User:J2xF/OPC Constitution

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The OPC Constitution is built upon the Governing Principles of the Online Party of Canada, originally written by Michael Nicula, as retrieved from the OPC website as of July 1st, 2011.

NAME

The name of the Party is the "Online Party of Canada" (OPC), also known as: the "Online Party", "Parti en ligne du Canada", or "Parti en ligne". Hereafter in this document it is referred to as The Party or OPC.

PURPOSE

Participating in the public affairs of Canada by endorsing members of the Party as candidates of the Party for election to the House of Commons and supporting their election (Paragraph 366(2)(j),Elections Canada Act).
Forming and maintaining Party organizations at the federal, provincial and electoral district levels.
Working in solidarity with electronic direct democracy (E2D) parties of other jurisdictions, and E2D parties globally.

PRINCIPLES

The Party is solely founded on the principles of electronic direct democracy:

Right to vote

Any Canadian citizen who has the right to vote can become a Member by submitting a membership application. We’re also offering full membership rights to landed immigrants, minors over 16 years old and expatriates who lost their rights to vote due to long-term absence.

Comments and Votes

Any OPC Member can freely express their opinion on any Issue via comments and vote. Any vote can be changed at any time as the Members can change their mind based on latest information, persuasion or any other good reason.

Counting Votes

OPC Member votes are counted in real-time for each Issue position. Every Vote counts the same. OPC Specialists and Candidates are considered Members in regards to Vote counting. One Issue – One Member – One Vote counted. Anyone can change their vote at any time. When a member change his/her vote, the count changes instantly.

Official Position

OPC establishes the official position on an issue based on the principles of Simple Majority and Quorum. The issue position that has reached quorum and the simple majority of member votes plus a ‘tolerance margin’, represents the ‘OPC Official Position’ on that particular issue. Specialist, candidate and officer votes are presented separately for information purposes and can be consulted by members, but ultimately they’re all members and all member votes count equally towards the ‘Official Position’. Guests’ votes and comments are much appreciated but they will be counted separately and do not count towards establishing OPC official position on a particular issue. Minimum quorum and tolerance margin percentages are subject to member vote.

Leadership

OPC Candidates can try to persuade Members one way or another by presenting arguments through their public profile page. OPC Specialists must present issues in an objective manner, being informative and not biased. On the other hand, it is expected that Candidates and Officers would exercise their leadership presenting compelling arguments and providing members a balanced perspective to help them make a decision and vote.

Members are encouraged to check what the Specialists and Candidates have to say in regards to a particular issue before they vote – also, the Guest votes may reveal international or external opinions. But ultimately, the members can vote freely. It is against the law in Canada to try to change a voter’s will in any other way than debate.

Accountability

OPC Candidates and Officers are mandated to support publicly only the OPC Official Position on a particular issue, regardless of their own position / vote. OPC does not tolerate any personal agendas and political deals. All OPC representatives must write up their own Promissory Letter of Resignation beforehand.

OPC officers panel can use these letters to warn representatives (yellow card) or force them to resign (red card) if they violate the code of ethics, vote against the OPC Official Position or OPC members support for another Candidate reaches threshold (quorum and simple majority plus tolerance margin).

Competence

OPC Candidates and Representatives are selected from the Membership roster based on individual request, credentials and/or training. Members who do not have required qualifications, will be offered specific training through Universities. Young professionals with strong academic background in Business Administration, Political Science, Economics, Law, Urban Development, Foreign Affairs – any other specialty that pertains to public affairs – may qualify automatically for any position in their domain. Democratic principles guarantee that any Member can become a Candidate or officer, and we pledge to help any Member obtain the required qualifications.

MEMBERSHIP

Any Canadian citizen qualified as an elector and over the age of sixteen (16) is eligible for membership in The Party;

Full membership rights are also offered to landed immigrants and expatriates who lost their rights to vote due to long-term absence.

Members of others federal political parties in Canada may vote on any issues not restricted to OPC Members (e.g. non-internal operations issues).

