Elections Information for all Members

by ETFO

Durham Occasional Teachers’ Local
Elections Information for all Members

The elections committee is pleased to notify the membership of the names of candidates who are running for election at the AGM on May 18, 2016. We encourage all members to attend the AGM and participate in this vote – the executive you elect will determine the direction of the Local over the next two years.

Following you will find:

  • A list of the candidates and the positions for which they are running.
  • Campaign rules

We look forward to seeing our OT members at the AGM.

Sincerely,
Connie Zoet

Elections Committee Chair
(Elections Committee: Connie Zoet, Etelka Haagaard, Andrew Cherry)

CANDIDATES (in alphabetical order)

President:                         George Taylor (acclaimed)

1st Vice President:           Janet Heath
Karen Walker

2nd Vice President:           Dale Campsall
Farah Sherazi

Secretary:                          Natasha Carter
Ferial Visram

Treasurer:                           John Fowler
Laurie Josevski

Members at Large:            Johanne Blake
Alison Massam
Sharon Ramberan Singh

The following members in good standing were asked, and accepted, to serve on the elections
committee: Karen Walker (as per the Constitution), Connie Zoet (Chair), Etelka Haagaard, and Andrew Cherry.

As Karen Walker will be running again this year for First Vice President, she asked Connie Zoet, who will not be running for the executive, to act as Chair and Returning Officer in her place. After careful thought and discussion, Connie accepted. Karen will be involved as per the Constitution but will keep “an arm’s length” away to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. It was decided that Connie would use the gmail account elects101@gmail.com for all election communication to keep it separate from PL communications.

  1. Candidates must submit by email their Biography and Platform to the Elections Committee by May 2, 2016. This is the only campaign material they may produce.
  1. Candidate’s Biography and Platform shall be one half page, each, using 12 point and choice of Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman font. Photo may be included.
  1. Campaign material will be printed by the Local only.
  1. Candidates must submit the name of their respective scrutineers to the Election Committee by May 15, 2016 (one scrutineer per candidate).
  1. Candidates may participate in a “Meet the Candidates” event at the Local on Monday May 9, 2016 from 4:30 – 6:30 pm and 7:30 – 9:30 pm. An evening meal for candidates and the Election Committee will be provided from 6:30 – 7:30 pm.
  1. Blast email of the Biography/Platform of each candidate will be sent to the membership on May 5, 2016 and again on May 16, 2016.
  1. Official candidates’ blast emails may not be forwarded, replied to, utilized, disseminated or altered in any way for any purpose.
  1. Candidates will not mail or email campaign literature.
  1. Candidates will not campaign in the workplace, will not distribute or post campaign material in the workplace, and will not distribute campaign material or campaign at any meeting of the Local unless authorized to do so by the Elections Committee.
  1. Any and all Durham Occasional Teachers’ Local membership address, email and /or phone lists, however acquired, may not be used by candidates for campaign purposes.
  1. The Local will not provide candidates with members’ personal information.
  1. Candidates may not campaign on the day of the elections.
  1. The chair of the elections committee, Connie Zoet, will provide the names of all duly nominated candidates received by the deadline –noon, April 28, 2016 – to all the candidates, along with the Campaign Rules and Election Procedures later on that same day.
  1. The list of candidates will be sent to the membership on April 29, 2016.

Complaints about violations of these campaign rules should be made to the chair of the elections committee who will investigate the complaint. Should a candidate be found to be in violation of the procedures, they shall be directed to end the behaviour that violated the rules. Should the candidate continue to violate the procedures, the chair of the elections committee shall announce the name of the candidate and the violations at the Annual General Meeting prior to the start of the elections.