The Western Quebec Literacy Council
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Constitution and Bylaws

I General Dispositions

Article 1 – Name

The name of the organization will be the Western Québec Literacy Council/le Conseil d’Alphabétisation de l’Ouest du Québec, herein referred to as WQLC/CAOQ.

Article 2 – Head Office

The Head Office of the Western Québec Literacy Council shall be in the Town of Shawville in the Province of Québec.

Article 3 – Vision

The vision of the Western Québec Literacy Council is to help and encourage members of our community to develop the skills needed for life long learning, enabling them to reach their full potential.

Article 4 – Mission

The mission of the Western Québec Literacy Council is to help English-speaking adults; families and youth improve their reading, writing, listening, speaking, numeracy and other life skills through programs adapted to the needs of the individual. As a charitable volunteer organization, the Western Québec Literacy Council recruits and trains committed volunteers as tutors and support personnel. The Western Québec Literacy Council is dedicated to promoting community awareness with sensitivity throughout the region of West Québec.

Article 5 – Aims and Purpose

The Western Québec Literacy Council is a non-profit and a charitable organization whose objectives are:

  1. to recruit adults and youth and help them achieve a functional reading, writing, listening, speaking, and numeracy level, in one-to-one teaching situations using volunteer tutors;
  2. to recruit and train adults and youth as volunteer tutors and support them and enhance their tutoring skills through in-house workshops;
  3. to promote community awareness of the extent of the problem of illiteracy and to enlist support;
  4. to raise funds by various means to support the operation of the Western Québec Literacy Council;
  5. to work in conjunction with the Laubach Literacy of Canada-Québec/Literacy Volunteers of Québec, and to cooperate with other groups who have similar aims.

II Membership

Article 6 – Membership

Members shall be all persons living within Western Québec and:

  1. trained in the Laubach Literacy of Canada approved literacy workshops; or
  2. persons who work with the Western Québec Literacy Council in a supportive capacity.
Article 7 – Honorary Member

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council can confer an honorary membership. Honorary members have no vote on the council’s Board of Directors and cannot be elected to the Board of Directors.

Article 8 – Membership Dues

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council at its regular annual meeting will discuss the annual membership dues, the time, the place and the way to obtain payment of the membership dues.

Article 9 – Membership Cards

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council will deliver the membership cards prior to the annual general meeting.

Article 10 – Suspension or Expulsion

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council may suspend or expulse a member, who omits to pay the annual membership dues, breaks any rules or regulations or has any contrary ways of the association or council. Prior to proceed to the suspension or expulsion of a member, the Board of Directors has to hear the member’s plea or to advise the member when the member will be heard before the Board of Directors.

III Annual Meeting

Article 11 – Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held within one hundred and twenty (120) days following the fiscal year end, June 30th. The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council chooses the date, time and place of the annual meeting. A notice of meeting is sent to all members at least 10 days prior to the Annual General Meeting.

Article 12 – Extraordinary Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council or ten (10) active members may convene an extraordinary meeting with the date, time and place that these members decide. The Secretary is held responsible to send notification of this extraordinary meeting. A ten (10) day notice is required for all members. The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council proceeds by resolution; the ten (10) or more members need to give notification in writing signed by all ten (10) or more members. The notice must contain the reason or the reasons for this extraordinary meeting.

Article 13 – Agenda

The agenda for the Annual General Meeting must contain no less than the following subjects:

  1. adoption of the membership list;
  2. adoption of the agenda;
  3. adoption of the minutes of the last annual general meeting;
  4. acceptance of the Board of Directors’ report;
  5. acceptance of the Financial Statements;
  6. acceptance of the budget;
  7. election of the members of the Board of Directors; and
  8. revisions and or amendments to the By-laws

The agenda must limit itself to the subjects mentioned in the notification of the Annual General Meeting.

Article 14 – Quorum

25% (twenty-five percent) of the members present at the Annual General Meeting constitute a quorum.

Article 15 – Vote

At an annual meeting of the members, only members in good standing are allowed one vote each. The vote by proxy is forbidden. In case of an equal amount of votes, the Chairperson has a decisional vote. The vote is decided by a show of hands, unless three (3) members present claim a secret ballot vote. In case of a secret ballot vote, the Chairperson of the annual general meeting names two (2) scrutineers amongst the members in good standing to distribute and collect the ballots, compile the results of the vote and inform the Chairperson. All propositions submitted to the annual general meeting will be adopted by a simple majority vote (50% + 1).

IV Board of Directors

Article 16 – Numbers of directors

The Board of Directors of the Western Québec Literacy Council is comprised of seven elected members.

Article 17 – Eligibility

Any member in good standing has a vote and may stand to be elected to the Board of Directors. Members of the Board of Directors are not remunerated; only expenses incurred for the association are reimbursed

Article 18 – Mandate

A board members’ mandate is for one year, the board member may be reelected at the end of the directors’ term.