NATIONAL COUNCIL

The National Council of the Party shall consist of at least five members from the following:

President
Leader
Chief Agent
Treasurer
Internet Coordinator
Membership Coordinator
Specialists’ Coordinator
Federal Electoral District Coordinator
Federal Candidates’ Coordinator
At least three members at large

The President shall

be the chief executive officer of the Party
provide leadership to the executive and the members

The Leader shall

coordinate the activities of elected members
act as liaison between the executive and elected members

The Chief Agent shall

fulfill all the legal requirements of the Elections Act for this position
act as liaison between the members and the executive; members will be encouraged to direct queries and comments of all kind to him/her
bring these communications to the executive or to the appropriate member of the executive and reply or have a reply sent

The Treasurer shall

be responsible for all of the Party’s funds
periodically report to the executive, the receipts and expenditures as well as the financial state of the Party

The Internet Coordinator shall

be responsible for the web site of the Party
be responsible for the online voting system of the Party

The Membership Coordinator shall

be responsible for maintaining membership records
be responsible for membership drives

The Specialists’ Coordinator shall

act as liaison between the specialists as well as between the specialists and the executive

The Federal Electoral District Coordinator shall

act as liaison between the Federal Electoral District Representatives as well as between the Representatives and the Executive

The Federal Candidates’ Coordinator shall

act as liaison between the Federal Candidates as well as between the Candidates and the Executive

Members at large shall

voice the general interests of the members

ELECTIONS TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL

At any given time, a member may only hold one position on the National Council. At any given time, a member may be a candidate to only one position on the National Council. A member holding a position on the National Council for which there is no ongoing election may be a candidate for another position on the National Council without having to resign his post; however, if the member is elected to the second position, the initial position held automatically becomes vacant.

The President, the Chief Agent, the Treasurer, the Internet Coordinator, the Membership Coordinator and the Members At Large shall be elected by all the members and all members are eligible as candidates. The Leader shall be elected by all members but only Federal Candidates are eligible for this position.

The Specialists’ Coordinator shall be elected by the Specialists, the Federal Electoral District Coordinator by the Federal District Representatives and the Federal Candidates’ Coordinator by the Federal Candidates. For these elections only those eligible for voting may become candidates. The elected members automatically become members of the National Council.

While the persons eligible to vote will vary as mentioned above, all elections to the National Council shall be held in the following way.

a. Notice of an election shall appear on the Party’s website four weeks prior to “the date when voting on the first round will close”. During the two weeks following the notice of an election, any eligible member may nominate himself for one of the positions available. Candidates will have place on the web site to introduce themselves and highlight their abilities. Eligible voters will have a place on the web site to query the candidates and comment.

b. Two weeks prior to “the date when voting on the first round will close” applications to be a candidate will no longer be accepted. If, at this time, there is only one candidate, he is automatically elected. Otherwise, once applications are closed and at any time during the following two weeks, eligible members may vote. After these two weeks, voting will end and the results be tabulated.

c. Once the voting is closed and tabulated,

- i. If there were two candidates, the candidate with over 50% of the votes is elected.
- ii. If there were three candidates, a candidate with over 50% of the votes is elected. If no candidate has over 50% of the votes, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and another round of voting lasting one week is held with the result of this round of voting being determined as in (i) above.
- iii. If there are more than three candidates, a candidate with over 50% of the votes is elected. If no candidate has over 50% of the votes, only the three candidates with the greatest number of votes participate in another round of voting lasting one week with the result of this round of voting being determined as in (ii) above.

FINANCES

OPC has no membership fee. However, it does accept donations from members and non-members. How to handle donations and finances has yet to be discussed.

ISSUES/PLATFORM

Issues Posting

In principle, all OPC Members may propose Issues to be posted for voting the OPC website. In practice, the overwhelming number of proposals will need to go through a form of triage to prioritize issues before being posted.

The selection of Issues to be posted on the OPC website for voting by all Canadian citizens shall be conducted in a fully transparent and democratic manner (yet to be developed).

See examples of signature thresholds:

Switzerland requires 50,000 signatures for referendum, 100,000 for popular citizens' initiatives [1];
EU level referendum will require 1,000,000 signatures starting next April 2012 [2];
We the People on the American White House website uses minimum 100 popular support before petition is posted online and 25,000 signatures for official response;
e-Petitions UK requires 100,000 signatures for a petition to be eligible for debate in the House of Commons.

