CPA BY-LAWS

THE BY-LAWS OF THE CANADA-PAKISTN ASSOCIATION OF THE
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
(NEW APPROVED BY-LAWS AS OF SEPT. 12th 2012, AUG. 23rd 2014 , Apr.
10th 2016 & Nov. 7th 2020)
I. Name
The organization shall be called the Canada-Pakistan Association of the National
Capital Region, hereafter called “the Association” and shall be so incorporated.
II. Mandate and objectives:
(a): The Association shall be the representative body of Canadians and Landed Immigrants of Pakistani origin and their descendants residing in the National Capital Region.
(b): It shall facilitate cross-cultural understanding of Pakistani heritage and
cultures among Canadians and in Canadian institutions appreciation, acceptance and implementation of the principles of racial equality
(c): It shall enable the establishment of a Canada-Pakistan Friendship
Community Centre in the National Capital Region designed to help cross-cultural understanding, artistic and educational representations.
III. The Executive Council
(a): The affairs of the Association shall be managed by the Executive Council, hereafter called the “Council”, consisting of the following members:
1. President
2. Vice-President
3. General Secretary
4. Joint Secretary
5. Treasurer
6. Joint Treasurer
7. Youth and Education Committee Chairperson
8. Public Relations and Media Committee Chairperson
9. Women’s Committee Chairperson
10. Community Centre Fund Raising Committee Chairperson
11. Ex-officio member (outgoing President)
(b): The Council shall be elected at an annual General Body meeting for a period of two years, effective 2010 elections
(c): No member of the Executive Council shall hold office for more than two
consecutive terms in his/her respective office.
(d): The Council shall announce its program for the year on or before January 15th.
(e): All Council decisions shall be taken at its meetings by a majority vote unless otherwise provided by the by-laws. Actions taken in an emergency shall be subject to ratification at the following Council meeting.
(f): The applicants for incorporation (President, General Secretary & Treasurer shall become the first directors of the corporation whose term of office on the board of directors shall continue until their successors are elected.
(g): At the first meeting of the members, the board of directors then elected shall replace the provisional directors named in the Letter Patent of the Corporation.
(h): The directors and officers shall serve as such without remuneration and no director or officer shall directly or indirectly receive any profit from his/her position as such; provided that a director or officer may be paid reasonable expenses incurred by him/her in the performance of his/her duties. Nothing shall be construed to preclude any director or officer from serving the corporation as an officer or in any other capacity and receiving compensation therefor.
IV. Responsibilities/Functions of the Executive Council
Members The responsibility for managing the affairs of the Canada-Pakistan Association (the Association) shall rest with the Executive Council. However, various members of the council shall assume specific responsibilities as follows:
(a) President
The President shall:
(1) have custody of the corporate seal;
(2) preside over all meetings of the Council and general Body;
(3) ensure that all activities of the Association, particularly the financial
transactions, are carried out in accordance with the By-Laws;
(4) ensure that all decisions taken at the Council meeting and the General Body meetings are implemented;
(5) be the chief spokesperson of the Association representing the majority views of the Council and the Community;
(6) ensure a proper handing over/taking over of all association documents, within one week of the general elections.
(b) Vice-President
The Vice-President shall:
(1) assist the President in the discharge of his/her responsibilities
(2) assume the functions of the office of the President in the event of the latter’s absence
(c) General Secretary

The General Secretary shall:
(1) keep proper minutes of the Council and General Body;
(2) inform the general membership about the activities of the Association through a newsletter published at least once every four months; such newsletter shall have input from the President, the Treasurer and any other members of the Council if any;
(3) maintain records of all the Association documents and correspondence
between the Association and other parties;
(4) ensure timely submission of all reports required by various overnmental agencies.
(d) Joint-Secretary
The Joint-Secretary shall:
(1) shall assist the General Secretary in its discharge of his/her duties;
(2) assume the functions of the office of the General Secretary in the event of the latter’s absence.
(e) Treasurer
The Treasurer shall:
(1) maintain proper records of all incomes and expenditures supported by written evidence;
(2) ensure that all disbursements of the funds are made only after proper
authorization;
(3) issue official receipts of all money received by the Association;
(4) maintain a list of all members, including their membership dates, and shall issue membership cards;
(5) prepare all financial reports as required by law

(f) Joint Treasurer
The Joint-Treasurer shall:
(1) assist the Treasurer in the discharge of his/her duties;
(2) assume the functions of the office of the Treasurer in the event of the latter’s absence

(g) Committee Chairpersons
The Chairperson of each Committee shall:
(1) establish a committee from the membership of the Association;
(2) submit as soon as possible, a program of activities within his/her area of
responsibilities;
(3) submit, in writing, an annual report of the committee’s activities to the Council not later than 14 days before the annual general elections.

