Middlesex County Coordinating Committee
to End Woman Abuse (MCCEWA)

Vision
A coordinated network of community representatives providing leadership and advocacy to address woman abuse in Middlesex County.

By-laws
Bylaw Number 1

A bylaw relating generally to the conduct of the affairs of the Middlesex County Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse

Whereas the purposes of the Committee are:

1.  To lead the community in addressing woman abuse by:

(a)  Facilitating community organization and development and

(b)  Developing education and early intervention processes

2.  To advocate for abused women in rural areas

3.  To develop standards for a coordinated response to woman abuse in Middlesex County and monitor their impact

AND

Whereas members of this committee support and uphold a feminist analysis of the issue of woman abuse, this shared belief system acknowledges that we live in a world where sexist attitudes, beliefs and structures lead to the oppression of woman in our community and society overall.  Further, this belief identifies how such marginalization promotes and perpetuates discrimination and violence against women.  Working collaboratively to overcome the resulting barriers and address issues of violence against women requires that we challenge abuses of power within individual, institutional and cultural contexts:

AND

Whereas the Committee operates according to the following value statements:

1. It is a basic human right for all individuals to live their lives with respect and without violence.
2. Ending violence against women is everyone’s responsibility.  A coordinated and comprehensive community response must continue to address the issue of violence at both the individual and the systemic level.
3. We recognize that women living in a rural area have unique needs and barriers to accessing services.
4. A coordinated community approach that respects the contribution of member service providers is essential to providing choices and to meet the many needs of women and children who have been subjected to violence.
5. Understanding and naming the issues of power and control are fundamental to the task of ending violence against women and children.
6. Women and their children should have access to appropriate help for all forms of abuse.
7. Violence against women and their children is not a private family matter but is a criminal offence, which demands that perpetrators be held responsible for the violence.
8. The response to woman abuse should support, empower and assist women to better protect themselves and their children.  Services must be provided in ways that facilitate a woman’s ability to exercise informed choice and, to the fullest extent possible, enable her to be a full participant in the process.
9. We seek and value the inclusion from diverse community groups.

BE IT ENACTED as a bylaw of the Middlesex County Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse as follows:

1   INTERPRETATION

In this by-law and all other bylaws and resolutions of the Committee unless the context otherwise requires;

1.01                 "Committee" means the Middlesex County Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse.

1.02                 "Executive Officers” means the persons who hold the offices enumerated in section 2.02.           

1.03                 "Past Chair"  means the person whose term of office as President has most recently expired and who is willing to serve as such.

2   COMMITTEE

2.01                 Qualification.  Each Committee member shall;

2.01.1              hold values stated in the purposes.

2.01.2              Represent Organizations providing direct service in the field of violence against women in West Middlesex County. Individuals engaged in anti-violence work in the community may also become members of the Committee.

2.01.3               Shall have paid, in a timely fashion, an annual membership fee as determined from time to time by the Committee.

2.02                 Oversight.  The affairs of the Committee shall be managed by the elected Officers.

2.03                  Elected Officers.  Elected Officers, subject to the provision of  Section 2.03,  shall be elected n the manner set out in  Section 4.

2.04                 Removal of Officers.  The members entitled to vote may, by resolution passed by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the votes cast at a Committee meeting of which notice specifying the intention to pass the resolution has been given, remove any officer before the expiration of his/her term of office, and may, by a majority of the votes cast at that meeting, elect any person instead for the remainder of the term.

2.05                  Quorum.  A quorum for the transaction of business at meetings of the Committee shall be one half of the member agencies + one

2.06                 Meetings.  Meetings of the Committee may be held at any place within West Middlesex County, as designated in the notice calling the meeting. Meetings of the Committee may be called by (i) the Chair, or (ii) any two (2) Officers, with the agreement and knowledge of all other Committee members.

2.07                 Notice.  Notice of Committee meetings shall be faxed, mailed or telephoned to each member not less than two (2) days before the meeting is to take place.  The statutory declaration of the Secretary or Chair that notice has been given pursuant to this by-law shall be sufficient and conclusive evidence of the giving of such notice.

2.08                 Regular Meetings.  The Committee shall meet at least bi-monthly between the months of September and June.

2.09                  Voting.  Questions arising at any meeting of the Committee shall be decided by a majority vote of the members present. In the case of an equality of votes, the Chair, in addition to his/her original vote, has a second or casting vote.   At all meetings of the Committee, every question shall be decided by a show of hands unless a poll on the question is required by the Chair or requested by any member. A declaration by the Chair that a resolution has been carried and an entry to that effect in the minutes is conclusive evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of votes recorded in favour  of or against the resolution.

2.10                  Responsibility for Acts.  The Officers for the time being of the Committee shall not be under any duty or responsibility in respect of any contract, act or transaction whether or not made, done or entered into in the name or on behalf of the Committee, except such as shall have been submitted to and authorized or approved by the members.

