The BLPC is responsible for:
- providing advice on the interpretation of the Institute By-Laws and Policies and the Constitutions of constituent bodies, and
- scrutinizing proposed amendments to the Institute By-Laws and Policies to ensure consistency with current By-Laws and Policies, and
- scrutinizing Constitutions of constituent bodies and proposed amendments thereto to ensure consistency with the Institute By-Laws and Policies, and
- drafting new policies and amendments to existing policies as required and reviewing all policies, from time to time, to ensure their relevance, clarity, and application.
Constituent Body Constitutions
Each constituent body shall be governed by a Constitution consistent with PIPSC By-Laws. See By-Laws:
- Groups: BL 10.1.4
- Sub-Groups: BL 10.2.2
- Regions: BL 11.1.5
- Branches: BL 11.2.2
The Policy on the Structure and Function of Constituent Bodies provides that “Any constituent body that does not have a specific constitution in place shall be governed by the relevant model constitution until they develop their own.” The approved model constitutions are provided as template documents to assist constituent bodies in preparing their constitutions, facilitating the overall process.
Amendments to Constituent Body Constitutions
The BLPC recommends that when amendments are made to an existing constitution, the complete constitution should be forwarded in MS Word format and changes be identified by BOLD (for any additions) or STRIKETHROUGH (for any deletions). A rationale or explanation for the proposed changes must also be included at the end of the document, as well as the date of last ratification of the constitution, the date of the next AGM and a constituent body point of contact.
This will assist the BLPC in their review of the proposed or amended constitution and will also facilitate the decision-making process at the Board level. Your regional BLPC representative will gladly assist you with this process, if or when required.
Amended constitutions or any other policy-related agenda items should be submitted ahead of time to your BLPC regional representative and/or to blpc-requests@pipsc.ca.
I remain available to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have with respect to the information provided above.
In solidarity,
Chris Roach, Chair
By-Laws and Policies Committee (BLPC)