Resolutions

The resolutions process gives members the opportunity to directly influence the policy and advocacy work of the Federation of Prince Edward Island Municipalities (FPEIM), as well as the organization itself.

1.   RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE

1.1 The Board shall appoint a resolutions committee of three or more members.

2.  SUBMISSION OF RESOLUTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE MEMBERS

2.1 Member municipalities and the FPEIM Board of Directors may submit resolutions to the Resolutions Committee for consideration at the annual or semi-annual meeting.

2.2 Resolutions submitted for consideration should address a topic of direct responsibility or concern of Prince Edward Island municipalities and fall within the jurisdiction of the provincial government.   The operative clause(s) should clearly set out what action is to be undertaken by the Federation.  A request for a change in federal government policy should be expressed as the Federation recommending an action to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

2.3 The deadline for receiving resolutions shall be at 4 pm on the sixtieth calendar day prior to the annual or semi-annual meeting.

2.4 Proof of endorsement by the sponsoring council must accompany all resolutions submitted to FPEIM.

3. ASSESSMENT AND CATEGORIZATION OF RESOLUTIONS

3.1 The Resolutions Committee shall categorize each resolution received into one of the following categories:

Category “A” – Municipal issues
Resolutions on issues that are the direct responsibility or concern of Prince Edward Island municipalities, and that fall within the jurisdiction of the provincial or federal governments.

Category “B” – Local Issues
Resolutions that deal with issues of primarily local concern.

Category “C” – Non-municipal Issues
Resolutions that deal with non-municipal matters.  This category contains resolutions that are not a municipal responsibility and/or do not fall within provincial or federal jurisdiction.

Category “D” – Recently Addressed and Ongoing Issues
Resolutions that deal with matters on which the Federation has taken a position in the past three years, or which have been the subject of a resolution brought before the members at any of the three immediately previous annual meetings or the three previous semi-annual meetings.

Category “E” – FPEIM Issues
Resolutions on matters relating to the Federation and its organization, structure or operation.

3.2 The Resolutions Committee shall prepare an assessment of each resolution received.  The Committee may recommend concurrence or non-concurrence on Category “A” and Category “E” resolutions.  The reasons for the recommendation shall be briefly explained in the report of the Resolutions Committee. For clarity, a recommendation of “concurrence” means it is recommended that the resolution be adopted by the membership and a recommendation on “non-concurrence” means it is recommended that the resolution be defeated by the membership.

3.3 If the Resolutions Committee deems it necessary or appropriate, it may amend resolutions submitted by the member municipalities, however any such amendment must not alter the intent of the resolution.  These changes need not be noted in the report of the Resolutions Committee.

3.4 The Resolutions Committee shall submit each resolution to the Board, along with:

3.4.1 the assessment of the resolution;
3.4.2 the recommended resolution category;
3.4.3 any proposed amendments to the resolution; and
3.4.4 a recommendation, if desired, of concurrence or non-concurrence on  any Category “A” or Category “E” resolution.

3.5 After considering the information presented by the Resolutions Committee, the Board:

3.5.1 Shall approve, reject or amend any amendments to resolutions made by the Resolutions Committee;
3.5.2 Shall approve or amend the categorization of each resolution;
3.5.3 May amend the assessment of a resolution;
3.5.4 May recommend concurrence or non-concurrence on any Category “A” or Category “E” resolution.

3.6 The Resolutions Committee shall, at least thirty (30) days prior to the annual or semi-annual meeting, forward to all member municipalities a copy of:

3.6.1 all Category A and Category E  resolutions that will be considered at that meeting; and
3.6.2 all Category B, C and D resolutions, for information purposes.

3.7 The Board may, on a two-thirds majority vote of Board member present, determine that a resolution, regardless of categorization, shall not be forwarded to its members on the basis that it:

3.7.1 Is contrary to the mission and/or goals of the Federation;
3.7.2 Contains private or personal information;
3.7.3 Addresses an existing or anticipated legal matter;
3.7.4 Addresses a human resources matter; and/or
3.7.5 Is discriminatory, defamatory or offensive.

3.8 The Resolutions Committee shall, as soon as practicable, notify the CAO of any municipality that has submitted a resolution of:

3.8.1 any amendment(s) made to the resolution, and the categorization, assessment and recommendation, if any; or
3.8.2 that a resolution will not be distributed to members in accordance with section 3.7.

4. LATE RESOLUTIONS

4.1 Resolutions received following the deadline shall be held for consideration at a meeting of the FPEIM Board of Directors, unless the sponsoring municipality requests that the resolution be brought forward at a subsequent general membership meeting.  However, if the Board determines that:

4.1.1 a resolution is of an emergency nature;
4.1.2 sufficient research has been done to understand the implications of the resolution; and 4.1.3 the resolution concerns a matter that has clear implications for municipalities;
4.1.3 it may assess and categorize the resolution, distribute it to member municipalities if time permits, and the resolution may be presented at the annual or semi-annual meeting.  The resolution may only be brought to the floor of the meeting on a motion receiving a two thirds (2/3) majority vote by the accredited voting delegates.  If approved, a separate motion is required to debate and vote on the resolution.

