Here is an announcement from the Board of Directors:

Dear Members of the Iranian Canadian Congress,

The Board of Directors of the ICC has approved a number of changes to the bylaws of the organization in an effort to foster transparency and accountability in the operation of the organization and encourage participation of Iranians across Canada in the organization. Board members have considered each change carefully. The need for many of these changes and reforms have been discussed in the ICC for several years now.

The Board of Directors has also prepared an approved a Code of Conduct for directors, volunteers, employees and advisers. Click here to download the proposed code of conduct. The code of conduct has been prepared based on earlier version adopted by the ICC Board initially in 2008 and then later unanimously approved by the board of directors in June 2017. We believe it’s necessary for the ICC to adopt a Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct that will allow us to ensure a safe, ethical and professional environment for all individuals working at the ICC while working for the interests of our community. The Code of Conduct is a resolution at the AGM and requires affirmative vote of 50%+1 of the members at the Annual General Meeting.

Here is a list of amendments that the board will propose for approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on April 29, 2018 considering the procedure set in Article 13 of the bylaws. The bylaw amendments require affirmative vote of at least ⅔ of members voting at the Annual General Meeting.   

• Article 5, Section 2

  • Any member of the ICC who holds Permanent Residency status and meets the other eligibility requirements for nomination (as set out in the bylaws) shall have the right to run for a position on the Board of Directors. However, nominees who do not hold Canadian citizenship may only be elected for maximum of one position on the board of directors (out of 9). A board member with PR status shall not hold any of the four executive positions on the ICC Board (Executive Roles: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary).   

  • Nominees must have been regular members in good standing for at least one (1) year immediately preceding the election. A nominee who does not meet the one-year membership eligibility shall have the right to request exemption from this requirement at the General Meeting of members. Such exemption requires the affirmative vote of at least 50%+1 of the members at the General Meeting.  

• Article 3, Section 1

  • The organizational structure of the ICC consists of the National Board of Directors, which is composed of 9 board members.

  • The Board of Directors of the Iranian Canadian Congress will be considered the National Board of Directors. Any member of the ICC in any city or province in Canada shall have the right to vote for the National Board of Directors through in person voting at the AGM, online voting or through a proxy.

  • The references to the Regional Board of Directors in the bylaws will be amended to the National Board of Directors. The references to National Board of Director remain in place, where applicable.

• Article 6

  • A quorum for the Special General Meeting shall be 50% of members in good standing or 100 members, the lesser of the two.  

  • The Board of Directors has the right to call for a Special General Meeting with a vote of majority of the Board Members at anytime with a 30-day advance notice to members.

  • Quorum for the Annual General Meeting remains the same.

• Article 8

  • The Board of Directors shall have the right to create Local Committees for each city or province. Each Local Committee shall consist of 10 members.

  • Local Committees shall have the responsibility to work on issues and priorities identified by the Board of Directors.

  • The Local Committee shall consist of the following members:

    • The Chair of the Local Committee, who shall be a member of the Board of Directors residing in the local area (city or province) that the local committee represents. If a board member living in the local area is not available to take the position, the board has the authority to appoint a member of the ICC who resides in the local area as the Chair of the Local Committee.

    • The Vice-Chair and 8 ICC members who reside in the local area that the Local Committee represents.

• Article 11, Section 1

  • The ICC shall keep all physical documents at its principal office or a safe virtual space for the electronic documents and transfer all documents to the following board of directors within maximum 7 business days upon completion of the elections of the new board of directors. Documents and properties are including financial documents, access information, office access, databases, social media files, audio/video files of the ICC events, if available, as properties of the organization.

• Article 11, Section 4

  • The ICC Board of Directors shall present an annual financial report at the Annual General Meeting of the members. If the annual revenue of the organization is more than $150,000, the ICC Board of Directors shall provide an audited financial statement prepared by an independent auditor. If the annual revenue of the organization in any given fiscal year is less than or equal to $150,000, the ICC shall hire a Chartered Accountant to prepare the Annual Financial Statements of the organization.

Note: Currently the ICC is going through a transition from a provincially registered non-profit organization in Ontario to a federally registered non-profit organization. As a result of this transition certain changes might be required to comply with the applicable federal law. Once the transition is completed the ICC Board of Directors shall consult legal professionals to ensure the bylaws comply with the applicable federal laws. Any further update or amendment to the bylaws will be proposed for approval by the membership.