FEDERAL CANDIDATES

Eligibility

Canada Elections Act

The right to be a candidate in a federal election is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The procedures and responsibilities are spelled out in the Canada Elections Act.
Unless specifically declared to be ineligible under section 65 of the Canada Elections Act, any person qualified as an elector may run for election. A prospective candidate must be a Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years of age on election day.

Source: Election Handbook for Candidates, Their Official Agents and Auditors (EC 20190), Elections Canada.

Online Party of Canada

To be eligible for Candidacy with the Online Party of Canada (OPC) in any given Electoral District, a Canadian citizen must be registered as an OPC Member in its respective Electoral District.
All prospective candidates must fill and sign the OPC Accountability document (see attached) before being eligible for OPC Candidacy.
To be elected to represent OPC in Federal Elections as Candidate for an Electoral District, a prospective candidate must receive a minimum of 100 votes (e.g. Nomination Paper).
If two or more prospective candidates reach the minimum threshold, the candidate receiving the highest percentage of votes (+ Tolerance Margin) is elected as official OPC Candidate for the respective Electoral District.
Only one OPC Member may be designated as Level 4 (Candidate) in any of the 308 Electoral Districts at any given moment.
Elected OPC Candidates may resign at any given moment by submitting a written statement of resignation to its Electoral District Association or OPC National Council.

ELECTORAL DISTRICT ASSOCIATIONS

The Electoral District Association (EDA) is the secondary organization through which the rights of members are exercised (the first being the official OPC website).

Recognition may be granted by National Council to one electoral district association in each federal electoral district, and such recognition may be revoked, pursuant to rules and procedures set out by by-law.

For an EDA to be officially recognized by Elections Canada, an application for registration must be signed by the EDA's Chief Executive Officer, Financial Agent, Auditor and given consent by the Leader of the registered party (e.g. OPC).

Chief Exectuive Officer

Each EDA must appoint an eligible person as its chief executive officer.

Financial Agent

Each EDA must appoint an eligible person or corporation as its financial agent.

To be eligible for appointment, a person must be eligible to vote, must not be an undischarged bankrupt and must have the capacity to enter into contracts in his or her province or territory of residence. A corporation incorporated under federal, provincial or territorial law is eligible to be a financial agent of an association.

Auditor

Each EDA must appoint an eligible person, or partnership of persons, as its auditor. The auditor – or all members of the partnership, if a partnership is the auditor – must be a member or members in good standing of a corporation, an association or institute of professional accountants (CA, CMA, CGA). An auditor can be appointed as the auditor for more than one association.

The auditor must accept the appointment in writing, by signing a declaration to that effect. An association may have only one auditor at a time.

Candidates

A member chosen by an Electoral District Association, or by the National Council subject to the rules of this Constitution, and the endorsement of the Leader, to represent the Party in a federal election or by-election.

Elections within Electoral District Associations

Each EDA is solely responsible for electing Candidates to represent their electoral districts in elections via the OPC website (see Representatives section).

In the case that an EDA does not exist in a given electoral district, the Leader may appoint a Candidate until an EDA is created.

Otherwise, only exclusive OPC members (i.e. non-members of other recognized political parties) residing in the respective electoral district may vote for members to occupy the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Candidate in each respective EDA. Financial Agents and Auditors, on the other hand, may be appointed for more than one association and elected by members of electoral districts in which there is an active EDA.

Registering Electoral District Associations

See registration requirements for Electoral District Association on Elections Canada website. [3]

DEFINITIONS

Candidate: a member chosen by an Electoral District Association, or by the National Council subject to the rules of this Constitution, and the endorsement of the Leader, to represent the Party in a federal election or by-election.

Chief Agent: the corporation filed Chief Agent pursuant to the Canada Elections Act.

Constitution: the constitution of the Party, as amended from time to time.

Electoral District Association: an association in which all Party Members residing within an electoral district, as defined by the Canada Elections Act, have voting rights.

Member: an individual who meets the Party's membership criteria.

Leader: the Member filed Leader pursuant to the Canada Elections Act.

Leadership Selection Process: the process for selecting a Leader provided for in the Constitution.