Constitution

Definitions

- Rights are the same as "reciprocal duties of the relevant kind".
- Authority to enforce a Right must be granted voluntarily, and must be credible.
- Aggression is any infringement of a Right
- Agreement regarding reciprocal duties and Authority to enforce those duties is all that is necessary to create any Right.
- Libertarian: anyone who believes that the only valid role of government in society is to maximize the Liberty of citizens.
- Liberty: The freedom(s) we grant each other. This is the fundamental Right, all other rights are derivative or special cases.

Statement of Philosophy

Liberty is a freedom or freedoms operative between individuals.

Aggression is any infringement of a Right

In any community "A Right" is created by individuals agreeing to all four following conditions:

"The Right" is simultaneously an acknowledged reciprocal duty of the relevant kind.
An Authority exists to impose penalties on any individual who infringes the Right.
Any individual acquires a Right simply by acknowledging the relevant reciprocal duty.
The relevant reciprocal duty is presumed to be a duty towards each and every other individual.

Statement of Principles

Right of Liberty is expressed by acknowledging the following five principles:

Freedom of Association - Individuals may voluntarily form and join associations where rules/laws may be established for the exchange of property, settling of disputes, and granting of Authority among members. Freedom of Association includes the Right to dis-associate with no risk of legal penalty.
Property - A person's creations and the fruits of their labour are that person's "property". Every individual has the Right to use, transform, pool, and dispose of, their property in any manner they see fit, so long as such creation, use, transformation, pooling, or disposal, does not infringe any Right. Property rights are created by agreement.
Defense - Every individual may use and delegate force, or the threat of force, to protect their person and property from Aggression.
Authority - The only legitimate form of authority is authority over self, which may be delegated or granted, to an authoritative organization or individual. No individual may legitimately claim any authority over any other individual where it has not been explicitly granted, or implicitly granted when claiming a Right. There is no arbitrary limit to the authority that an individual may grant over self. Any individual may revoke the granting of Authority, simply by giving public notice. Where such revocation results in waiving a reciprocal Right, the individual shall be informed prior to extinguishing authority and waiving the Right.
Non-signatories - Every individual is presumed to have the same Rights as signatories. This presumption is rebuttable.

Article 1 – Membership

Membership requires submitting a completed and signed Constitution Statement of Principles together with required membership fees.
Fees for membership in the Association shall be set and amended by majority vote of the members at the Annual General Meeting.
Membership ceases when:

member’s dues fall into arrears for longer than twelve months.
an Ethics Committee expels the member.
the member submits a letter of resignation to the Association secretary

Article 2 - Amendment of the Constitution and Bylaws

Amendment of the Constitution shall require 80% affirmative vote of the members at any General Meeting.
Amendment of the Bylaws shall require a 75% affirmative vote of the members at any General Meeting. Majority vote of the Officers or ruling of the standing Ethics Committee may also make temporary Amendment of bylaws.
Temporary amendments must be submitted to the members for ratification at the next General Meeting. Failure to submit the Temporary Amendment is deemed to be revocation of that amendment.
Amendment of Standing orders may be made by a majority vote of all Officers or by written ruling of the Ethics Committee Chairman.
All amendments must be published through the Association newsletter or other public method within thirty (30) days of enactment.

Article 3 - Offices

All Offices are volunteer positions, without remuneration. An honorarium may be paid to any Officer, subject to ratification at a general Meeting.
Offices of the Association shall consist of the Directors and the Executive and the Ethics Committee Chairman.
A person may not hold more than one Office at the same time.
Directors may fill vacant offices by appointment.

Board

There shall be a maximum of five (5) Board members

Executive

The Executive shall consist of:

President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Ethics Committee Chairman

There shall be one Ethics Committee Chairman, who shall be a member of every Ethics Committee except an Ethics Committee that is hearing a complaint against the Ethics Committee Chairman.