V. Canada-Pakistan Friendship Community Centre Fund
Board of Trustees
(a): A Board of Trustees consisting of five members shall be established to
control the funds for the proposed Pakistani Community Centre (PCC). Four of the Trustees shall be elected by the Association for a period of four years at a time, beginning in the year 1988.
(b): Initially, two Trustees will be elected for two years and two for four years. Subsequently, they will be elected for a four-year term. No member shall hold office for more than two terms (eight years)
(c): No member of the Council shall be elected as a Trustee

VI. Membership
(a): General membership shall be open (free of cost) to all persons of legal age, respecting and abiding by the aims and objectives of the Association and by providing their contact information;
(b): Voting membership shall be open to all persons of legal age, respecting and abiding by the aims and objectives of the Association, by providing their contact information, and by paying annual membership of $25 per person.
(c): For each additional person dependent on principal member of, the voting annual membership fee shall be $25 as long as the dependent is of legal age.

(d): The membership fee shall be January 1 to December 31;
(e): Honorary non-voting membership may be conferred upon any individual by
the Council in acknowledgement of his/her services and support for
the Association;
(f): Life-time membership of the Association may be granted to a member
with voting rights, wishing to pay a lump sum of $1,000.00;
(g): Any member may resign from membership by tendering his/her
resignation to the General Secretary;
(h) The Council may suspend or expel from the Association, for a determined
period, any member whose activities are judged to be prejudicial or detrimental to
the mandate and objectives of the Association (Article II). The decision of the
Council in this matter is subject to final approval by the General Body.

VI. Amendments to the By-laws (Annual Membership Fees)
Annual Membership would be $30 per family and single for $20, for one year starting Jan. 1st 2017

VII. ELECTIONS

(a): For the purpose of voting at the general elections of the Association which will be held following the Annual General Body Meeting of an election year, the voting right (one vote per member) is limited to those who have paid their membership dues by the 14th of November of that year;
(b): To be eligible for election to the offices of the President, Vice-President,
Treasurer and Board of Trustees, a member
(1) must be a Canadian or Landed Immigrant of Pakistani origin and their
descendants and
(2) must have been eligible to vote in the current and the previous year’s
elections.
(c): For the remaining offices of the Council, a candidate must be a paid member by the 14th of November of the election year;
(d): The official list of members eligible to vote in the general elections, shall
be available by the 21st of November of the election year

VII (b). Amendments to the By-laws (Elections)
(1). Candidates for all positions shall pay a non-refundable fee of $25 when
submitting nominations. Moreover, to prevent potential conflict of interest and to ensure full devotion of time and resources, candidates for the positions of President, Vice-President, General Secretary and Treasurer, shall not be office bearers or in management team of an organization whose vision and values, behaves and works for the preservation or promotion of Pakistani culture in NCR region.
(2). Candidates for the position of President, Vice President, Treasurer and
General Secretary must have volunteered for CPA for a minimum of 3 months within current fiscal year in the form of planning, supporting and/or running CPA events, to familiarize with the set-up and working of the organization, before holding the above mentioned offices at CPA-NCR.

VIII. General Body Meetings
(a): The annual General Body meeting of the Association shall be held (in the National Capital Region) as soon as possible after November 30th, but no later than third Sunday of December each year.
(b): The following reports shall be presented at the General Body meeting:
(i) the Treasurer’s report including the audited financial statement signed by the President, the Treasurer and the Auditor
(ii) the President’s report;
(iii) the General Secretary’s report
(iv) the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees’ report