5. VOTING AND DEBATE ON RESOLUTIONS AT MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

5.1 At the resolutions session the Chair of the Resolution Committee shall report to the meeting delegates on all resolutions forwarded to members and all emergency resolutions.

5.2 Each Category “A” and Category E resolution in the report of the Resolutions Committee, after being moved and seconded, shall be debated and voted upon individually.

5.3 Category B, C and D resolutions are provided for information purposes and shall only be brought to the floor on a motion made and passed by a majority vote of accredited voting delegates to:

5.3.1 change the category of the resolution to A or E; or
5.3.2 bring the resolution to the floor, without changing the category.

5.4 Only accredited voting delegates may move, second and vote on motions.  All delegates that are elected members of a council that is a member municipality may debate motions.

5.5 The debate and vote on any motion to change the category assigned to a resolution or to bring a resolution to the floor shall be on the merits of changing the category or bringing the resolution to the floor, as the case may be; not on the merits of the resolution itself.

5.6 The vote on any resolution brought to the floor shall be on the merits of the resolution itself and not on the recommendation of the Resolutions Committee or the Board.

5.7 A representative from the sponsoring municipality will be given the first opportunity to speak.  All speakers must identify themselves and their municipality and must confine their remarks to a maximum of two minutes.  No delegate will be permitted to speak more than once on any resolution until other delegates that wish to speak have been heard, except to explain a misinterpretation of that delegate’s remarks. The representative from the sponsoring municipality shall have the right to speak to reply and sum up in closing the debate.

5.8 Motions from the floor to amend a resolution will only be permitted if they propose minor changes that do not alter the intent of the resolution.

6.  SUBMISSION OF RESOLUTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE BOARD

6.1 Member municipalities may submit resolutions at any time to the Resolutions Committee for consideration by the FPEIM Board of Directors.

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RESOLUTION

Resolutions generally contain a preamble and operative clause.  The preamble describes the issue and the operative clause outlines the action being requested.  The resolution should answer the following three questions:

• What is the problem?
• What is causing the problem?
• What is the best way to solve the problem?

Preamble:

The preamble commences with a “WHEREAS” clause.  Each clause is a separate but concise statement providing information as to the nature of the problem or the reason for the request.

The preliminary clauses should clearly and briefly set out the reasons for the resolution, including the implications for municipalities.  If the sponsor believes that the rationale cannot be explained in a few preliminary clauses, the problem should be more fully stated in supporting documentation.

Operative clause:

The “operative clause” begins with the words “BE IT RESOLVED”.  This clause should be as short as possible and it must clearly describe the action being requested.

The operative clause of the resolution must clearly set out the intent of the resolution, stating a specific proposal for action by FPEIM.  The wording should leave no doubt as to the action being requested and be appropriate to the problem outlined in the preamble.

HOW TO DRAFT A RESOLUTION FOR FPEIM

1.         The language of a resolution should be simple, action oriented, and free of ambiguous terms.

A resolution that contains well-chosen words will be easier to understand, and increase the likelihood that the municipality will achieve its objective.

2.         Each resolution should embody only one subject.

Since your municipality seeks to influence attitudes and actions, the resolution should directly state the desired action.  The delegates need to have a clear understanding of the action that is being requested.

3.         Council resolutions submitted to FPEIM should be accompanied by additional information.

Where possible, a resolution should be accompanied by background information to ensure that the “intent” of the resolution is understood, and to facilitate efforts by the FPEIM Board of Directors to achieve the objectives outlined in the resolution.

Consideration of resolutions submitted without adequate background documentation/information may be delayed until the sponsor has been consulted and material has been provided that outlines the intent of the resolution.

4.         Resolutions should be properly titled.

A title will assist in identifying the intent of the resolution and, reduce the possibility of misinterpretation.

A title is usually determined from the “operative clause” of the resolution.  For ease of printing in the Annual Report and for clarity of intent, a title should not be comprised of more than three or four words.

5.         Resolutions should contain accurate legislative references.

The municipality that is sponsoring the resolution should ensure that the jurisdictional responsibility has been correctly identified (e.g. ministry or department within the federal or provincial governments).

When references are made within a resolution to particular legislation and responsible ministry, the municipality should ensure that the correct Act has been identified.

6.         Resolutions should deal with issues that are province-wide.

It is important to ensure that the issue identified in the resolution is relevant to other municipalities across the province so the proper debate on the issue can be undertaken and so FPEIM can effectively represent your concern to the provincial/federal government on behalf of all of the municipalities in the province.