Article 4 - Duties of Officers

4(a) Directors
· Shall meet at least once per year, with a quorum of three.
· Determine the long-term and yearly goals of the Association
· Inform the executive of the Association goals
· Oversee the Executive as it works toward those goals.
· Make interim appointments to committee and executive positions.
· Dismiss any Officer(s) upon instruction from the Chairman of the Ethics Committee.

In the event that there are too few Directors to form a quorum, due to resignations, dismissals or other events, the remaining director(s) shall appoint a member, or members, to interim Director positions.
4(b) Ethics Committee Chairman
· shall appoint two (2) standing Ethics Committee members
· shall appoint as many other Ethics Committee members as may be required to hear complaints, provided that those appointees are approved by all parties to the complaint.
4(c) President
· chief executive officer of the Association
· responsible for Association internal organization.
· responsible to oversee fundraising, membership drives and other Association activities.
· delegate duties to members.
· acts to accomplish the Association goals determined by the Directors
· ex-officio member of all committees except the Ethics Committee.
4(d) Vice-President
· assists the President
· shall be the Acting President whenever the President is unavailable, or requests it.
4(e) Secretary
· shall keep records of membership, meeting minutes, and the current Constitution and Bylaws
· shall act as recording Secretary at all Executive meetings, or designate an alternate.
· shall be responsible for giving notice of meetings to members.
4(f) Treasurer
· shall maintain a bank account for the Association
· shall issue receipts and disburse funds.
· shall make an annual financial report to members at each AGM
· shall keep complete financial records

Article 5 - Quorum

Three Directors shall be required for a quorum of Directors.
Three Executive members shall be required for a quorum of the Executive.
Five Officers shall be required for a quorum of Officers

A quorum of the Ethics Committee shall consist of the Ethics Committee Chairman plus at least two other members. If the Ethics Committee is considering a complaint against any Officer(s) then no Officer other than the Ethics Committee Chairman may sit on the Ethics Committee for the duration of that hearing. If a complaint against the Ethics Committee Chairman is being heard, then the President shall assume the Ethics Committee Chair for the duration of that hearing.

Article 6 - Meetings of Officers

14 days notice of any Meeting must be given, unless waived by unanimous agreement of the relevant Officers.
Any Executive member may call an Executive meeting.
Any Director may call a Director Meeting.
Any member of an Ethics Committee may call an Ethics Committee meeting.
Any member may attend any meeting of Executive, Directors, Ethics Committee, or Officers.

6(a) - Meeting Attendance

Meeting attendance may be in person, by telephone or other electronic teleconferencing communication method, or by letter.
Any Executive member, who fails to attend at least one Executive meeting in any three-month period, may be replaced by appointment of another member in his place, by the remaining Executive members or by the Directors. If the Directors and the remaining Executive cannot agree on the new appointee, then the Ethics Committee Chairman shall flip a coin to choose between the appointees.
Any Director who fails to attend at least one Director’s meeting in any six-month period, may be replaced by the remaining Directors, through appointment of another member.
The Ethics Committee Chairman is not required to attend any meetings, but must delegate Ethics Committee meetings (if any) attendance to another member.

Article 7 - General Meetings

A petition signed by 25% of the membership shall make the calling of a General Meeting mandatory upon Officers. If this occurs, then there shall be an Election of Officers at that General Meeting.
7(a) Attendance
Any member may attend any General Meeting
7(b) Notice
30 days notice of any General Meeting must be given, in a newsletter or in a public place available to members.
7(c) Frequency
there shall be at least one General Meeting per year, the Annual General Meeting.
7(d) Election of Officers
at every Annual General Meeting, there shall be an Election of Officers, unless waived by unanimous vote of the attendees. If Election of Officers is waived, then the current Officers are deemed re-elected by acclamation.
7(e) Organizer
Officers shall appoint a General Meeting Organizer, who shall oversee all aspects of the General Meeting and Chair the General Meeting. If the Officers do not appoint a General Meeting Organizer, then the first order of business at the General Meeting will be election of the Organizer. An Organizer may not be elected to any Office at that General Meeting.

The Organizer shall oversee all voting procedures at a General Meeting, and make provisions for ballot boxes, paper, pencils, counting of LibreVotes, and any other matters related to voting.

