What is being proposed?
- to move from a board of 39 directors to a board of 9 directors, and
- to create a Representative Assembly of ~ 100 members to elect a majority of the directors and to more fully advise the board
What informs my perspective?
Beyond my prior involvements (see FAQ page from 2013), I’ve had input into the issues examined by, and have additionally met with, the Governance Committee and its members. I also attended, and contributed to, the Board meeting of December 2nd where more discussions were had and enabling resolutions updated and passed.
Process observations:
Of the concerns that came out in the course of consultation, those with substance have been designed away. Other discussions have included
(1) misunderstandings of what is being proposed, or the consequences thereof
(2) levels of detail that don’t actually need to be spelt out in the bylaws, some being given to the RA to decide and others able to be handled though policies that the board will be able to develop if and as the needs arise;
(3) possibly the interests of subgroups who stand to lose what they may have enjoyed in excess; and
(4) scenarios which, if they did end up justifying a provision in the bylaws, could be handled by an amendment as soon as they would be clearly needed. Thanks to new Societies Act, such changes will now need only 66% in favour, not 75%.
What makes the proposal as a whole such an improvement?
Boards have important high-level responsibilities:
- In an Association like the Doctors of BC, it matters who serves among the directors and yet most of ours had been acclaimed into their positions or, when elected, voted in by a membership that may have been unclear as to what was most needed.
- If you would then add in physicians’ inherent capacity to disagree and a reluctance to let others make decisions and then seat them at a table of 39, it’s no wonder that what should have been the most important decisions sometimes did not get made. As I like to observe, 39 people can inform a decision but 39 people cannot make a decision.
- directors seated around a table of 39 can find it exceedingly hard to feel a sense of personal contribution and responsibility and likewise for the group to feel accountable and to enable accountability as a whole.
For me, the above would be enough to vote for the proposal, but there is more.
The other key proposed deliverable is the creation a Representative Assembly (RA) of just over 100 members. Short of going through its provisions in detail, allow me to say that I believe the RA will provide an important forum for working together at the same time as helping us in the selection of directors for the Board. All the more reason to vote in favour.
This is our single opportunity to create a better Association. I hope vast numbers join me in voting “For” the package’s Special Resolutions.