ARTICLE I

Membership

Section 1: Membership year will be from January 1 - December 31

Section 2 Eligibility:

Open to all persons 16 years of age or older unless he/she has been denied membership to the CKC or under suspension with  CKC. 

Section 3 Types of Memberships:

Membership types and fees are specified on the current application forms and are set at the AGM. Dues are payable on the 1st of January each year. Any member joining in September or later will receive the next year’s membership. The Secretary will send notification of fees due in November of each year.

Section 4 Application for membership and approval:

Each applicant shall be accepted unless he/she has been denied membership to the CKC or has been suspended. Reapplication can occur after one year if refused or terminated.

Note: The Board of Directors reserves the right to reject membership if they feel the applicant does not have the best interest of the club in mind. This rejection must be returned to the applicant in written form.

Section 5 Termination of Membership:

(a) Membership can end by resignation, lapsing or expulsion by a quorum.

(b) Lapsing is effective when membership dues are unpaid over 60 days after the first day of the year of membership year.

(c) Membership dues will not be refunded for any reason.

Note: Termination of membership may occur as a result of deprivation, suspension, debarment, expulsion or termination of CKC membership as imposed by the CKC’s Discipline Committee.

Section 6 Voting Privileges:

Individual membership = 1 vote
Family membership = 2 votes
US or Foreign = 0 votes

Section 1 Quorum:

A quorum for all meetings shall consist of either the President or the Vice-President, at least one other member of the Board of Directors and at least four other members in good standing.

Section 2 Annual General Meeting:

There shall be an annual meeting to be held at a place, date and hour designated by the Board of Directors which will be announced by mail or in the newsletter at least 30 days prior to the date of the meeting.

Section 3 General Meetings:

Meetings shall occur at least quarterly with all members invited and will be announced by mail or in the newsletter.

Section 4 Special General Meetings:

Special General Meetings may be called by the President or by two thirds of the Board as needed. One third of members who are not in default of payment of member ship may request a special meeting in writing, specifying the purpose and signed by the members making the request.

Section 5 Notice of Meetings:

Notice of the date, time and place of every General Meeting and of any Special General Meeting must be announced by mail or published in the newsletter twenty-one (21) days before the date appointed for the meeting.

Section 6 Presiding at Members’ Meetings:

The President is the chairman of every Annual General Meeting, General Meeting and Special General Meeting. If the President is not present within fifteen (15) min utes of the time appointed for the meeting, or being present indi- cates unwillingness to act as chairman; the member present and en titled to vote will choose one of their number to serve as chair- man.

The Board of Directors may conduct business by teleconfer- ence, mail or e-mail through the Secretary.

Section 1 Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors shall consist of the Executive committee: (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) as well as the past President (if fulfilled term), Show Chairperson and Newsletter Editor. Officers shall be the above plus all Presidents of regional clubs, all carrying the powers and duties normally allotted to those positions. All Executive committee officers must maintain current membership in the CSPCC and the CKC.

(a) The President shall preside at all meetings of the members and meetings of the Board. The President shall see that all orders and resolutions of the Board are carried into effect. The President will be an honorary member of all committees except the nomination committee.

(b) The Vice President will perform the duties of the President when absent. The Vice President is the chairman of the nomination committee.

(c) The Secretary shall keep and prepare the minutes of the meetings, membership lists, and other such data and forward them to the Newsletter Editor. Membership applications etc. shall be distributed by and forwarded to the Secretary. Membership dues will be recorded by the Secretary and membership lists updated at this time. Dues will be forwarded to the Treasurer. The Secretary will forward a copy of these By-laws to all new members or the most recent newsletter containing current By-laws.

(d) The Treasurer shall collect and deposit all moneys from memberships and other sources in a club account. At each meeting all new members dues shall be accounted for. The Treasurer shall not authorize any expenditures without the permission of the President. The President cannot authorize funds for him/herself, this must be done by one of the Vice President or the Secretary in conjunction with the Treasurer. The Treasurer plus one other appointed Officer has signing authority of the club funds and shall be bonded in such amount as the directors determine. The office of Secretary and Treasurer and Show Secretary and Newsletter Editor may be occupied by the same person.

(e) The Show Secretary shall have the authority to make decisions concerning shows in order to avoid delays. However, financial aspects must receive the approval of the majority of the Executive committee officers. Any major decisions will be relayed to the President sometime before the next scheduled meeting in order to keep him/her informed and will be relayed to the members at the next scheduled meeting.

(f) The Newsletter Editor shall look after editing and advertising in the club newsletter. In the event an article can be deemed controversial or contains slander it must be approved by a majority of the Board of Directors.