Article 8 - Election of Officers

Election of Officers shall be held at General Meetings to fill vacant offices.

Offices are deemed to be vacant at the ‘call to order’ of any General Meeting which is called due to 25% petition of the membership.
8(a) Nominations
Any member may be nominated for any Officer position by a nominator and a second.
Members may be nominated from the floor of the meeting or in advance, by written notice to the Organizer.
8(b) Election procedure
The Organizer shall oversee election procedure, in accordance with the Bylaws where the Bylaws specify a procedure, and by providing written instructions of procedures where the Bylaws are silent.

Officers are elected by receiving the majority of cast LibreVotes, or by unanimous show of hands, or (if only one candidate) by acclamation.

If more than two members contest a position and no one member receives 50% of the LibreVotes cast, then the candidate receiving the fewest LibreVotes drops off the ballot and voting continues until one candidate receives at least 50% of the LibreVotes cast in that ballot.

Any candidate may appoint a scrutineer to oversee the counting of LibreVotes.

Article 9 - Finances

the Association shall keep at least one bank account.
The signature of the Treasurer and one other Executive Member shall be required on all cheques.
The fiscal year shall run from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.
The Treasurer shall make a complete financial report to the membership at every Annual General Meeting. A written copy of this report shall be given to any member, upon request.
9(a) Borrowing powers
the Association may borrow money only with a consenting majority vote of the members at a General Meeting. The members must ratify the amount borrowed and other terms of the loan.

Article 10 - Parliamentary Authority

Robert's Rules of Order - Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority where it does not clash with the constitution or bylaws, and where the bylaws do not specify an alternative procedure.

Article 11 - Voting

LibreVotes are the voting mechanism of the Association.

For all purposes, LibreVotes are considered “proxy votes”.

The only alternative voting procedure is a show of hands, which must be all in favor and none against, to succeed. Abstentions are not counted.

A “petition of the membership” is not a vote.

One LiberVote is one vote.

Non-members may own LibreVotes, but only members may cast LibreVotes within the Association elections.

LibreVotes are "property", as defined in the Statement of Principles, and may be traded, acquired, and otherwise treated as each LibreVote owner sees fit.

LibreVotes have no monetary value to the Association.

11(a) Creation of LibreVotes

LibreVotes may be created by any suitable means, including (but not limited to) paper notes, metal tokens, electronic data and book entries.

LibreVotes shall be created at every AGM, in an amount specified by Standing Order 1a. All such newly created LibreVotes shall be divided equally among the Executive members as the last order of business at every AGM.
Librevotes shall be created at the close of any general election within the territorial boundaries of Canada, whenever any member(s) of the Association are candidates in that general election. Association members who ran as candidates shall receive LibreVotes in an amount specified by Standing Order 1b.
Librevotes shall be created and given to each new member, in an amount specified by Standing Order 1c
Once per year, new Librevotes shall be created for each Association member, in an amount specified by Standing Order 1d

No method of creating LibreVotes, beyond those stated here in the Association Bylaws, is permitted. Any member creating or knowingly using forgeries or counterfeits shall be expelled from the Association, for life.

11(b) Destruction of LibreVotes

LibreVotes are considered destroyed after they have been cast and tallied in any Vote.

11(c) Abandonment of LibreVotes

The LibreVotes voting method may be revoked by the Association membership by 75% affirmative vote of LibreVotes, or by unanimous show of hands at any Annual General Meeting.

Article 12 - Dispute Resolution Mechanism

An Ethics Committee shall investigate and resolve violations of the SoP and/or adjudicate disputes among members.

Any member can bring a dispute against any other member for any reason arising out of a violation of the Statement of Principles.

The petitioning member (the petitioner) will file a written Notice of Dispute to the Ethics Committee Chairman, specifying the exact principle(s) violated and the remedy sought, if any.

An Ethics Committee may seek opinions within or outside the Association.

