Executive Standards

Members of the Executive Committee (the "Committee") manage the property of the Party between Conventions. As such, they are given specific areas of authority by the Party Constitution and Bylaws, and charged by the same documents with certain specific tasks or responsibilities. .

These standards are meant as both (1) a job description for those interested in serving on the Committee and (2) a set of guidelines for other party members to evaluate an Executive's performance on the Committee. The aim has been to break down each position into a set or series of discrete, observable tasks; the hope is that an Executive's success in meeting these would in turn allow one to evaluate his or her performance.

A distinction is made between 'expectations' and 'responsibilities'. 'Responsibilities' are those tasks that are explicitly enumerated in either the Constitution or Bylaws. Failure to meet a 'responsibility', therefore, arguably is a violation of the Constitution, and may result in disciplinary action. (See below). 'Expectations' are more subjective measurements of whether a job is well or poorly done; failure to meet expectation would be a reason to not re-elect an Executive, or (in an extreme case) for asking for an Executive's resignation.

In contrast to responsibilities, expectations will differ from Committee to Committee. It is hoped that Executives will themselves provide the needed feedback to keep such guidelines current and relevant.

[In the following, C, B and R refer to the Party Constitution, Bylaws, and parliamentary authority (/.Robet's rules of Order/) respectively, while the number following refers to the section of that document. For example, C 1.1 should be read as "Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution."]

General Membership Tasks

Attending meetings

"Meetings of the Executive Committee shall be held at intervals of not more than 90 days, and shall be open to Members and Associates"" [C 6.5]

"The Executive Committee shall meet at such times and places as may be determined by action of the Committee, by call of the Chairman, or by written request of one-third or more of the members of the Executive Committee. Unless unanimously waived, a notice of the time, place, and nature of all meetings shall be sent to each member of the Executive Committee no less than 14 days prior to said meetings." [B 6.2]

Executives are expected to attend all meetings, and are responsible for not missing any meetings without a good reason. A member who has a good reason for missing a meeting is responsible for giving due notice to the Committee; due notice shall be considered notifying the Chairman, Recording Secretary, and/or other Executives at least two weeks in advance of the meeting, or at least 24 hours in advance in an emergency situation.

Memebers of the Executive Committee are expected to review the draft minutes of each meeting and to notify the Recording Secretary of any errors or ommissions. 

Party Business

"The Executive Committee shall, consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws of the Party, control and manage the affairs, properties, and funds of the Party." [C 6.4]

Executives are expected to manage the assets and affairs of the Party so as to implement the purpose and mission of the Party, and are responsible for managing the Party's assets consistently with that mission and purpose. Members are responsible for managing Party assets and affairs in a way that violates no explicit Constitution or Bylaws provision.

Members are expected to co-operate in the management and oversight of Party affairs and business, and are responsible for not obstructing the Committee's ability to do so, in meetings or elsewhere, by disruptive or deliberately non-cooperative action.

The Executive Committee is responsible for identifying the goals to be achieved by the Party during their term of office, determining the tasks required, identifying who will be responsible for executing said tasks and ensuring they are completed in a timely fashion.

The minutes of each meeting are accompanied by an Action List, outlining specific tasks and items of business that each Executive has agreed to perform or oversee ("assigned tasks"). Executives are expected to complete such assigned tasks by an agreed time, and can be held responsible for doing so by the Committee.

Meeting conduct

"The 1970 edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised shall be the parliamentary authority for all matters of procedure not specifically covered by the Constitution and Bylaws of the Party. [B 14]"

Executives are expected to follow good parliamentary order: to adhere to the order of business outlined in the agenda, refrain from speaking out of turn, to speak on topic, and to refrain from using unparliamentary language. Executives are responsible for not disrupting the order of business, by physical means or otherwise.

Meeting Agenda and Minutes

Most Executive Committee Meetings have the following agenda.