Article 19 – Election

The election of the board members is held once a year at the annual general meeting of its members.

Article 20 – Vacancy

If a vacancy occurs during a year, members of the board of directors may nominate a member in good standing to fill in the vacancy for the remaining of that term.
In case of vacancy, the board of directors may still exercise their functions as long as a quorum is present.

Article 21 – Quorum

There is quorum when three (3) members of the board are present.

Article 22 – Board of Directors Duties

The Board of Directors is elected to administer all the business of the Council.
At the end of the Annual General Meeting, the board will give itself an internal structure in fact electing amongst themselves a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. As need be the Board of Directors may elect members for specific tasks.

Other Board of Directors duties are:

  1. the accomplishment of all acts necessary for the realization of the Western Québec Literacy Council;
  2. the adoption or modification of new By-laws;
  3. the adoption of policies and procedures that are necessary in the accomplishments of the Western Québec Literacy Council;
  4. the hiring of employees;
  5. the costs and expenses that may be authorized;
  6. the contracts and obligations that may occur;
  7. the members admissibility's;
  8. the application of By-laws;
  9. the enactment of the By-laws.
Article 23 – Meetings of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors has to hold at least four (4) meetings during its mandate.
The notice of meeting may be in writing or made verbally. Two (2) days notification needs to be given prior to a board meeting. All verbal, telephone or e-mail notices need to be followed by a written renunciation. If all members of the Board of Directors are present they may, if all concur, have an official Board of Directors meeting. In this case a notification is unnecessary, if all members sign a renunciation to this effect, allowing no doubts in holding an official Board of Directors meeting.

Article 24 – Committees of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors may mandate specific studies to be made by committees. The Board of Directors will not be held by the recommendations of such committees, but the Board of Directors must allow members of the Western Québec Literacy Council to take note of these reports.

V Executive Committee

Article 25 – Composition

The Executive Committee is comprised of the chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary and treasurer.

Article 26 – Election

The Board of Directors elects the Executive Committee.

Article 27 – Chairperson

The Chairperson of the Western Québec Literacy Council has the following duties:

  1. the presidency of all Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Annual General Meetings;
  2. the official participation on all committees of the Board of Directors;
  3. oversees the execution of all decisions made by the Board of Directors;
  4. the signature along with the secretary of all necessary and official documents of the Western Québec Literacy Council;
  5. and public relations.
Article 28 – Vice-chairperson

The vice-chairperson replaces the chairperson in the chairperson’s absence and the vice-chairperson will have all of the chairperson’s prerogatives.

Article 29 – Secretary

The secretary has the following duties:

  1. the preparation of minutes of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings;
  2. the safe keeping of the archives, the minutes books, the members and board registries;
  3. the signature along with the Chairperson of all necessary and official documents of the Western Québec Literacy Council;
  4. the preparation of various reports as requested by certain By-laws;
  5. the Western Québec Literacy Council’s correspondence.
Article 30 – Treasurer

The treasurer has the following duties:

  1. presents proposed budgets to the Board for approval;
  2. reviews financial policy and procedures;
  3. reviews the bank statements on a monthly basis;
  4. prepares and presents the monthly statements to the Board;
  5. ensures that payroll, payroll withholdings, employer contributions and other debts are settled by their deadlines;
  6. presents the annual financial statements to the membership at the Annual General Meeting;
  7. signs with the chairperson cheques and other commercial effects; and
  8. prepares and makes the deposits.
Article 31 – Remuneration

Members of the Executive Committee are not remunerated for their services.

VI Finances

Article 32 – Financial Business

The Board of Directors will choose the location that the treasurer will do the financial business of the Western Québec Literacy Council.

Article 33 – Fiscal Year

Unless otherwise ordered by the Board of Directors, the fiscal year end of the council shall be 30 June. A complete financial statement for the previous year shall be prepared by 30 September.

The Board of Directors may choose other dates.

The books of the Western Québec Literacy Council will be updated as soon as possible at year-end. Any member in good standing may consult the books, by request made to the treasurer, on site and during head office normal hours.

Article 34 – Amendments and Modifications to the By-laws

The By-laws of the council not embodied in the letters patent may be repealed or amended by the by-laws enacted by a majority of the directors at a meeting of the Board of Directors and sanctioned by an affirmative vote of the members at a meeting duly called for the purpose of considering the by-laws. The votes by proxy will be forbidden. The By-laws may be amended either at the Annual General Meeting of the council or in a mail ballot, provided that, in either case, notice of the proposed action be sent to each member of the council at least thirty days prior to the date of voting.

Article 35 – In Effect

The present By-laws replace the January 21, 1992 By-laws and their amendments dated May 25, 1994, August 23, 1995, August 16, 1997, and September 28, 2002.