections Appeals Committee