1. Call to Order and approval of Agenda. Items may be added to or removed from the Agenda by the Chairman on request of a member of the Executive Committee. The Chairman may accept comments from the Committee and may ask for an informal vote. Items may also be moved higher on the agenda. Such changes should be documented and the motion modified to indicate the agenda has been changed as described.
2. Notes: It should be noted if the person taking the minutes is other than the Recording Secretary . The time of late arrivals and early departures should be noted. 
3. Administrative tasks; approval of minutes of past meeting(s), appointment of replacements for Executives who have resigned or failed to attend 3 or more consecutive meetings.
4. Reports of Officers; Each member of the Executive Committee may present a report of their activities since the last meeting. Ideally these are entered into the agenda 2-3 days before the meeting. This is not the place for presenting motions, but may refer to motions under New or Old Business. Reports should not generate any discussion other than questions to clarify the report. 
5. Key Performance Indicators (KPI); Membership statistics, Social Media metrics, etc. Ideally these should be presented in tabular form to show trends over several months. See here for an example. These should appear in the report of the Officer who is responsible. 
6. Old Business: Progress report on activities previously approved by the Committee, including new motions requiring approval by the Committee, such as spending. Items should continue to be reported until concluded. Ideally Action Items will be updated prior to the meeting. Any newly identified Action Items should be reported in the Minutes. 
7. New Business: This is where an Executive may propose new activities or spending by the Party. According to Robert's rules of Order, a motion must be moved and seconded before any discussion begins. Typically the Mover will have lined up a seconder and included reasons for approving the motion in the Agenda 2-3 days ahead of the meeting. Ideally the plan will have been thought out and costs estimated. In some cases, an Executive will be presenting an idea to determine if the Committee agrees further planning should be done. For example, someone may give reasons why the Web Site needs to be updated or replaced and the Committee may agree further investigation should be done. Any New Business items approved should be updated under Old Business at the next meeting.
8. Adjournment: Agree on a date, time and location for the next Executive Committee meeting and adjourn the meeting.

The Recording Secretary will copy the Agenda from the previous meeting, moving approved items from New Business to Old Business and deleting completed and rejected items. Ideally the individual responsible for each item on the agenda will update it prior to the meeting. This will simplify the Recording Secretary's job and allow the meeting to proceed more quickly. 

The Recording Secretary should create an "Exec:" page for the minutes and copy the content of the Agenda page to it. The minutes can be updated during or after the meeting. The top line of the minutes should indicate, "Draft until approved by the Executive Committee. When Minutes are approved by the Executive Committee, they should be "Protected" (an option under the [More] tab) to prevent changes after they have been approved. The top line should be modified to indicate they were approved and the date approved. It's probably a good idea to "Protect" the Agenda as well. 

The Recording Secretary (or alternate) will notify the Executive Committee and any other attendees that the draft minutes are available for review. Any errors or ommissions identified by attendees are to be corrected and attendees notified the final minutes are ready prior to the next meeting. 

New Officers should understand that their Report is not an opportunity to complain about problems they perceive. Instead, if you see a problem, offer a solution under New Business.

Specific Executive Tasks

Specific Executives are charged with specific tasks under various sections of the Constitution and Bylaws, and have specific expectations and responsibilities to meet in line with those sections:

Party Leader

The responsibilities of the Leader are not specified in the Constitution, however the duties of the Party Leader shall be:

1. to engage, with the Campaign Director, in the planning and oversight of election strategy and tactics;
2. to select and endorse suitable members to be candidates at election;
3. to provide leadership for the party candidates during elections and in the provincial parliament; and
4. to be chief official spokesperson for the party.

The Party Leader, together with the Campaign Director, is responsible for ensuring that the Party has sufficient candidates in any election to maintain its registered status. (Currently the minimum requirement is to have two candidates nominated by an Electoral District (or Constituency) Association.) The Party Leader is responsible for candidate approval, and is expected to be personally active in candidate recruitment. The Leader must sign an endorsement for each candidate and submit it to Elections Ontario prior to the close of Nominations in order to get the name of the Party on the ballot.

The Leader is expected to provide leadership for the Party Caucus, both within and without the Legislature, and is responsible for ensuring that a Party Platform is in place for each election.

Each year the Party Leader must sign and submit to Elections Ontario an "Annual Statement of Fundamental Purpose of a Political Party" (form P-2) as follow. "I attest that a fundamental purpose of the political party is to participate in public affairs by endorsing candidates and supporting their election as prescribed under Subsection 10(6.1) of the Elections Finance Act.

Party Leader Job Description

Party Leader Qualities describes the qualities that an effective leader should have

Deputy Party Leader

The duties of the Deputy Leader shall be:

1. to assist the Party Leader in his specified duties; and
2. to fulfill the duties of the Party Leader in his absence or incapacity to perform those duties.

The Deputy Leader is responsible for carrying out the tasks of the Party Leader in the event of the latter's incapacity or absence. The Deputy Leader is expected to share the duties of the Leader, as mutually agreed with the Leader and the Committee as a whole.

