CPGHA AGM UPDATE

April 29, 2020

RE: 2020 CPGHA Annual General Meeting

Dear CPGHA Members,

Normally, by this time, we would have given notice of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held sometime in May. Unfortunately, that will not be possible this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place. One of the Government of Ontario’s emergency orders was to allow organizations to postpone their AGM to a date up to 90 days after the end of the provincial state of emergency. The OWHA has endorsed this course of action for its member associations and will continue to recognize the authority of our current executive in the meantime. The CPGHA executive has decided to follow this advice and has postponed our AGM to a yet-to-be-determined date in the future.

While this takes care of the legalities, there are also practical implications regarding some functions of the AGM that need to be addressed, particularly with the potential for it to be pushed far into the future. First, the executive would normally present to members a summary of the hockey season and the business conducted by the executive over the previous year and answer any questions from members. We believe this can still be accomplished now and would be better to do now while the past season is still somewhat current and fresh of mind. The executive is preparing a written report that will be published to members in May. At that time, we will invite written feedback from members and later, if necessary, arrange an online/virtual meeting to address that feedback.

Second is the election of a new executive. While, as noted above, the current executive is able to continue governing our association, some individuals cannot continue in their roles for personal reasons, which will leave us short-handed. We are also concerned that the later the AGM is pushed back, the more it will handicap the new executive without adequate time to be ready for next season. So, we are working on a contingency plan for an alternate way of conducting those elections in case an in-person AGM remains not possible through the summer. We hope to be able to provide more details as part of our season report in May.

Finally, other elements of the AGM, including the adoption of any amendments to our constitution can be put off until such time as we can hold an in-person AGM. This will not have any adverse effect on preparing for or beginning next season. Thank you for your understanding as we navigate these unique circumstances.

Sincerely,

Ryan Carroll
President
Carleton Place Girls Hockey Association