REVISED Notice of Proposed Election Code
Amendments
To All Electors of Gitxaala Nation:
In response to a petition requesting amendments to the Gitxaala Nation
Custom Election Code (the “Election Code”), Governing Council has initiated the
amendment process by Resolution dated May 1, 2015. Governing Council
provides this Notice in accordance with sections 12.4, 12.5 and 13.1 of the
Election Code.
Please bring this Notice to the attention of any Gitxaala Nation Members
eligible to vote who you know and who may have difficulty receiving this
Notice by mail. We have amended this Notice to add a further community
meeting (in red below).
Proposed Amendments
The proposed amendments are attached to this Notice.
Community Meetings
Community meetings will be held at:
May 28th, 2015, 1pm to 4pm
Museum Building, 100 1st Ave W, Prince Rupert
May 28th, 2015, 7pm to 9pm
Museum Building, 100 1st Ave W, Prince Rupert
May 29th, 2015, 1pm to 4pm
Community Hall, Kitkatla
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Deadline for Written Comments
Written comments on the proposed amendments must be received by:
June 25, 2015
Please send comments to:
C/O Drew Mildon, Woodward & Company LLP
Second Floor, 844 Courtney Street
Victoria, BC V8W 1C5
Fax: 250.380.6560
Email: [email protected]
Description of the Amendment Process
An amendment to the Election Code can start in one of two ways: 1) by a petition signed by
at least 25% of Electors; or, 2) by a Resolution of the Governing Council.
In this case, although the petition did not obtain the required number of signatures to
initiate the amendment process, Council decided it would be appropriate to proceed and
passed a Resolution on May 1, 2015 initiating the process.
Notice
Council must distribute a Notice of proposed amendment within ten (10) days of the
initiation of an amendment by: mailing a copy to all Electors; posting a copy at the
Administration Office; and posting a copy on Gitxaala Nation’s website and other public
places.
The Notice of proposed amendment shall include: the proposed amendments to the Code;
the date(s), time(s) and place(s) of the community meeting(s); the deadline for receipt of
written comments; a description of the amendment process; and notice that a copy of the
Election Code is available to any Elector upon request to the Governing Council and is
available for viewing at the Administration Office. This is the required Notice.
Meetings
The Governing Council must set the day, time and place of one or more community
meetings to be held at least twenty-five (25) days and not more than forty-five (45) days
after the initiation of any amendment of the Election Code – so the meetings must happen
between May 26th and June 14th, 2015.
Written Comments
All written comments on the proposed amendments must be received at least fifty-five (55)
days after the initiation of the amendment process – in this case by June 25, 2015.
Any Elector may provide written comments concerning the proposed amendments to the
Governing Council, care of Drew Mildon, Woodward & Company, as above, by June 25,
2015. Comments must include: (a) the name, address and signature of the Elector; (b)
the specific paragraph number(s) of the proposed amendment on which the Elector is
commenting; and (c) specific comments about the proposed amendment.
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The Governing Council must consider all comments received in the community meetings
and the written comments and make such changes to the proposed amendments as they
deem necessary in order to arrive at a final amendment proposal within ten (10) days of
the closing of the period for receiving written comments.
The Governing Council must then prepare a notice of the final amendment proposal
containing: a copy of the final amendment proposal; a description of the amendment
process, as set out in the Code; notice that a copy of the Gitxaala Nation Custom Election
Code is available to any Elector upon request to the Governing Council and is available for
viewing at the Administration Office; and notice that the final amendment proposal shall be
adopted at a duly convened meeting of the Governing Council, unless at least one (1)
Elector makes a written request to the Governing Council for an amending referendum
within twenty (20) days of the distribution of the notice of the final amendment proposal.
This notice of the final amendment proposal must then be mailed to all Electors; and
posted at the Administration Office, on the Gitxaala Nation website, and at other public
places as deemed necessary by the Governing Council.
If, within twenty (20) days of Governing Council posting the final amendment notice, at
least one (1) Elector makes a written request, then Governing Council must declare an
amending referendum will be held in accordance with the general procedures for an
Election as set out in the Code. If a referendum is held, the Code is amended as of the day
after the referendum if the proposal is approved by a simple majority of those Electors
who vote in the referendum.
If no written request for an amendment referendum is received by the Governing
Council for a final amendment proposal within the twenty (20) days, the Code is
amended as of the day after the time limit expires and Governing Council must pass a
Resolution at the next meeting that the Code has been amended. If an amendment of
the Code occurs after the Chief Electoral Officer has posted or mailed out a Notice of
Election for a particular Election, then the amendment does not apply to that particular
Election.
If the proposed amendment will proceed to referendum, the Chief Electoral Officer will
print referendum ballots at least thirty-five (35) days prior to the date of the referendum
and will post the referendum ballot thirty (30) days prior to the date of the referendum.
If this matter is to go to referendum, it is the intention of Governing Council to include the
referendum along with the Ballots of the By-Election to be held on August 5th, 2015 and to
rely on the other steps taken as part of the Election Procedures to clarify the Voters List.
Election Code Available
A copy of the Election Code is available to any Elector upon request to the Governing
Council and is available for viewing at the Administration Office. It is also available online
at: http://gitxaalanation.com.
