At the 2022 AGM, held on November 1st, the BELC membership unanimously ratified a new set of governing documents. The proposal, put forth by the Constitutional Committee, has completely overhauled the previous Constitution and By-Laws originally ratified in 2009. The newly ratified BELC Governing Documents are separated into Constitution, By-laws, and Policies and Procedures. Each section provides varying levels of structure to the BELC, and dictates different methods of amendment. This allows for needed changes to be made, while still ensuring the basic foundation of the club is secure and the rights of the members are preserved.

The Constitutional Committee was formed by the Board of Directors in March of this year, with the objective of reviewing the Constitution, and presenting a proposal for a new version to the membership. Following the events which led to the Special Meeting of the Membership on October 4th 2021, at which the membership voted to relieve the former Board of Directors of their duties, many concerns had been raised about the document. The committee was chaired by BELC Secretary Matt Bowman, and included Dean McLeod, Dave Succamore, Bob Bartlett, and Kathryn Lockyer.

After the proposed BELC Governing Documents were ratified without amendment by the membership at this year’s AGM, Bowman said he was “proud of the work our committee did and I think the end result will move the BELC forward in a strong, positive direction.” He also added though “This document isn’t perfect. It’s important to continually review it and look for ways it can be changed for the better.”

The newly ratified Documents can be found here.