The Notice of 15th Annual General Meeting of Shree Ganeshyag Pariwar
The Annual General Meeting of Shree Ganeshyag Pariwar (Pariwar) will be held on Sunday, March 19th, 2017 at 11.30 AM, following the monthly event, at the Hindu Heritage Centre, 6300 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5N 1A7.
The Agenda for the meeting is as follows:
· Adoption of the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on May 1, 2016.
· Chairman and Secretary’s report for the 2015 year.
· Treasurer’s report on Accounts for the 2015 tax year.
· Other special business with the permission of the Chair.
· Vote of Thanks
The final accounts to be approved in the meeting are included as part of this notice. These accounts are also available on the CRA website.
Pariwar adopted new By-laws in the last Annual General Meeting to introduce a properly defined and formal structure for general administration of Pariwar, and bring the By-law in line with the recent amendments to the Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.C.38, as amended from time to time. Pursuant to these new By-laws, two classes of Membership were established, namely Voting Membership and Endowment Fund Membership. Voting at the Annual General Meeting is restricted to members who have paid donations of $51 or more in a calendar year. An Election Committee has also been established to ensure the accuracy of the list of voting members. A brief summary of the new By-laws and Endowment Fund are attached to this notice for your information.
The Board would like to inform the General membership of some important strategic developments that may move Pariwar forward in its pursuit of acquiring a Vastu and establishing a Community Centre that will promote our culture and provide a place for community activities. The Board wishes to ensure maximum participation of our community in this most important venture that will require the commitment of Pariwar resources and define the direction of its activities and development over the foreseeable future. Hence, the Board recommends to bypass this by-law restricting voting rights to the voting membership for this Annual General Meeting.
The term of office of the current Board of Directors concludes with the Annual General Meeting of March 19, 2017. These 17 retiring Directors are:
Varsha Bapat (Chairman), Archana Gothoskar (Secretary), Rajendra Markandeya (Treasurer), Dr. Subhash Dighe, Sanyukta Kher, Ravindra Govande, Jitendra Bendre, Anjali Sapre, Ravindra Kinkar, Shashank Barbhai, Jayashree Kajarekar, Vidyout Joshi, Kalpana Nadkarni, Vaishali Dixit, Jayant Deshpande, Sneha Achwal and Neha Morgaonkar.
All the retiring members are eligible to be re-elected and can be nominated. Pursuant to the new By-Laws, Pariwar will have a maximum of fifteen directors. The current Board of Directors will continue to work for another term of 3 years, if no new members are nominated or elected for any reasons in Annual General Meeting.
The Election Committee will be responsible to conduct the election of the new Board of Directors.
We invite you all to attend the Annual General Meeting in large numbers.
Pariwar does not charge any membership fees or subscription. For the purposes of the above election, membership is understood to be participating volunteers and devotees. Non-members can also observe the proceedings. For your information, membership and election procedures are defined in Pariwar’s constitution and bylaws that are available on Pariwar’s website at http://www.sgypariwar.com/. Non-members are also welcome to observe the proceedings.
APPENDIX 1
Summary of important changes in the Bylaws known as By-law No. 1 to conduct the affairs of Shree Ganeshyag Pariwar that were adopted in the 15th Annual General Meeting held on Sunday, May 1st, 2016 at 10.00 AM at the Hindu HeritageCentre, 6300 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5N 1A7. These changes introduced a defined and formal structure for general administration of Pariwar, and bring the By-law in line with the recent amendments to the Corporations Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.C.38, as amended from time to time.
- To construct or establish a community centre that provides a place for a variety of cultural activities of every nature.
- To establish an Endowment Fund, the primary purpose of which is to acquire and own immoveable property on behalf of the Corporation that will become the permanent location where most of the activities of the Corporation, including the regular community congregation, will be held.
- Establish two classes of Membership: (1) Voting Members; and (2) Endowment Funds Members. Members may belong to more than one class of membership. All events will continue to be free to everyone, except where events require an entry fee.
- Voting Member membership shall be automatically granted on payment of a cumulative donation in the amount of $51 in a calendar year and will entitle the member to vote at all general meeting of members for that calendar year, and also the annual general meeting relating to that calendar year. This membership shall automatically renew for another calendar year upon payment on the Membership Donation.
- Rules introduced governing rights, responsibilities and termination of membership.
- Establishment of an Elections Committee consisting of three (3) Voting Members which shall be independent of the Board for a term of three (3) years, or any other duration as decided by the Members. The Election Committee shall be responsible for conducting fair elections in accordance with the By-Laws, and resolving disputes about membership. There shall be no appeal by any Member from a decision of the Elections Committee.
- Rules introduced relating to the appointment, qualifications, term of office, vacancies, remuneration, responsibilities, removal and termination of Directors.
- Defining rules relating to conflict of interest for Directors.
- Limitation of liability provisions for Directors for their actions in the execution of their duties of office or trust.
This amendment to the By-Laws was proposed by 10 members and approved by a unanimous vote on the floor.
This By-law No. 1 came into force without further formality upon its adoption at the general meeting of members duly called and regularly held and at which a quorum was present on the 1st day of May, 2016.
APPENDIX 2
Summary of important proposals in the By-Laws known as By-law No.2 to establish an Endowment Fund known as “Pariwar Endowment Fund” that was adopted in the 15th Annual General Meeting held on Sunday, May 1st, 2016 at 10.00 AM at the Hindu Heritage Centre, 6300 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5N 1A7.
To establish an Endowment Fund for the purpose of acquiring immovable and long term properties necessary and required to pursue the objectives defined in the By-laws of Pariwar, and to ensure ongoing sustainability of the finances of Pariwar.
The Fund will solicit and accept donations, gifts, bequests and legacies for use in promoting the objectives of Pariwar and acquire, maintain and manage all property of Pariwar.
Membership of the Endowment Fund shall be open to every Person who contributes a minimum one-time amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).
Rules introduced governing rights, responsibilities and termination of membership, as well as membership meetings.
Appointment of Board of Advisors to exclusively manage the Endowment Fund. The Chairman of Pariwar will be the only Director of Pariwar on the board of Advisors for the Endowment Fund.
The Board of Advisors shall be the governing body of the Endowment Fund.
Endowment funds shall be kept separate and apart from the general funds of Pariwar.
Endowments Funds shall be invested by a professional investment manager who is at arm’s length from Pariwar and any of the Members.