Deputy Leader Job Description

Chairman

"The Chairman or his designate shall preside at all Conventions, General Meetings, and meetings of the Executive Committee. The Chairman shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Party." [C 5.2]

The Chairman is expected to chair each Executive meeting, and is responsible for seeing that every General and Executive meeting of the Party is chaired. The Chairman is responsible for ensuring that an agenda is prepared for every General or Executive meeting, is expected to consult with the other members of the Committee in its preparation, and is responsible for ensuring that all legitimate business, when given to him with due notice by an authorized member, is placed on the agenda. The Chairman is also responsible for ensuring that any other constitutionally required document is available for each such meeting.

As the Chief Executive Officer, the Chairman is responsible for

• overseeing the performance of the Officers and committees of the Party,
• plans and oversees the execution of all Party business and its operations.
• is Ex-officio member of all committee except the Ethics Committee

For more details see Chairperson Job Description.

Vice-Chairman

"The Vice-Chairman shall act as assistant to the Chairman and shall perform the duties of the Chairman in the event that the Chairman is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of his office." [C 5.3]

The Vice-Chairman is responsible for carrying out the tasks of the Chairman in the event of the Chairman's incapacity or absence. The Vice-Chairman is expected to share the duties of the Chairman, as mutually agreed with the Chairman and the Committee as a whole.

The Vice Chairman shall be appointed Chairman in the event the Chairman resigns or is unable to complete the term of office.

Vice Chair Job Description

Secretary

"The duties of the Secretary shall include: a) providing, or making provision for, legal services for the Party; and b) responsibility for the general correspondence of the Party." [C 5.4]

The Secretary is responsible for ensuring that the party has legal counsel, when needed, and for ensuring that general correspondence of the party is being sent out in a timely manner. The Secretary has ultimate oversight and ultimate responsibility over the media (including the newsletter, webpage, and on-line forums) of the Party.

As of 2019 the Secretary, Matt Dougherty, has assumed the following responsibilities;

• Send information packages to enquiries and referrals;
• Send New Member Kits (including a membership card) to individuals who have joined the Party; and
• Send Renewal Notices to Members and Associates whose membership is about to expire.

From the BC Libertarian Party Constitution;

• Provides notice of meetings to Executive and Members
• Keep records of membership and the current Constitution and Bylaws.

Secretary Job Description

Recording Secretary

" The duties of the Recording Secretary shall be to take minutes at all official meetings of the Party and the Executive Committee, to maintain the Minute Book of the Party, to be responsible for notifying all eligible attendees of the time and place of meetings of the Party and the Executive Committee, and to perform all other such duties as may be assigned from time to time." [C 5.5]

The Recording Secretary is responsible for having the party's minutes prepared, and is expected to have the previous meetings' minutes prepared and available at each General and Executive meeting. The Recording Secretary is expected to keep the minute book up-to-date, and to ensure that copies of minutes of past meetings and documents presented at past meetings are available to any Executive or other authorized member who needs them.

The Recording Secretary is responsible for ensuring that due notice of all General meetings is given to the membership, and that Executive members are given personal notice of every Executive meeting; and is expected to ensure that Executive and Party members are advised of all other Party events of interest to them.

Recording Secretary Job Description

Treasurer

"a) The Treasurer shall receive, expend, and account for the funds of the Party under the supervision of the Executive Committee.
"b) The Treasurer shall serve as the Chief Financial Officer of the Party and shall be responsible for all obligations imposed on the Party by Elections Ontario. The term of the Chief Financial Officer shall coincide with the fiscal year of the party." [C 5.6]

The Treasurer is responsible for having current financial information for the party available at all meetings as required by the Constitution, and is expected to have a written financial report available for every General Meeting, and at least once per quarter for Committee meetings. The Treasurer is expected to have current knowledge of the party's financial status at all times, and to respond in a timely manner to any reasonable request from an authorized individual for information about that status.

As Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer is responsible for ensuring that the Party fully complies with the Elections Finance Act to maintain the Party's registered status. The Treasurer must prepare and submit to Elections Ontario a

Financial Statement with supporting schedules at the end of each year and each Election Campaign Period. If the Party has over $10,000 in donations or Expenses the return must be audited. A party must maintain its "Registered" status in order to issue Official Receipts that entitle the donors to a Political Tax Credit of as much as 75% of the donation. Elections Ontario provides a CFO Handbook for Political Parties of almost 100 pages that provides guidance for CFOs on how to comply with the Elections Finance Act.

