RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR WINNIPEG TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
1. Definitions
a) “Assembly” means meetings of the Executive or of Council or a general membership meeting;
b) “main motion” means a motion made to bring any subject before the Council for its consideration;
c) “majority vote” means fifty percent (50%) plus one or more of the votes cast;
d) “member” means a voting member of the Assembly;
e) “two‑thirds” vote means two-thirds (2/3) or more of the votes cast.
2. Quorum
a) for an Association Council meeting shall be forty (40) elected Representatives
b) for an Executive meting shall be seven (7) members
3. Agenda
a) The agenda shall outline the order of business of the Assembly;
b) Once accepted, the agenda shall not be departed from except by the unanimous consent of the members present and voting;
c) Motions on business not on the agenda shall be brought up under New Business.
4. Adjournment
a) Any member may move that the Assembly adjourn by rising and saying, “I move that this Assembly do now adjourn”.
b) If made during debate, such a motion shall not be debated, and the question shall immediately be put.
c) If business is pending, such a motion is debatable.
d) Such a motion shall not be amended.
e) If no business is pending, the meeting shall be adjourned by the Presiding Officer.
5. Amendments
a) Any member may move an amendment to a motion, except the mover and seconder of the motion it is proposed to amend.
b) A member may move only one amendment but may speak to an amendment moved by another member.
c) A motion to amend shall be relevant to the motion.
d) A motion to amend shall not negate the motion.
e) Motions to amend shall propose to leave out and/or add words.
f) A motion to amend, once defeated, shall not be proposed a second time.
g) The mover of a motion to amend shall speak only once to the motion to amend.
6. Amendments to the Amendments
a) When a motion to amend has been proposed, any member, except the mover and the seconder of the amendment, may move a motion to amend the amendments.
b) A motion to amend the amendment shall deal only with the matter of the wording of the amendment and not with other aspects of the main motion.
7. Debate
a) A member desiring to speak shall raise a hand to be recognized by the Presiding Officer.
b) The Presiding Officer shall call upon the member to speak, in turn, as recognized by the Presiding Officer.
c) Before speaking, every member shall be identified by name and electoral unit, where applicable.
d) A member speaking shall confine remarks to the question under debate.
e) A member shall not speak twice to a motion except, at the discretion of the Presiding Officer, to explain a material part of the speech which may have been misunderstood.
f) A member who moves a motion may speak a second time but will be closing debate.
g) A member may ask questions as often as recognized by the Presiding Officer.
h) Where the Presiding Officer wishes to enter debate, he or she shall request another member to assume the Chair.
8. Committee of the Whole
a) Any member may move that the Assembly go into the Committee of the Whole to discuss a specific subject or subjects by stating, “I move that we go into the Committee of the Whole to discuss [state specific subject(s)]”.
b) The chairperson of the Committee of the Whole shall be appointed by the Presiding Officer who then becomes a member of the Committee.
c) The Committee of the Whole may only discuss the subject(s) referred to it.
d) Any member of the Committee of the Whole may speak as often as recognized by the Chair.
e) A motion or amendment in Committee of the Whole does not need a seconder.
f) The proceedings of the Committee of the Whole shall not be recorded in the minutes of the Assembly.
g) Any member of the Committee may move, except during a vote or when another member is speaking, that the Committee rise and report. The motion shall not be debated or amended.
h) If the motion to rise and report is carried, the Chair then reports the decision of the Committee to the Presiding Officer and the report shall be recorded in the minutes.
i) Any member may make a motion to concur with the report of the Committee of the Whole.
9. To Table a Motion
a) Any member may move a motion to table the question under consideration by rising and saying, “I move that this motion be tabled”.
b) Such a motion is not debatable and shall be put to the vote immediately.
c) If carried, the pending question, and everything adhering to it, is placed in charge of the Recording Secretary.
d) A tabled question may, by motion, be brought again before the Council. The debate on the question will resume where it was interrupted.
e) A tabled question that is not raised from the table before the closing of the Assembly is no longer a valid motion.
10. To Raise From the Table
a) A tabled motion may be raised from the table by any member at any time subject to “Precedence of Motion”.
b) To remove a question from the table, the member states, “I move that (state motion) be raised from the table”. A motion to raise from the table shall not be debated or amended.
c) A motion to raise from the table may not be made immediately after the original motion to table.
d) If a motion to raise from the table is defeated, it shall not be proposed again until such time as some other business is decided.
e) When the motion passes, debate resumes where it was interrupted at the time it was tabled.
11. To Refer or To Refer Back
a) Any member of any Assembly may move a motion to refer a question:
i) to one of the Assembly’s constituent committees; or
ii) from:
– General meeting to any Assembly;
– Council to Executive; or
iii) to the President.
b) The motion is debatable as to the advisability to refer.
c) The motion may be amended.
d) A motion to refer cannot be tabled or postponed except in connection with the main question.
e) Any question referred shall be placed on the agenda of the next Assembly as an item of Business Arising from the Minutes.
