Report to members of Ontario Region From Staff

Transcription

1 January 27, 2016 Report to members of Ontario Region From Staff Results of consultation on electronic members meetings, voting and notices The Ontario Region held a consultation with member housing co-ops about the use of electronic processes for meetings. The purpose of this report is to inform members of the results of this consultation. Background At the 2015 Ontario Region AGM, delegates passed a resolution from Bread and Roses Co-operative Homes (Kitchener) directing CHF Canada to consult Ontario members about amending provisions of the provincial Co-operative Corporations Act (Co-op Act). Currently, members of non-profit housing co-ops are not allowed to electronically attend and vote at members meetings. The AGM resolution gave CHF Canada (Ontario Region) a mandate to solicit opinions from our member co-ops on these restricted electronic processes. Resolution R2 (2015 Ontario Region AGM) BE IT RESOLVED 1. THAT CHF Canada (Ontario Region) consult with Ontario members about amending the provisions of the Co-operative Corporations Act (Ontario) that prevent non-profit housing co-operatives from allowing for electronic meetings, electronic voting and/or electronic notices in their bylaws; 2. AND THAT CHF Canada (Ontario Region) report on the results of these consultations to members in January 2016, in order to allow time for Ontario Council to draft a resolution for the 2016 Ontario Members Meeting that reflects the will of Ontario members.

2 2 Consultation Process The Ontario Region office struck a committee of four staff. They met regularly to work out the consultation details. They consulted with a lawyer to clarify what electronic processes are currently allowed. They decided to use an online poll to survey the opinion of members. September to October, 2015 lawyer Bruce Lewis created two memos for our member co-ops: o one outlines what electronic processes the Co-op Act allows co-ops to use o the other outlines what processes would require a change in the Co-op Act. staff created the online survey and support materials to send to member co-ops. November to December, 2015 ealert (Nov 6) sent materials to member co-ops; faxed to 20 co-ops with no ; mailed to seven co-ops with no or fax other Ontario Region members/ associate members were asked to encourage participation website news item posted; three ealert reminders sent reported to Ontario Council on progress Survey Results* The survey was accessible online for two months (November 6, 2015 to January 6, 2016). The survey consisted of three questions. Here are the results broken down by question: * For results in chart form, see page 6. Question #1: Co-op s opinion about members electronically attending members meetings at your co-op: 1: 4 strongly support changes and 2: 8 somewhat support: support yes categories = 26% 3: 18 neutral or 39% 4: 5 somewhat do not support changes and 5: 11 strongly do not support changes: support no categories = 35% Total: 46

3 3 Question #2: Co-op s opinion about members electronically voting at members meetings at your co-op: 1: 6 strongly support changes and 2: 8 somewhat support: support yes categories = 30.5% 3: 14 neutral = 30.5% 4: 7 somewhat do not support changes and 5: 11 strongly do not support changes: support no categories = 39% Total: 46 Question #3 - The key survey question: Does your co-op want CHF Canada to lobby the Province to enact changes to the Co-op Act to allow for electronic general members meetings attendance and voting? : No: 22 or 47.8% of respondents support changes 24 or 52.2% of respondents do not support changes Total: 46 or 9% of member co-ops completed the survey Two co-ops submitted written comments: Our co-op has completed the survey and in addition, our board of directors wants to go on record as saying that while electronic participation may be of benefit to other types of co-operative businesses, it is not considered as beneficial or desirable for housing co-ops where the focus should be on building interpersonal, co-operative relationships amongst members. The impact would be very limited as a large number of members do not have the means to vote electronically. Also we prefer this to be an opportunity for all our members to get together as a group.

4 4 Conclusions On January 21, 2016 the Ontario Council held a special meeting to consider the survey results. Here are the outcomes of that meeting: 1. Ontario Council is grateful to Bread and Roses Co-op for bringing this issue forward in a resolution. It was time to revisit the issue; housing co-ops must consider and adapt with technological advances. 2. As a result of the consultation, we gained some concrete benefits: a. We discovered a lot of confusion about what electronic processes a housing co-op can and cannot use. We now know clearly what co-ops can do, and it is more than previously thought! (see Table on page 5) Ontario co-ops now benefit from a new memo from our lawyer to guide co-op staff when arranging meeting notices, attendance and voting for both Board and members meetings. b. Co-op services staff and our lawyer were able to ensure that the new Model Organizational By-law includes the latest information about electronic uses. The bylaw was released December The electronic processes covered in the survey do not seem to be a priority in our membership. Even with numerous reminders, only 9% of our member co-ops participated in the consultation. Slightly more of the participating co-ops voted against lobbying Queen s Park to change the Co-op Act; one-third of the co-ops were neutral about either of the two changes. 4. Based on the survey results, Ontario Council has decided at this time not to pursue changes to the Co-op Act to allow for electronic participation at members meetings. As technology continues to change how we communicate, Council feels that in the future it would be wise to review electronic uses again. On behalf of Ontario Council, thanks to all the housing co-ops who participated in this consultation! Attached p. 5 Reference table of permitted electronic processes p. 6 Survey results in chart form

5 5 What a housing co-op can do using electronic processes For the sake of this table, electronic processes include (but are not limited to) notices and participating by phone, skype or conference call. We recommend every Ontario co-op update their Organizational By-law with the new Model Organizational By-law and its guide. It s available free to all member co-ops. This will ensure that your by-laws are in line with the Co-op Act and allow your co-op to use all of the permitted electronic methods listed in the table below. Board Meetings electronic notices electronic meetings electronic voting Permitted? Members Meetings Permitted? electronic notices electronic meetings electronic voting No No This table is based on the October 2, 2015 memo from CHF Canada s Ontario Region lawyer, Bruce Lewis. For more detailed information, please refer to the memo.

6 6 1. The ability for members to electronically attend General Membership meetings at your co-op would: 2. The ability for members to electronically vote at General Membership meetings at your co-op would: 3. Does your co-op want CHF Canada to lobby the provincial government to enact changes to the Co-operations Act to allow for electronic general members meeting and voting? Response Chart Percentage Count 47.8% 22 No 52.2% 24 Total Total Responses 46