(c): The General Secretary shall inform all members of the Association about the annual general Body Meeting, in writing (through electronic mail), by the 21st of November.
(d): The quorum of the Annual General Body meetings shall be one-third of the total voting members
(e): When a meeting is adjourned due to lack of quorum, the subsequent meeting shall require a quorum of one-fourth of the total voting members. Such a meting shall be held within thirty days of the adjourned meeting with an advance notice to all members of at least ten days
(f): If the notice of holding an annual General Body meeting is not received by the members by November 30, any thirty members or ten percent of the total membership , whichever is greater, may call such a meeting by giving thirty days written notice to all members.
(g):The General Secretary shall call, as soon as possible, an emergency meeting of the General Body for a specified purpose when asked, in writing, by the President or the Executive Council, or by any thirty members, or ten percent of the total membership, whichever is greater
(h):Special Purpose meetings of the General Body may be called at any time by the Executive Council with a fourteen days written notice to all members. The quorum for the special purpose General Body meetings shall be one-fourth of the total voting members. Notice of any such meeting shall contain enough information to permit the member to make a reasoned judgement on the decision to be taken.
i) E-mail communication will be used with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ vote in order to get
approval from the members in order to save time and lack-of-quorum
situation frequently encountered in General Body Meetings.

IX. EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETINGS
(a): The first meeting of the Council shall be held within three weeks of an
Election, on a two weeks notice
(b): If a meeting of the Council is not called within seventy days of the previous meeting, any three Council members may call such as meeting by informing all Council members at least two weeks before the proposed meeting date
(c): Ex-officio member (outgoing President) serves in an advisory capacity in the Council, and shall have no voting right in the Council’s decisions
(d): The quorum of the Council meeting shall be six of its voting members
(e): A special purpose meeting can be called at any time by the President or by any six of the voting members, on a two week’s notice

X. General Funds
(a): All cash pertaining to the Association shall be kept in accounts in the name of
the Association in a Canadian Bank selected by the Council.
(b): The President and the Treasurer shall receive, acquire and hold gifts,
donation devices, bequests and membership dues on behalf of the Association.
(c): The President and the Treasurer shall sign the cheques authorized by the Council.
(d): The Treasurer shall maintain proper records of all incomes and expenditures supported by written evidence.

XI. Canada-Pakistan Friendship Community Centre Fund
A separate Bank account shall be opened for the Canada-Pakistan Friendship Community Centre Fund in the name of the Association and the money in the account shall be spent only for purpose of the community center. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees and one other Trustee will sign cheques, as authorized by the General Body.
(a): To further enhance the process of establishing a Community Center for the CPA, the Board of trustees will be authorized to transfer the current funds in the CPA Trust account in whole or in parts to profitable and secure entities rather than accumulate fees and be subject to tax. The board shall report the status of such accounts every year.
XII. Amendments to the By-laws
(a): Amendments to the By-laws proposed by a member may be considered only at the annual General Body meeting.
(b): The proposed amendment to the By-laws by a member shall be submitted in writing to the General Secretary, by November 14 at the least.
(c): The Council shall call a Special General Body meeting to consider
amendments to the By-laws provided that the amendments have been approved by the 2/3rd majority of the Council.
(d): The proposed amendments to the By-laws shall be distributed (through
electronic mail) to all members along with the notice of the General Body meeting.
(e): Only those who have paid their membership dues at least 30 days prior to a Special General Body Meeting shall have the right to vote at that Special General Body Meeting.

(f): For an amendment to pass, it must receive 2/3rd majority of the members at the General Body meeting, provided that the repeal or amendment of any such By-Laws not be enforced or acted upon until the approval of the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs has been obtained.
(g): After each Ministerial approval, the official version of the By-laws shall be updated and signed by the President, the General Secretary and the Treasurer and an original copy shall be kept by each one of them.
(h): Each approved amendment shall be distributed to the membership within 30 days of its approval by the Minster.

XIII. Executive Council Vacancies
The office of director or officer shall be automatically vacated:
(a): If, a Director or officer has resigned his/her office by delivering a
written resignation to the Secretary of the corporation;
(b): If, he/she is found by a court to be of unsound mind;
(c): If, he/she becomes bankrupt;
(d): If, at a special general meeting of members, a resolution is passed by
majority of the members present at the meeting that he/she be removed from office;
(e): on death and if
(i) both the President and the Vice-President or
(ii) both the General Secretary and the Joint-Secretary, or
(iii) the Treasurer resign, or move out of the region, and more than six months remain in the Council’s term; the Council shall call a Special General meeting to elect new office bearers for the duration of its term. Any of the above vacancies occurring up to six months before the end of the Council’s term, and any other vacancy occurring at any time for similar reasons, may be filled by the majority of the Council’s voting members.