12. To Postpone to a Definite Time
a) Any member may move that a question be postponed to a definite time (“time” shall include position in the order of business) by rising and saying, “I move that further consideration of this question be postponed until (state the time)”.
b) This motion is debatable and amendable in respect to time.
c) When the specified time is reached, the question shall have priority.
d) A question postponed can only be considered at an earlier time by a two-thirds vote.
13. To Withdraw a Motion
a) A mover of a motion may request that the motion be withdrawn (with the permission of the seconder) (before voting has begun) by rising and saying, “I request permission to withdraw (state the motion)”.
b) If no objection is made, the motion is withdrawn.
c) If any member should object, the motion shall be withdrawn only upon a motion duly passed.
14. To End the Debate
a) Except as provided hereafter, any member may move to end debate by rising and saying, “I move that this question be now put”.
b) A member who has spoken on the main question shall not move or second a motion to put the question.
c) A motion to put the question shall be made to any motion.
d) A motion to put the question is not debatable and requires for passage a two‑thirds vote.
e) If carried, the question is put; if not, the debate resumes where it left off.
15. Time Limit on Debate
a) Any member may, as a Question of Privilege, move that time limits be set either for individual speakers or for the length of the debate on any question. To be carried, such a motion requires a majority of the Assembly present and voting.
b) A motion to limit debate can be debated or amended.
16. Voting Procedure
a) When debate appears to have closed the Presiding Officer shall ask, “Are you ready for the question?” If no member should object, the question shall be put.
b) The question will be read unless it has been read recently.
c) Any member may request a recorded vote before the voting takes place.
d) Members shall vote by raising their hands.
e) Any member may request a division (standing vote).
17. Division (Standing Vote)
a) Any member may call for a division on a question after the question has been put and before another motion has been stated by calling out “Division”.
b) The vote shall then be taken again with a standing vote. Members may be asked to assist in counting the vote.
c) The result is announced by declaring the question carried or lost.
d) Any member may request that the number voting be announced and recorded.
18. To Rescind a Motion
a) Any motion may be rescinded.
b) Any member may move that a motion be rescinded by rising and saying, “I move that the motion (state it) be rescinded”.
c) Such a motion is debatable.
d) For passage, the motion requires two‑thirds majority.
e) A motion to rescind may not interrupt a motion under debate.
19. To Reconsider a Motion
a) A member may move that a motion be reconsidered by rising and saying, “I move that the defeated motion (state it) be reconsidered”.
b) A motion for reconsideration cannot be called up until a subsequent meeting of that Assembly.
c) A motion to reconsider shall be called up before it may be debated or voted upon.
d) A motion to reconsider shall have the same status as the motion it is proposed to reconsider.
e) For passage a simple majority is required.
f) A motion to reconsider takes priority over all other motions.
g) If a motion to reconsider is passed, the original motion shall be open to free debate regardless of speeches made during its original consideration.
20. Precedence of Motion
Each motion on the list has precedence of those below and is superseded by those above:
a) to reconsider a motion
b) to adjourn
c) to a motion on a question of privilege
d) to table
e) to raise from the table
f) to put the question
g) to postpone to a specified time
h) to refer
i) to amend
j) to the main motion
k) to rescind
21. Order
a) Any member may point out a breach of the rules of procedure by rising and saying, “I rise to a point of order”.
b) The member may interrupt the speaker.
c) When the member is asked, the point of order will be stated, and the Presiding Officer will rule on it.
22. To Appeal From the Decision of the Chair
a) Any member may object to a decision of the Presiding Officer by rising and saying, “I appeal from the decision of the chair” and stating the appeal.
b) An appeal from the decision of the chair is not debatable.
c) The chair may, by way of reply, explain the ruling and ask the Assembly for a decision on the appeal. This decision is made by majority vote.
23. Privilege
a) Any member may raise a question of privilege by rising and stating, “I rise to a question of personal privilege”. The member is then asked to state the question.
b) The Presiding Officer rules whether it is a point of privilege.
c) The motion arising from the privilege then becomes the pending question.
d) The Assembly continues, where interrupted, when the question of privilege is disposed of.
24. Suspension of the Operation of this Bylaw
a) Any member may move the temporary suspension of any specific provision of this bylaw, except as noted hereunder, by rising and saying, “I move that (Section/sub‑section) of Bylaw II be suspended to enable (here state the purpose of the suspension)”.
b) A motion to suspend any provisions of this bylaw is debatable.
c) Such a motion requires, for passage, unanimous consent of the members present and voting.
d) The following provisions of this bylaw shall not be suspended in any circumstances:
i) this section in its entirety.
ii) any provision stipulating a two‑thirds vote.
iii) any provision stipulating unanimous consent.