To do this the Treasurer must:

• At the start of each year, change the default value for "Contribution Type ID" in the Additional Donation Details record to the value specified by Elections Ontario. Also update the Pre-help text with the new "Contribution Type ID" and delete any values no longer in use; Also change the "CFO Name" if necessary.
• Deposit all contributions received by mail to the Party's bank account;
• Report all Credit Card Authorizations received by Mail on CRM (see Donations by Credit Card Authorization).
• Record contributions and Membership fees received by mail on CRM (see Donations by Cheque and Cash).
• Transfer PayPal Funds from PayPal to the Party's chequing account;
• Refund any donation if it exceeds the maximum donation allowed, is not from an individual, or is from a person not resident in Ontario and is more than the membership dues, or is requested by the donor. If the donation was received by cash or cheque, issue a cheque. If received via Credit Card, find the donation (by date and name) and click 'Refund.' It should show up as a refund to the donor and a fee reversal to our account. It should show up as a refund on CRM and the original donation should be flagged as cancelled. If an Official Receipt has been issued it must be cancelled.
• Send to Elections Ontario a Real Time Disclosure file listing donors who have donated over $200 (total for the year) within 15 working days;
• Maintain records for all income received and expenses paid by the Party (see Accounting with Quicken);
• Prepare Income and Expense Statement each quarter and present to the Executive Committee (See example P&L 18-09.pdf)
• Issue cheques for all expenses approved by the Executive Committee;
• Obtain invoices and/or receipts for all expenses;
• Prepare and mail Official Receipts for all donations to the Party;
• Prepare Financial Statements as required by Elections Ontario for by-election and election campaigns, and for each calendar year; and
• Engage a licensed accountant to audit the Party's Financial Statements and records. Since 2018 copies of the expense records and documents for donations received have been uploaded to the Google Drive Audit folder accessible to the Auditor. The previous Treasurer will need to authorize you to view and update this folder. A new folder should be created for each year, with sub-folders for Income and Expenses.

Pending Payments

The pages for donations, renewals and new members on our website provide a "Pay Later" option. This allows the donor to indicate that they will mail a cheque or send an Interac e-transfer. The email sent to the donor (copied to the CFO) provides the Party's address for sending a cheque and instructions on how and where (donations@ontariolibertarian.ca) to send an Interac e-transfer (EFT). The donation record created indicates the Status is "Pending."

When the cheque or EFT is received, update the "Pending" Donation record to "Completed" and enter the date received. This will automatically update any related Donation or Membership Record. Also check the "Send a Receipt" box. Then click on [Save]. (Do not try to enter a payment.)

Occasionally the donor may decide to make the payment online with a credit card. Stripe normally indicates the Donation or Member Dues is "Pending" for up to a week. As long as the payment is not reversed by the donor's credit card, Stripe will change the status of the payment record to "Completed" and transfer the donation to our bank account. However, Stripe does not update or delete the "Pending" record. This "Pending" record must be deleted manually (click on the three dots at the far right of the donation record). CRM does not include "Pending" records in any listing unless they are specifically included in the search parameters.

It is a good idea to follow up "Pending" payments if they are more than a week old. Send them a Donation Reminder email via CRM. (Create an appropriate email template if one does not already exist.) Pending Payments more than about 6 months old should be changed to "Canceled." [Is it better to delete or flag as Overdue or Failed?]

Additional Tasks

The Treasurer also performs additional tasks which could possibly be delegated to others:

• Be the CFO for Party Candidates who do not plan to accept donations and incur expenses and prepare financial statements for their campaigns as required by Elections Ontario.
• Maintain the mailing list for members, donors, inquiries and referrals, including contact information, Electoral District and donations;
• Provide listing from CiviCRM for various purposes such as for recruiting candidates by Regional Coordinators.
• Provide lists of contacts to members interested in holding Pub Nights or meetings in their area, and providing advice.
• Organizing the Toronto Pub night; making reservations, updating the Meetup Event description if required, creating an Event on the Party's Facebook page(s), arranging for the occasional speaker.

Treasurer Job Description

Campaign Director.

"The Campaign Director shall be the overall campaign manager for the Party. Duties of the Campaign Director shall include acquiring and training candidates, media contact and public relations, working with Constituency Associations, and other political activities as mutually agreed with the Party Leader." [C 5.7]

The Campaign Director (together with the Leader) is responsible for ensuring that the party runs sufficient candidates in each general election to maintain its registered status. The Campaign Director is expected to ensure that a campaign plan is in place for each election, to recruit and manage the election candidates, to ensure that all declared party candidates are on the ballot, and to manage the course of the campaign including media enquiries and press releases during the campaign; all in conjunction with the Leader and Deputy Leader.

