Monday, April 30, 2012

Meetings and Procedures

By Oswaldo Taggart


You ought to know about parliamentary procedures if you are a Vancouver property manager. If you don't understand it then your strata meetings will become unworkable. Stress levels will rise and arguments will ensue.

The objective of parliamentary procedure is clear to most people. It is to transact assembly business in an efficient and orderly manner. It is the best way to accomplish the meeting's goals.

There are certain principles of parliamentary law. Justice and equality for all is the first. Minorities are heard and respected, but the majority rules.There is a right to be heard by proxy.

There are common rules and customs. They have evolved into what are called common parliamentary laws. All assembly members should be familiar with these laws.

There can only be one question before the gathering at a time. It has to be in the form of a motion. It must have a proposer and a seconder. The motion must be clearly re-stated by the chair. At that point the gathering can debate the merits of the issue.

Before they speak the chair must recognize assembly members. This includes making motions or speaking to motions. This is done by rising and asking the chair for recognition. Once this is done the speaker has the floor and can address the assembly.

No single individual can monopolize the assembly by speaking too long. Nor can someone speak twice on the same subject. This rule can be bent with the consent of the assembly. However, before someone speaks a second time on the question all other people who desire to speak must have a chance to do so.

People who have the floor must refrain from directing questions to or speaking directly to other gathering members. Nor can the speaker use another gathering member's name when it can be avoided. Instead, all remarks should be directed to the Chair.

There are just three possible ways to deal with a question put forth at a assembly. The first is to adopt it through voting. The second option is to reject the question. If neither one of those routes are chosen the assembly must dispose of the motion in some other way, such as having the proposer withdraw it. There are rare motions that do not fall into one of these three categories, and are referred to as "privileged".

The process to deal with a motion has eight steps. The person who wants to make a motion rises and addresses the Chair. Next, the Chair recognizes the speaker and gives them the floor. The speaker then says "I move..." and expresses the motion to the assembly. The motion then has to be seconded by another person at the gathering. The motion is then clearly stated by the Chair so everyone understands the wording. The gathering can then discuss and debate the motion. Members may rise and state "I wish to speak in favour of..." or "I rise to speak against...". The motion is put to a vote when discussion ceases. The Chair then reports the vote result and what the action will be, if any.




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