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Proposed Amendments
1. To amend Section 6.22 by striking out " ... a new Gitxaala Justice Tribunal
consisting of at least (5) persons ... " and substituting "... instruct a professional
arbitration organization of the Governing Council’s choosing to appoint an
independent arbitrator consisting of one (1) person ... "
The current Section 6.22 is:
6.22 The Governing Council shall by resolution appoint a new Gitxaala Justice Tribunal
consisting of at least five (5) persons not less than sixty (60) days prior to the date on
which a General Election will be held.
2. To amend Section 11.6 by striking out: " ... otherwise establish its own Rules of
Procedure as needed", and substituting "... use the Rules of Procedure that are the
standard in the professional arbitration organization chosen by the Governing
Council..."
The current Section 11.6 is:
11.6 The Gitxaala Justice Tribunal shall otherwise establish its own Rules of Procedure as
needed and the Tribunal may, at its own discretion, secure legal advice and hear
evidence, including witnesses, in the course of its review of an appeal.
3. To amend section 12.7 by placing the following text after the word "necessary" and
in front of the word "in order" so that it would read " ... only to comments received
and if those comments do not counter any language stated to be substituted into the
Gitxaala Nation Custom Election Code that the amendment process triggering
petition included. The language to be substituted included in the petition is either
binding on Governing Council or to be included as an option in a referendum as is
also part of this Election Code. Changes made to comments received are only made
...”
The current Section 12.7 is:
12.7 The Governing Council shall consider all comments received in accordance with
sections 12.2 and 12.6 and make such changes to the proposed amendments as they
deem necessary in order to arrive at a final amendment proposal within ten (10) days of
the closing of the period for receiving written comments.
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4. To repeal Subsection 4.8 (a) to {e) and substitute: "Five (5) Councillors shall be
elected, pursuant to this Code, by all Gitxaala Nation Electors"
The current Section 4.8 is:
4.8 The five (5) Councillors of the Governing Council shall be elected pursuant to this
Code and be comprised of:
a) one (1) Councillor elected by the Electors who are members of the Ganhada Clan;
b) one (1) Councillor elected by the Electors who are members of the Gispuwada
clan;
c) one (1) Councillor elected by the Electors who are members of the Lasgeek Clan;
d) one (1) Councillor elected by the Electors who are members of the Laxgibu Clan;
and
e) one (1) Councillor elected by the Electors and who is less than thirty-one (31)
years of age on the date of the relevant Election.
5. To repeal (delete) Sections 2.0 and 2.1.
The current Sections 2.0 and 2.1 are:
2.0 Code forms Part of the Ayaawk
2.1 The Gitxaala Nation Custom Election Code forms part of the ayaawk of the Gitxaala
Nation upon its adoption by the Gitxaala Nation.
6. Consequential Amendments
All amendments require that any and all other Sections and Definitions of the
Gitxaala Nation Custom Election Code that are counter to the proposed language to
be substituted into the Election Code be Amended or Repealed. For further
clarification of the fourth amendment in this petition regarding Clans and
Constitutional language, all mention of Clans in other Sections of the Election Code
shall be substituted with whatever language the Governing Council deems necessary
that would ensure that all Gitxaala Nation Electors are eligible to vote for all
candidates.
All amendments that repeal or substitute language of Sections in the Gitxaala Nation
Custom Election Code may need additional amendments in order for the Gitxaala
Nation Custom Election Code to still function in its entirety, which the Governing
Council may add so long as they do not counter the language to be substituted into
the Gitxaala Nation Custom Election Code.
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Petition Rationale for Proposed Amendments
The petition received by Governing Council provided the following reasons for the
proposed Amendments.
Whereas many Gitxaala Nation Electors would undoubtedly assume that any
decision made by any Tribunal made up of any Band Members could be biased
because of the possible perception of conflict of interest;
And whereas the possible perception of conflict of interest of the Gitxaala Justice
Tribunal from being made up of Band Members would undoubtedly cause a
decision of the Gitxaala Justice Tribunal to be appealed to a court of competent
jurisdiction, and resulting in a final election result to not be within a timely manner,
results in the Gitxaala Justice Tribunal to cease to serve its purpose;
And whereas sections of the Gitxaala Nation Custom Election Code contain
Constitutional language that attempts to combine our Traditional System of
Governance (true system) with a foreign law imposed onto Gitxaala Nation (Indian
Act), and Gitxaala Nation Electors were never consulted or informed that such
language was contained in this Election Code; The very small number of people who
voted for the Election Code proves that such language is of no force or effect over
our traditional laws, and Gitxaala Nation has not signed away its Sovereignty, nor
does this Election Code form part of our Ayaawk under Gitxaala Traditional Law,
Canadian Law, and International Law.
Impacts of the Proposed Amendments
The proposed amendments would have the following impacts:
1. Remove explicit acknowledgment that the Election Code is part of the ayaawk
of the Gitxaala Nation.
2. Remove the role of the Clan-based system of electing Councillors.
3. Remove review of elections and Election Code matters from an internal body
and make it the responsibility of a professional arbitrator.
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