The Campaign Director shall also be responsible for:

• raising funds for election campaigns;
• obtaining signed Candidate Applications from all candidates;
• Identifying possible CFOs for candidates;
• distributing campaign materials to candidates
• Designing campaign materials (signs, brochures, etc.) and ordering from suppliers in amounts required and within approved budgets; and
• Supervises efforts to prepare candidates for their election campaigns.

In addition as of January 2019, Scott Marshall has accepted the following responsibilities

• Publish the newsletter - see Bulletin page.
• Providing technical support for the Parties web site, including CRM

Campaign Director Job Description

Members at Large

Members at Large have no specific constitutional duties. They are expected to carry out, and in the relevant cases be responsible for, all general membership tasks, as well as all assigned tasks.

A Members at Large is elected for a one year term at Conventions and Annual General Meetings, and may be a candidate for appointment as an Officer in the event of a vacancy.

A member may be elected to this position because of a special skill or expertise that may greatly increase the effectiveness of the Executive Committee in meeting it's goals. This is expected to be an entry level position on the Executive which will prepare the member for future responsibilities within the Executive Committee.

Member at Large Job Description

Regional Coordinators

Regional Coordinators need not be members of the Executive Committee, but must be members of the Party and as such, are entitled to attend executive meetings.

A Regional Coordinator will be assigned 8-10 contiguous Electoral Districts (EDs), and should be resident in one of the EDs. The responsibilities of Regional Coordinators are contained in the Regional Coordinator Guide.

Ethics Committee

Article 8 of the Constitution specifies -

1. There shall be a standing Ethics Committee which shall be comprised of six members and which must be exclusive of the Executive Committee.
2. The Ethics Committee shall be created at each Convention and at each General Meeting as follows: The four members of the immediately preceding Committee with the shortest length of service shall be appointed to the Committee. If fewer than four members remain on the Committee or are willing to serve on the Committee for the coming term, all the remaining members are appointed to the Committee. All remaining positions on the Committee shall be filled by a majority vote of the registered delegates on the floor. For purposes of this section, with respect to two members elected at the same Convention or Annual General Meeting, the member elected with the higher vote total shall be deemed to have had the shorter length of service.
3. The Ethics Committee shall be responsible for:
   a) disciplinary action against any Member or Associate.
   b) challenges of amendments to the Statement of Ultimate Goals believed by a member to be in conflict with the Statement of Principles;
   c) challenges to other Party documents believed by a Member to be in conflict with the Statement of Ultimate Goals;
   d) alleged violations of the Constitution or Bylaws by any Officer of the Party; and
   e) other business as directed by the Executive Committee, or by a Convention or General Meeting of the Party.

After the election of new members, the former Chairman of the Ethics Committee shall cal a a meeting to elect a new Chairman (or re-elect the current Chairman). Complaints by a member should be directed to the Chairman, who should be identified in the list of Party Officers on the Party's web site.

Disciplinary Action

As noted, failure to meet one's expectations is good reason to not re-elect an Executive, or (in some cases) to ask for his or her resignation. It is not a good reason for disciplinary action. On the other hand, failure to meet any of one's responsibilities can or should result in disciplinary action as provided by the Constitution.

By the Executive Committee

In the extreme case, the Committee can remove a member of the Executive by suspending him or her from office.

"The Executive Committee may suspend from office, by a vote of two-thirds of the entire Committee, any Executive except for the Party Leader and Deputy Party Leader. Within two weeks after a suspended member has been officially informed of his suspension, he may require that the Executive Committee call a General Meeting within six weeks for the purpose of reviewing the suspension. If no appeal is made or if the suspension is upheld then the position shall become vacant." [C 6.6]

Robert's Rules of Order 1970 (S.60) says that a meeting with power to expel or suspend also has power to vote a lesser penalty: "A motion offered in a case of this kind can propose that the offending member be required to make an apology, that he be censured, or required to leave the hall during the meeting or until he is prepared to apologize, that his rights of membership be suspended for a time, or that he be expelled from the organization." (`Suspended' and `expelled' should be interpreted as suspension or expulsion from the Committee, not from the Party; our Constitution specifically does not give the Committee any power to do the latter).

By the Ethics Committee

Any Party member may bring a complaint against an Executive for any dereliction of responsibility that, in his or her judgment, constitutes a violation of the Statement of Principles, Constitution, or Bylaws. Appeal to the Ethics Committee is an extreme measure that happens only rarely; no complaints have ever been made against an Executive for violation of the Constitution or Bylaws.