Approved October 2014
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CONSTITUTION
1. This national organization is to be known as the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier Association of Canada Inc. (SCWTAC). Its area of operation shall include all of Canada. The head office will be at the residence of, or as specified by, the secretary.
2. The objects and aims of the Association shall be:
2.1 to do all in the Association’s power to protect and advance the interests of the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier (SCWT).
2.2 to guard against commercial exploitation of the SCWT.
2.3 to support the conscientious and careful breeding of the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier (SCWT) according to the Breed Standard.
2.4 to encourage the organization of Local Section Clubs (LSC) in those localities where there are sufficient fanciers of the SCWT, and to support LSC activities.
2.5 to support the training and exhibiting of the SCWT and encourage sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, obedience trials and other events, in accordance with CKC rules.
2.6 to make information available on the proper care of SCWT and to provide ongoing education on pertinent issues.
2.7 to conduct Boosters and Specialty Shows under Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) rules.
3. The Association shall not be conducted nor operated for profit, and no part of any profits or remainder or residue from dues or donations to the Association shall be to the benefit of any member or individual.
4. The members of the Association shall adopt the by-laws and may, from time to time, revise such by-laws as may be required to carry out these objectives.
5. Except by the Association itself, the use of the SCWTAC emblem or name in any form of advertising by any member or group of members is prohibited without written approval of the Board.
BY-LAWS
Section 1 – Membership
1.1 Membership Year
1.1.1 The membership year shall be from January 1 to December 31.
1.2 Eligibility Requirements for Membership
1.2.1 Any adult (age 16 years and older) who is in agreement with the aims of the Association shall be eligible for membership.
1.2.2 Members must be in good standing with the CKC. Although not mandatory, membership in the CKC is encouraged.
1.3 Types of Memberships
1.3.1 Associate and Regular memberships are available within the SCWTAC. Individuals meeting the eligibility requirements may apply to be Associate Members. Associate Members in good standing for a minimum of one calendar year are eligible to apply for Regular Membership and, having paid the appropriate dues, attain full voting privileges within the SCWTAC.
1.3.2 Membership is open to residents of Canada as well as foreign residents.
1.3.3 For the purposes of electing Regional Directors, only Regular Members residing in the region will have voting privileges.
1.3.4 For the purpose of holding an elected office, only Regular Members who are residents of Canada and who are also members of the Canadian Kennel Club are eligible to seek elected office.
1.3.5 Place of residency will be considered to be the address listed in the current official membership list of the Association
1.4 Application for Membership and Membership Renewal
1.4.1 All applications for membership or for annual membership renewal must be accompanied by:
a) the signed official Code of Ethics of the SCWTAC;
b) the completed and signed application or renewal form; and
1.4.2 The Board shall reject the application of any applicant not meeting all requirements. Any individual rejected for membership by the club must be provided with a written explanation.
1.4.3 Procedures for membership application and membership renewal are outlined in the “Procedures Document”.
1.5 Approval of Membership
1.5.1 Procedures for approval of membership are outlined in the “Procedures Document” and are subject to revision by majority vote of the Board of Directors.
1.6 Termination of Membership – Membership will be terminated:
1.6.1 by resignation – Any member in good standing may resign from the Association upon written notice to the Secretary.
1.6.2 by lapsing (failure to renew) – If a member’s dues remain unpaid 90 days after the first day of the fiscal year, the membership will be considered as lapsed and automatically terminated.
1.6.3 by expulsion – A membership may be terminated by expulsion as provided in Article 8 of these by-laws.
1.6.4 by deprivation, suspension, debarment, expulsion or termination of Canadian Kennel Club membership as imposed by The CKC’s Discipline Committee.
1.7 Voting Privileges
1.7.1 Regular Members in good standing will be eligible to vote.
1.7.2 No member whose dues are not paid for the current year shall vote.
1.8 Fees
1.8.1 Associate and Regular members shall be charged the prescribed fee(s) as defined in the Procedures Document.
1.8.2 Any new member having paid a membership fee after November 1st of any year shall be deemed to have paid the dues for the ensuing year.
Section 2 – Conduct of the Association
2.1 Meetings
2.1.1 The Board should take the opportunity to hold national meetings.
2.1.2 Notice of the meeting should be officially published by the Secretary in the issue(s) of Wags, prior to the meeting.
2.1.3 The President will call an Annual General Meeting of the Membership and an Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors, both meetings, if possible to coincide with the place and date of the SCWTAC Specialty Show.
