REPORT OF THE ELECTIONS APPEALS COMMITTEEE REPORT
Presented to the 101st Annual General Meeting
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.
I would like to thank the dedicated members on the committee for their valuable work. It was a huge pleasure to work with such dedicated members this year.
Members of the Committee are:
Michael Forbes - Chair
Farzana Haque - Prairie/NWT Region
Atiq Rehman - National Capital Region
Daniel Galvao - Ontario Region
Christopher T. Titus - Atlantic 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
Martin Ranger, Legal Counsel
The committee held three virtual meetings to render decisions on three elections appeals. The committee as mentioned above has only seven days to make a decision and convey their decision to the appellant and the Elections Committee.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Forbes,
Chair, Elections Appeals Committee