XIV. Elections
(a): General Elections
(1). A chairman of the Election Committee shall be appointed by the Council, to conduct the election for the members of the Council and the Board of Trustees, on/or before October 14th of the election year
(2). Members of the Council and the Board of Trustees and candidates for
election shall be excluded from the Election Committee.

(3).The General Secretary shall inform the members of the Association about the formation and composition of the Election Committee, along with the notice of the annual General Body meeting and elections, and advance polling arrangements by the 21st of November of the election year.
(4).The treasurer shall provide the Election Committee with the list of all eligible voting members by November 21st of the election year.
(b): Nominations
(1). All nominations shall be in writing and shall have the consent of the
candidate.
(2). A candidate shall be nominated by at least one member and seconded by another.
(3). The Election Committee shall receive nominations for all the contested
positions of the Association by 8:00 P.M. of November 28th of the election year.
(4). If no nomination is received for a position by 8:00 P.M. on November 28th of the election year, the nomination of that position may be accepted in the annual General Body meeting.
(c): Election Procedure
(1). Members of the Association shall only vote in person; no proxies shall be allowed.

(2). The Election Committee shall hold advanced polling, five to seven days
before the election date, for those who are unable to vote on the scheduled date.
(3). The Presidential candidates shall have up to five minutes to introduce
themselves; all other candidates shall have up to three minutes to do the same.
(4). The winners of the election shall be by a majority vote.
(5). No candidate shall be declared elected unless he/she obtains at least forty percent of the votes cast.
(6). If no candidate receives the required number of votes, the winner shall be decided by a process of elimination, the candidate receiving the least votes being eliminated after each round of voting.
(7). The votes obtained by each candidate shall be announced after each round of voting.
XV. Board of Trustees, Canada-Pakistan Friendship
Community Centre Fund
(a): The Board shall appoint one of the Trustees as its Chairperson who will keep a record of all Board decisions and authorizations.
(b): The Trustee authorized by the Board to sign cheques will also act as a liaison between the Board and the Council.

(c): In case of a vacancy, due to resignation or inactivity on the part of a Trustee for a period of three months, the Board, shall appoint a Trustee from the Association membership until the next annual general Body meeting when a Trustee shall be elected for the remaining term of the outgoing Trustee.
XVI. Finances
(a): Any member of the Council may spend an amount of up to $30.00 provided prior consent of the President is obtained.
(b): An expenditure of over $30.00 but not exceeding $100.00 shall be made only if the consent of the Council is obtained by a majority vote.
(c): An expenditure of over 100.00 shall require the consent of at least two-third of voting members of the Council
(d): All vouchers supporting a cash disbursement, irrespective of the amount provided, must be signed by the person receiving the money and the President

XVII. Audits
(a): Every year, the member shall unanimously nominate an auditor (CA, CGA, or CMA), preferably a member of the Association, who is not a member of the Council or the Board of Trustees for the Pakistani Community Centre, to conduct an examination of the financial records including that of the PCC fund.
(b): The audit shall be conducted on or near November 30th as possible but no later than seven days before the election date. The audit report shall be given to the President at least three days before the election date.
(c): The President’s report shall contain the summary of the conclusions and
recommendations made by an auditor.
(d): The auditor may address the general Body meeting, if he/she so desires.

XVIII. General Matters
(a): All contracts and agreements with other parties shall be signed by the
President and the Treasurer.
(b): In case of a tie in any meeting, the president shall have the right to a casting vote.
(c): In case of a tie in any election, the Chairman of the Election Committee shall have the right to a casting vote.
(d): All financial records shall be kept as long as the majority of the Council
approves, taking into consideration the Statues of Limitation in Canada. Any decision of the records shall be carried out with the prior approval of the Council.

(e) The selection of delegates to the National federation of Pakistani Canadians will be decided by the majority vote of the Executive Council. The candidates for nomination as delegates shall be solicited from the Community at large including the Executives.
(f): Production and screening of TV program “Projection Pakistan” in collaboration with “Kaleidoscope Council” for the Community Cable Channel shall be the responsibility of Canada-Pakistan Association of the National Capital Region.
End of By-laws (presented & re-approved at General Body Meetings on Feb. 28th 2016 , Apr.10th 2016 Nov. 7th 2020).