2.1.4 Considering the difficulties involved in organizing national association meetings, the Board shall be able to conduct the Association’s activities by means of telephone, correspondence, Wags, email, or any other means that the Board determines from time to time as feasible.
2.2 Official Publication
2.2.1 Wheaten Wags shall be the official publication of the SCWTAC.
2.2.2 Wheaten Wags shall be mailed to all member households a minimum of four (4) times a year.
2.3 Breed Pamphlet
2.3.1 The SCWTAC shall have a pamphlet about the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier and shall have such pamphlet available for distribution to interested parties.
2.4 CKC Sanctioned Events
2.4.1 In order to maintain CKC accreditation, the Association will hold a CKC sanctioned or approved event a minimum of once in every 30 months.
2.4.2 Procedures for holding such an event are detailed in the Procedures Document.
Section 3 – Board of Directors
3.1 Definition and Establishment of the Board of Directors
3.1.1 The Officers and Directors of the SCWTAC must be residents of Canada, Regular Members of the SCWTAC and Canadian Kennel Club Regular Members in good standing.
3.1.2 The Board of Directors shall be comprised of the Officers of the club (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer) plus all Regional Directors.
3.1.3 General management of the Association’s affairs shall be entrusted to the Board of Directors.
3.1.4 The Officers shall be elected from the SCWTAC Regular Membership as a whole and shall be nominated in writing, to the Secretary. The procedure for nomination and voting are detailed in the Procedure Document.
3.1.5 The Regional Directors shall be elected from the SCWTAC Regular Membership residing in the region and shall be nominated in writing, to the Secretary. The procedures for determining the number of Regional Directors, nomination and voting are detailed in the Procedure Document.
3.1.6 There must be a minimum of 4 Regional Directors, representing a minimum of 4 of the 6 regions across Canada. No more than 3 Directors may be elected from any one region and Directors must reside in the region they represent and are elected by members residing in that respective region.
3.2 Duties of the Officers
3.2.1 The President shall be the Chief Executive Officer.
3.2.2 The President may cast a vote to make or break a tie vote.
3.2.3 The Vice-President shall have the duties and exercise the powers of the President in case of the President’s absence, incapacity or death for the period necessary or until the term in office is complete.
3.2.4 The Secretary shall keep record of all meetings, activities, decisions, voting, and probings of the Association.
3.2.5 The Secretary shall keep a roll of the members.
3.2.6 The Treasurer shall be bondable.
3.2.7 The Treasurer shall collect and receive all monies due or belonging to the Association, and shall deposit same in a Chartered Bank or Credit Union in an account in the name of the Association (see 5.1).
3.2.8 The Treasurer shall have authority to co-sign all cheques, with the President or Secretary or other Board-appointed officer (necessitated by geography) (see 5.2).
3.2.9 Other duties of the Officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer) are detailed in the Procedures Manual.
3.3 Duties of the Regional Directors
3.3.1 Regional Directors shall serve on the Board of Directors to represent the members living in their region.
3.3.2 Other duties of the Regional Directors are detailed in the Procedures Manual.
3.4 Vacancies on the Board of Directors
3.4.1 Any vacancies occurring on the Board of Directors during the term of office shall be filled by election of a majority vote of all the then members of the Board, except that of a vacancy in the office of President, which is automatically filled by the Vice-President.
3.5 Terms of Office for Officers and Regional Directors
3.5.1 The Officers shall hold office for two (2) years, beginning on the first of the fiscal year following the election.
3.5.2 The Regional Directors shall hold office for two (2) years, beginning on the first of the fiscal year following election.
3.5.3 Terms of office for Officers and Regional Directors will run concurrently.
3.6 Residence Requirements
3.6.1 The Officers must reside in Canada.
3.6.2 The Regional Directors must reside in the area that they represent.
Section 4 – Branch Clubs (SCWTAC Local Section Clubs)
4.1 A branch club may exist at the will of the National Club and will be known as a Local Section Club. If the LSC is simply assisting the ‘parent’ club, or acting as a sponsor for the parent club, official accreditation (from the CKC) is not needed. However, all credits will be given to the National Club.
4.2 The Local Section Club President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer (or Secretary/Treasurer) are required to be members in good standing of the SCWTAC.
4.3 Procedures for forming and operating a Local Section Club are detailed in the Procedures Document.
Section 5 – Finances
5.1 The Association will have a separate and independent bank account in the name of the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier Association of Canada (see 3.2.5).
5.2 All cheques drawn from the club account must have the signature of a minimum of two (2) pre-approved Officers and naming the office (see 3.2.6).