Section 1 Appointments:

The Board may appoint a chair- man of any standing committee as required after each election or upon vacancy or termination. Such committees shall always be subject to the authority of the Board. Any committees appointed may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board.

Section 2 Nomination committee:

The Vice President will serve as the chairman of this committee. This committee will prepare a list of persons who are eligible for election to the Board.

Section 1 CKC suspension:

Any member who is suspended from the privileges of the CKC shall automatically be suspended from the privilege of this club for a like period.

Section 2 Charges:

Any member may prefer charges against a member for alleged misconduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Club or Breed. Written charges with specifications must be filed with the Secretary and the President along with a deposit of $50.00 which shall be forfeited if the Board does not sustain such charges. The Secretary shall promptly send a copy to each member of the Board. Such charges are not to be brought up at the Annual or Regular General meetings. If the Board can not resolve the charges amicably and quickly after consultation with the member preferring charges and the member so charged, they will select three (3) impartial, non CSPCC members to review the charges and submit in writing their decision, including disciplinary actions. If a decision to discipline results, the Board shall notify the member charged of the resulting actions. The decision of an impartial group will be final, binding and not open to appeal.

Section 1 Fiscal and Official year:

The Club’s fiscal year shall begin on the 1st day of January and end on the 31st day of December. The Club’s official year shall begin immediately at the conclusion of the election at the AGM and continue until the next year’s AGM. Elected officers shall take office immediately upon the conclusion of the bi-annual election and all properties and records shall be turned over within 30 days after the election.

Section 2 Voting of motions:

Voting at meetings shall be limited to those in good standing who are present at the meeting. A maxi- mum of two votes per family with all voting members at least 16 years of age. In the case of a tie the motion shall be declared lost

Section 3 Nominations and Ballots:

No person shall be a candidate in a club election unless they have been nominated in accordance with these by-laws and have been a member in good standing since the beginning of that fiscal year. Nominations may be made by members in good standing and must be received by the Secretary 60 days prior to the AGM and acceptance must be confirmed by the Secretary 30 days prior to the AGM. After consultation with the nomination committee the slate will be mailed to each member in good standing residing in Canada. Ballots shall be mailed in a manner such that it can be confirmed that the member has the right to vote, yet voting confidentiality will be maintained. This will be done by mailing each member the slate and a ballot with a blank envelope marked "BALLOT" and a return envelope with the address of the Secretary and the member’s name. The election inspector will verify validity of the outer envelope then discard it and keep the confiden- tial ballot envelope. The nominee receiving the greatest number votes for each position shall be declared elected. Vacancies will be filled as per Section 5

Section 4 Elections:

At every second AGM a vote shall be conducted by ballot. Ballots must be received by the Secretary before the opening of the meeting. Ballots shall be counted at the meeting by two inspectors of election who are members in good standing but not Board members or candidates. The person receiving the largest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected. Vacancies will be filled as per Section 5

Section 5 Position vacancy:

The position of President shall be filled automatically by the Vice President and the resulting vacancy of Vice President filled by the Board. An executive committee position other than President may be filled in by volunteer only until the next Annual General Meeting. Other Directors positions can be appointed by the executive committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

Section 1 Bylaws:

Amendments to the bylaws may be proposed by the Bylaws and Constitution committee, any Board Director or by petition of greater than 50% of the membership. All amendments must be presented at an Annual General Meeting but may be tabled for changes and voting during the same official year. A quorum must be present in order to vote on changes to the Bylaws or Constitution.

Section 2 Breed Standard:

Amendments to the Breed standard may be proposed by the standard committee, any Board Director or by petition of greater than 50% of the membership. All amendments must be presented at an Annual General Meeting but may be tabled for changes and voting during the same official year. A quorum must be present in order to vote on changes to the Breed Standard. Due to the work involved in this process, the opinion of the standard committee will hold more weight than that of the general membership.

Section 3 Amendment approval:

No amendment to the Constitution and Bylaws or the Breed Standard that is adopted by the Club shall become effective until it has been approved by the CKC.

The Club may be dissolved at any time by written consent of not less than 2/3 of the member- ship. All assets of the club, after debts, shall be given to an organization for the benefit of dogs, selected by the Board of Directors.

Section 1 Order:

Roll call / Sign in

Minutes of the last meeting read and accepted

President’s report

Secretary’s report

Treasurer’s report

Committees’ reports

Elections / Appointments if necessary

Announcement of any new members

Unfinished business as kept by the Secretary

New Business

Possible next meeting date, time and location

Adjournment

Section 2 Meeting conduct:

The chairman is to be in control of the meeting at all times. All motions can be followed by a reasonable discussion time then amended, put to vote or tabled until the next meeting. Parliamentary authority and conduct
shall follow Robert’s Rules

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