2.11                  Others Present.  Such others as the members may from time to time by resolution determine, shall be entitled, in the same manner and to the same extent as an officer, to notice of, and personally or by their delegate to attend and to speak at, meetings of the Committee, but shall not be entitled to vote thereat.

3   OFFICERS

3.01                  Executive Officers.   There shall be a Chair, Vice-chair. Secretary and Treasurer elected by the members from among their number, and the Past-Chair.   One person may hold more than one office except the office of the Chair.

3.02                  Chairperson.  The Chair shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the Committee.  As prescribed by the Committee, the Chair shall supervise the affairs and operations of the Committee, sign all documents requiring his/her signature and exercise from time to time other powers and duties incident to his/her office.

3.03                  Vice-chair. The Vice-chair shall participate in the supervision of the affairs and operations of the Committee and shall preside at meetings in the absence of the Chair.

3.04                  Secretary.  The Secretary shall be the official clerk of the Committee and shall attend all meetings of the Committee and Executive committee to record all facts and minutes of those proceedings in the books kept for that purpose. She/he shall give all notices required to be given to members and to Officers.  She/he shall be the custodian of all books, papers, records, correspondence and documents belonging to the Committee and shall perform the other duties from time to time prescribed by the Committee or incident to this office.

3.05                  Treasurer.  The Treasurer of the Middlesex County Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse shall keep full and accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements of the Committee in proper books of account and shall deposit all monies or other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of the Committee in the bank or banks from time to time designated by the Committee, taking proper vouchers therefore and shall render to the Committee whenever required of him/her, an account of all his/her transactions as Treasurer and of the financial position of the Committee.

4   ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

4.01                  Term.  Officers shall be elected to a two-year term. Each year, two officers shall retire.

4.02                  Re-Election.  An officer, if otherwise qualified, is eligible for election for three (3) consecutive full two-year terms, and thereafter is not eligible for re-election until a period of eleven (11) months has elapsed from the date of his/her retirement.

4.03                 Elections.  At the last regular meeting prior to summer, a number of Officers equal to the number of Officers retiring shall be elected for  terms of (2) years by the existing members of the Committee.

4.04                 Nominations.  Candidates for the position of  Officer shall include:

4.04.1              the slate of candidates for office proposed by the Nominating Committee, or if there is no Nominating Committee, by the Committee as a whole.

4.04.2              if the number of candidates nominated is greater than the number of positions to be filled, the election shall be by ballot.

4.05                 Election Method.  Where;

4.05.1              the number  of candidates nominated is equal to the number of positions to be filled, the secretary of the meeting shall cast a  single ballot electing that number of candidates for membership;  and

4.05.2              the number of candidates nominated is greater than the number of positions to be filled, the election shall be by ballot.

4.06                 Forms. The Committee may prescribe the form of nomination paper and the form of a ballot.

5   COMMITTEES

5.01                 Executive Committee.  There shall be an Executive Committee comprised of the elected officers of the Committee, who shall meet in the months intervening between the meetings of the Committee of the whole, for the purpose of planning and supervising the affairs of the Committee, including, but not limited to:

5.01.1               Reviewing the minutes of previous Committee meetings;

5.01.2               Preparing the Agenda for the forthcoming Committee meeting;

5.01.3               Reviewing the financial status of the Committee;

5.01.4               Identifying new business and issues of concern to bring before the Committee.

5.02                  Ad Hoc Committees.  There may be such Ad Hoc Committees and for such purposes as the members may  determine from time to time by resolution

5.03                 Nominating Committee.  The Nominating Committee (when one exists) shall:

5.03.1              prepare a slate of one or more candidates for each office which will be vacant and for which an election is to be held.

5.03.2              accept any additional written nominations for elected office at any time prior to the holding of annual elections, but this does not preclude the Chair of the Meeting from accepting further nominations from the floor at the time of the election.

6   EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS

6.01                 Cheques, Drafts, Notes, etc.  All cheques, drafts or orders for the payment of money and all notes and acceptances and bills of exchange shall be signed by the Chair or the Treasurer.

7   BANKING ARRANGEMENTS

7.01                 The Committee shall designate, by resolution, the Chair and the Treasurer authorized to transact the banking business of the Committee.

8   BY-LAWS AND AMENDMENTS, ETC.

8.01                  Enactment.  By-laws of the Committee may be enacted, repealed, amended, altered, added to or re-enacted by majority vote of the committee as a whole.

9   EFFECTIVE DATE

9.01                 This by-law shall come into force without further formality upon its enactment.

9.02                 Enacted as By-law Number 1 by the members of the Committee at a meeting duly called and regularly held and at which a quorum was present on the 4th day of June, 2003.

The foregoing By-law Number 1 as enacted by the members of the Committee is hereby ratified, sanctioned, confirmed and approved without variation by the unanimous affirmative vote of all members entitled to vote at a meeting of the Committee duly called and regularly held at which a quorum was present on the 4^th day of June, 2003.