Section 6 – Club Year, Voting, Nominations, Elections
6.1 Club Year
6.1.1 Fiscal Year – The fiscal year runs parallel to the membership (see 1.1).
6.1.2 Terms of Office – (see 3.5).
6.2 Voting
6.2.1 Voting by proxy shall not be permitted.
6.2.2 All elections must be conducted by secret ballot
6.2.3 The Club will conduct nominations, elections and voting by mail with a minimum of three (3) weeks (i.e. twenty-one days) return period for ballots.
6.2.4 Procedures for determining ELIGIBILITY FOR VOTING are detailed in the Procedures Document.
6.2.5 NOMINATION, VOTING and PROBING PROCEDURES are detailed in the Procedures Document.
6.3 Electoral Irregularities
6.3.1 Upon receipt and subsequent substantiation of a complaint with respect to electoral irregularities, The Canadian Kennel Club may request that a new election take place under the supervision of The Canadian Kennel Club. The list of eligible Regular Members, in effect immediately prior to the call for nominations for the original election, shall be utilized for this purpose.
6.3.2 The Canadian Kennel Club will continue to recognize the Board that was in place prior to the original election being invalidated and until such time as the supervised election has been completed. The accreditation of the club will be suspended until such time as the results of The Canadian Kennel Club supervised election have been determined. The Canadian Kennel Club may invoice the club for any costs related to the new election. Such costs must be paid prior to any consideration being given to reinstatement.
Section 7 – Committees
7.1 The Board shall establish any committees it deems necessary to further the aims of the Association.
7.2 The procedure for the establishment, duration and termination of committees and their appointees is detailed in the Procedures Document.
Section 8 – Discipline
8.1 Canadian Kennel Club Suspension – Any member of the club who is suspended, debarred, deprived, expelled, or whose membership has been terminated by The Canadian Kennel Club’s Discipline Committee, shall be suspended from the
privileges of this Association for a like period.
8.2 Complaints – Any member(s) may prefer charges, in writing to the secretary, against a member(s) for alleged misconduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Association, the SCWT or the Association’s Code of Ethics.
8.3 Discipline Procedure – A Board hearing shall be convened as required to hear the charges. The Discipline Procedure is outlined in the Procedures Document.
Section 9 – Amendments
9.1 Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws may be proposed by the Board or by written petition addressed to the Secretary, signed by twenty (20) percent of the Regular Members in good standing. Amendments proposed by such petition shall be promptly considered by the Board and must be submitted to the members with the recommendations of the Board, by the Secretary, for a probing within three months of the date of the petition being received by the Secretary. Probing procedures are set out in the Procedures Document.
9.2 The Constitution and By-Laws may be amended at any time. For approval a minimum of two- thirds (2/3) of all eligible voters (Regular Members) must vote in favour. Voting must be by mail in ballot. Proxies are not allowed.
9.3 Proposed amendments to the Breed Standard must receive acceptance by a minimum of two-thirds (2/3) of the returned ballots from Regular Members in order for these amendments to be submitted to the Canadian Kennel Club. Voting must be by mail in ballot. Proxies are not allowed.
9.4 Amendments to the Code of Ethics, Breeder’s Guidelines and Procedures Document may be proposed by the Board, or by written petition addressed to the Secretary, signed by twenty (20) percent of the Regular Membership in good standing. Amendments proposed will be discussed and voted upon by the Board of Directors. A majority vote will prevail.
Section 10 – Dissolution
10.1 The Association may be dissolved at any time by providing The Canadian Kennel Club with written documentation signed by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the Regular Members of the Association who are in favour of this decision.
10.2 In the event of dissolution of the Association, other than for purposes of reorganization, whether voluntary or involuntary or by operation of law, none of the property of the Association, nor any proceeds thereof, nor any assets of the Association shall be distributed to any members of the Association. After payment of the debts of the Association, its archival materials will be given to the Canadian Kennel Club and its other property and assets shall be given equitably to veterinary colleges across Canada, as selected by the Board.
Section 11 – Order of Business
11.1 Unless otherwise stipulated in these By-Laws, all meetings of the members will be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order.
11.2 The President, or his/her designate, will chair the meeting.
11.3 The Secretary, or his/her designate, shall keep accurate minutes of all meetings and these shall be published in the next issue of Wags and shall be available to members upon request to the Secretary.
11.4 The Order of Business for general membership meetings and for Board of Directors Meetings is detailed in the Procedures Document.