ARNBC Members Encouraged to Attend Upcoming EGM

March 08, 2018

All Association of Registered Nurses of BC (ARNBC) members are encouraged to attend an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on March 13. The purpose of the EGM is to amend the association's bylaws to allow for votes to be cast on bylaw resolutions by electronic ballot, only by those members who are entitled to vote. Members are concerned that not only does this eliminate the opportunity for debate and discussion of bylaw resolutions, the phrase 'entitled to vote' implies that there are registered nurses who, despite paying more than $100 per year in annual fees to the ARNBC, are not allowed to be part of the voting process.

EVENT: ARNBC Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

DATE: Tuesday, March 13, 5:00pm

LOCATION: Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia Street, New Westminster

ARNBC members have the following concerns regarding the proposed bylaw changes:

that only those on their email list will be notified of resolutions to be voted on, replacing in-person voting with electronic voting;
that there will be no opportunity for members to discuss or debate the proposed changes; and,
that the board gets to decide unilaterally whether or not they will email resolutions at any time outside of a general meeting to their list of 'active members'.

The EGM has been called following the recent launch of a campaign by fellow ARNBC members to gather signatures of support to propose changes to the way the ARNBC determines and collects fees. The goal of ARNBC members? campaign, specifically, is to amend the association's bylaws to ensure that fees are only collected from ARNBC members, and ensure that members have the final say on any annual fee greater than $1.00. Currently, the annual fee is $110.55 and is paid by all RNs when they renew their registration with the College of Registered Nurses of BC (CRNBC), regardless of whether they are members of ARNBC.

Any RN who is concerned about the current fee ($110.55) and collection practices of the ARNBC can contact the organizers of the campaign at arnbcpetition@gmail.com.