Oct. 26, 2020

Council Voting Representatives

The Council Voting Representatives for Scouts Canada’s Northern Lights Council join us to speak a bit about what they do.

Show Notes

The Council Voting Representatives for Scouts Canada’s Northern Lights Council join us to speak a bit about what they do.

Podcast Topics

This week, Ken is joined by Richard Willimus, Sherri Brady, and Ann Huang, the Council Voting Representatives (CVRs) for Scouts Canada’s Northern Lights Council.

The CVRs represent the interests of all members of Scouts Canada, especially those from the Council they represent, to the board that administers Scouts Canada. Each council selects - votes in, rather - three members from among their ranks (including one Youth member) that participate as Voting Representatives.

Among their various roles, CVRs ensure that items prescribed by the bylaws of Scouts Canada actually happen. This includes the election of Board of Governors members as recommended by the Nominating Committee, voting on the approval of resolutions tabled by the Board of Governors that modify the bylaws of the organization, approval of the recommendation of the Audit Committee regarding the appointment of auditors for the following year, voting to receive reports from management, the Vice-Chair Finance, Audit Committee and management, and so on. CVRs also bring forward important issues to the Board of Governors. On occasion, CVRs may also propose resolutions for consideration at an AGM. Such resolutions may include resolutions asking that the Board of Governors consider making changes to Bylaws or policies of Scouts Canada. And finally, CVRs act as a safeguard against a Board acting egregiously, by being able to vote against, in
conjunction with other voting members, the recommendation of the nominating committee and voting, in conjunction with other voting members to approve alternative nominations, thereby replacing the Board with another that would act in the interests of Scouts Canada.

It all sounds very dry, but the distillation of it is this: CVRs are another means by which the “on the ground” membership of Scouts Canada can communicate with their councils, with Scouts Canada’s national office, and even with its governance apparatus, and make their concerns known.

And if you want to chat with Richard, Sheri, and Ann, they’ll be hosting a pair of town hall meetings over the next two weeks: one this Wednesday (October 28th), and one the following weekend (November 7th), both at 7:00 PM Mountain Time.

Shout-Outs

As always, a big thank you to the folks at Scouting Radio for rebroadcasting Scouting Stuff episodes to their worldwide Scouting audience. If you're listening to us on Scouting Radio right now, let us know; reach out and get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.