BCNU Nominations Committee Clarifies Misinformation on Social Media
The BCNU Nominations Committee wishes to address some misinformation that has been circulating on social media platforms recently with respect to the upcoming BCNU elections.
The Nominations Committee does not intend to publish a bulletin with respect to each and every misleading post on social media.
Because of the unreliability of the information posted on social media, the Nominations Committee has refused to endorse it as a platform for campaigning for the BCNU elections. Instead, we will be relying on the eligible nominated candidates to ensure that their campaigns and supporters campaigning on their behalf adhere strictly to the BCNU Candidate Responsibilities during their campaign to ensure a fair election.
During the last provincial election, nominated candidates were removed from the ballot as a result of false information being republished. The Nominations Committee's decision was challenged but ultimately upheld by arbitrator Hodges as being both fair and reasonable and consistent with the BCNU Constitution and Bylaws.
Information about the election and the candidates nominated for the 2020 BCNU election will be posted on the BCNU Election webpage.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The BCNU Constitution and Bylaws Renewal Working Group conducted an extensive 18-month consultation process with members in every BCNU region. This concluded with the adoption of a newly revised Constitution and Bylaws. More than two-thirds of the duly elected delegates at the 2019 BCNU annual convention voted in favour of a resolution adopting the current Constitution and Bylaws.
Bylaw 5.01(c) requires candidates nominated for the positions of President, Vice President, Provincial Treasurer, Executive Councillor, and Regional Council Members to have "BCNU steward experience."
Eligibility requirements will be determined by the Annual Convention at least the year prior to the elections but BCNU steward experience must be a requirement.
This eligibility requirement for candidates nominated for these senior elected positions was determined by duly elected delegates at the 2019 Annual BCNU Convention. As a democratic union, the Nominations Committee, BCNU Council and BCNU members themselves are bound by the eligibility requirement established by the duly elected delegates to convention. When drafting the election eligibility policy, the Nominations Committee strove to ensure that the eligibility criteria were not too onerous or restrictive, but still consistent with the requirement to have some BCNU steward experience. The Nominations Committee provided BCNU Council with information about how the Committee would interpret and apply the BCNU steward experience eligibility requirement for candidates nominated for one of the senior elected positions within the union during the 2020 BCNU elections. The Nominations Committee asked Council to publish its interpretation to inform all of the potential nominees of the eligibility requirement: Election Eligibility - Steward Experience.
If a BCNU member seeks to eliminate this eligibility requirement or if they wish to make it more or less onerous, a bylaw amendment can be proposed for the BCNU 2021 annual convention.
Unless considered in context, comparisons between BCNU and other unions can be misleading. Unlike most other unions, every one of the more than 50,000 BCNU members in good standing is eligible to vote for their senior elected officers and their regional executive. In most other unions the senior union officials are elected only by 200-350 delegates attending their union's convention. Democratically elected delegates to BCNU's annual convention are entitled to adopt bylaws requiring certain qualifications for those elected to the senior leadership positions within the union. After all, we are a proud union of health-care professionals.