PCMNO officially calls one-day in-person special General Assembly

To: All MNO Citizens
From: Hank Rowlinson, MNO Chair
Date: Friday, April 28, 2023
Subject: Notice of 2023 Special General Assembly

The PCMNO has now officially called a one-day, in-person special General Assembly (“Special Assembly”) pursuant to the MNO Bylaws.

Based on the MNO Bylaws and MNO Policy #2011-002: Process for Conducting Ordinary and Special Resolutions at a General Assembly (“Resolution Policy”), the PCMNO is providing all MNO citizens with this formal notice and a copy of the special resolution to be voted on at this Special Assembly (the “Special Resolution”).

The meeting details for the Special Assembly are set out below:

Date: Saturday, June 17, 2023
Time: 9:00am – 4:30pm (EST)
Location: Delta Airport Hotel (655 Dixon Rd, Toronto, ON M9W 1J3)

A copy of the Special Assembly meeting agenda is attached as Schedule 1 to this notice.

Reasons for the Special Assembly

The PCMNO has called the Special Assembly to follow through on the Registry Review process that was initiated 2017, and based on:

• (a) the 2022 MNO AGA’s direction in resolution AGA220820-02 that directed the PCMNO to call a Special Assembly, “if a majority of those who voted in the referendum provide direction to remove members/citizens with incomplete files from the MNO Registry”; and
• (b) the results from the MNO’s 82-day, province-wide plebiscite (i.e., the referendum) through which a clear majority (i.e., 71% or 5,898 MNO citizens) of the 8,270 MNO citizens who cast their ballot voted in favour of removing MNO citizens with incomplete files from the MNO Registry.

Matters to be Considered at the Special Assembly

Consistent with the 2022 MNO AGA’s direction, the Special Assembly will have a single purpose: to vote on the attached Special Resolution.

This Special Resolution, if passed, would make amendments to the MNO Bylaws and the MNO Registry Policy in order to allow for the removal of MNO citizens whose citizenship files do not meet the MNO’s current requirements for citizenship. The Special Resolution also includes a Citizen Removal Appeals Policy. As required by Article 58 of the MNO Bylaws, the Special Resolution also includes a minor amendment to correct a typo in the MNO Bylaws at Article 51(c), which was corrected by the PCMNO by way of a resolution passed on November 25, 2022.

A copy of the Special Resolution to be voted on at the Special Assembly is attached as Schedule 2 to this notice. No other resolutions or Special Resolutions will be considered at the Special Assembly. No amendments to the attached Special Resolution can be made by the Special Assembly.

Attendance and Voting Requirements

As set out in the MNO Bylaws, all MNO citizens are eligible to attend and vote at the Special Assembly, like they are for all Assemblies. This includes those citizens with “Complete” and “Incomplete” citizenship files.

As has been the MNO’s practice since its creation, only citizens in physical attendance will be eligible to vote at this Special Assembly.1 No proxy votes will be allowed (i.e., individuals being able to vote for other MNO citizens who are not in attendance at the Special Assembly).

As has also been the MNO’s practice over the last 30 years for all Assemblies, all citizens interested in attending the Special Assembly are responsible for covering their own attendance costs. For more information on supports being offered by the MNO, please see the “Update on Planning for Special Assembly in June 2023” memo available here.

While the MNO Bylaws were amended in 2022 to allow for potential virtual assembly participation in future, those amendments are clear that there needs to be “an effective, efficient, and verifiable technological means” to facilitate such participation and voting. To date, the MNO has not been able to identify such a platform. As such, there will be no virtual attendance/participation or online voting options available for the Special Assembly.

Voting will be conducted by ballot box vote to ensure confidentiality, and will be overseen by Paul DeVillers, the Chief Electoral Officer appointed by the PCMNO to oversee the vote at the Special Assembly.

Conduct of the Special Assembly

To ensure the Special Assembly is conducted in an impartial and efficient manner, the PCMNO has also appointed Eli Mina as the Independent Chair to oversee the Special Assembly meeting.

In addition, the PCMNO has adopted the “2023 MNO Special Assembly Meeting & Vote Guidelines” (“Guidelines”) to govern the conduct of the meeting and voting process. All MNO citizens in attendance at the Special Assembly are required to follow the processes and procedures outlined in the Guidelines. A copy of these Guidelines is attached as Schedule 3 to this notice.

COVID Protocols

Given the current state of COVID-19 and the expected attendance of vulnerable individuals at the Special Assembly such as the elderly, all individuals attending the Special Assembly must complete an on-site COVID-19 rapid test (and have a negative result).

Any attendee who refuses to take an on-site COVID-19 rapid test (and does not have a negative result) will not be allowed inside the room where the Special Assembly will be held and will be unable to vote at the Special Assembly.

1. While virtual participation was permitted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 MNO AGAs were restricted to essential business matters only (i.e., the approval of minutes and audited financial statements), and no ordinary or special resolutions were considered. Similarly, while the 2022 MNO AGA allowed for virtual observation by citizens, those citizens were not able to speak to or vote on any resolutions.

These requirements are subject to change depending on the state of COVID-19 at the time of the Special Assembly and/or future changes to the MNO’s COVID-19 policies and procedures.

Contacts for Further Information

For more information on the Special Assembly, please see the MNO’s designated webpage at: https://www.metisnation.org/2023specialassembly.

Questions related to the Special Assembly can be directed to specialassembly@metisnation.org.

Any questions specific to your MNO citizenship file, including how to complete your file, can be directed to the MNO Registry at info@mnoregistry.ca or by phone at 613-798-1006 (local) or 1-855-798-1006 (Toll Free).