An Ethics Committee may assess penalties and/or compensations in LibreVotes. Refusal to comply with the ruling of an Ethics Committee shall result in immediate expulsion from the Association.

Any decision of an Ethics Committee shall be consistent with the Statement of Principles.

Ethics Committee members are not immune to Ethics Committee complaints.

The Ethics Committee Chairman has wide discretionary powers, from imposing penalties (usually in LibreVotes) to dismissal of an Officer, to expulsion of that member from the Association.

12(a) Constitutional Challenge

A "Constitutional Challenge" may be heard by an Ethics Committee, for any question of conflict between the Philosophy, Principles, Constitution, Bylaws or Standing Orders. Any member may file a Notice of Constitutional Challenge with the President. Officers shall elect four (4) members to an Ethics Committee. That Committee will hear the Constitutional Challenge and render a decision. A Constitutional Challenge Ruling of an Ethics Committee shall have the force until the next General Meeting, at which time the Constitutional Challenge ruling of the Ethics Committee shall be submitted to the members for ratification.

12(b) Appeals

Appeal of any Ethics Committee ruling may be made at any General Meeting held within two (2) years of the ruling. Appeal is by vote, affirming or rejecting the ruling. Appeals (if any) must be the first order of business after call to order, at a General Meeting. Written Notice of Appeal citing the exact wording of the ruling and the reasons for Appeal, must be filed with the General Meeting Organizer.

Standing Orders

1 - Creation of LibreVotes

At every Annual General Meeting, LibreVotes shall be created in the amount of 500 multiplied by the number of members, and divided equally among Executive members. The Secretary shall record the number of LibreVotes distributed, along with the names of the Executive members who receive them.
At the conclusion of any general municipal, federal, provincial or international election, LibreVotes shall be created and given to each member who ran as a candidate, in the amount of 50 multiplied by the total number of votes received by that member.
Upon each new member joining the Association, 50 Librevotes shall be created and given to that member.
On January 1 each year, Librevotes shall be created and given to each Association member in the amount of 200 multiplied by that member’s full years of membership.

2 - Election procedures

The Organizer will determine and oversee all voting procedures for General Meetings.
Voting is either by use of LibreVotes or by unanimous show of hands.
Members vote by placing LibreVotes into an appropriately labeled ballot box (or other suitable container).
Members may place LibreVotes in more than one ballot box.
Members may cast some, none or all, to a maximum of as many librevotes as they actually have.
Normally, every vote will require at least two ballot boxes for each motion or candidate, consisting of “opposed/affirmative”, "yes/no", "for/against" or other similar method of determining the will of the membership.
Balloting may be open or secret, and must be specified in advance as part of the motion or procedure, except at General Meetings where the Organizer will specify the procedure for each motion.
Librevotes are tallied for each candidate or motion, by subtracting opposed from affirmative librevotes, and the resulting largest number affirmative is the winner.

3 - Destruction of cast LibreVotes

Cast and counted LibreVotes are no longer "property" as defined in the SoP. Once cast and counted, they shall be destroyed. One member shall be appointed by the Executive to govern all creation, destruction, collection, and keeping records of any matter directly related to LibreVotes in accordance with the rules stated in the bylaws and standing orders. That member may not be an Officer. Once appointed, that member may be removed only by expulsion from the Association for a violation of the SoP. That member shall collect all LibreVotes cast, count them, and then destroy them. Willful failure to properly dispose of cast Librevotes is fraud, and a violation of the SoP.

4 - Communications and Internet

The Executive shall delegate the position of "webmaster" to one member, who shall have authority over all matters pertaining to the Association website and any other the Association Internet resources, including (but not limited to) domain administration, e-mail lists, electronic conferencing facilities, use of the Association name and all server/resource operation.

5 - General Meeting order of business

The order of business at General Meetings shall be as follows:

1. President calls meeting to order and hands gavel to the Meeting Organizer.
2. Appeal of expulsions (if any)
3. Ratification of Ethics Committee rulings (if any)
4. Executive reports
5. Other items of business
6. Election of Officers
7. Distribution of LibreVotes
8. Adjourn