11. ELECTION OF REGULATED MEMBER DIRECTORS
Elections
11.1 The election of Regulated Member Directors shall be held at such time and place as decided by the Council each year.
11.2 The Chief Executive Officer, not later than thirty days before the date set for the election of the Directors, shall forward to each Qualified Elector, at the contact information shown in the records of the College electronically or by other means as determined by the Chief Executive Officer:
(a) a notice of the time and place fixed for the election of Regulated Member Directors; and
(b) a nomination paper.
Eligibility for Nomination
11.3 Subject to section 11.6, all Regulated Members of the College on the Main Register who are in good standing and who have their ordinary residence in a District within the province of Alberta are eligible for nomination by two Qualified Electors whose ordinary
residence is in that District.
11.4 Each Qualified Elector may nominate only one Regulated Member eligible for nomination by them to each vacancy.
11.5 For the purpose of these Bylaws, ordinary residence is determined in accordance with the following rules:
(a) A person can have only one place of ordinary residence;
(b) a person’s ordinary residence is the place where the person lives and sleeps and to which, when the person is absent from it, the person intends to return; and
(c) when a person leaves a District and has an ordinary residence in another District, the person’s ordinary residence in the first District ceases.
11.6 Subject to section 11.7 for the purpose of these Bylaws, a Regulated Member shall be in good standing as determined in accordance with the following rules:
(a) No fees, costs, fines, assessments, levies, or any other sums are owed by the Regulated Member to the College;
(b) the Regulated Member has a valid and current practice permit that is not currently suspended; and
(c) the Regulated Member is in compliance with all orders or directions made pursuant to the Act
11.7 A Regulated Member who:
(a) is currently subject to an undertaking, a condition imposed under section 65 or a direction under section 118 of the Act;
(b) has been referred to a hearing under Part 4 of the Act;
(c) has been found guilty of unprofessional conduct within the preceding three (3) years;
(d) is an employee, board officer, board member, or committee chair, or holds any other position of responsibility within the Alberta Dental Association, Canadian Dental Association, or any other dental profession advocacy role, association, or organization other than one to which the Regulated Member has been appointed by Council or the Executive Committee or whose appointment has been approved by the Council or the Executive Committee; or at any time in the 3 years preceding the date that a nomination for the election of the Regulated Member is received under section 11.3, has been an employee, board officer, board member or committee chair, or held any other position of responsibility with the Alberta Dental Association, Canadian Dental Association or any other dental profession advocacy role, association or organization other than one to which the Regulated Member has been appointed by
Council or the Executive Committee or whose appointment has been approved by the Council or the Executive Committee.
is not eligible to be nominated for or elected as a Regulated Member Director.
11.8 In order to be valid, nomination papers must be received by the Chief Executive Officer no later than the date set out in the notice sent to the Qualified Electors. In order to be considered duly nominated, a Regulated Member must be nominated by at least two
Qualified Electors and must have provided their written consent to the nomination. Where the number of Regulated Members nominated does not exceed the number of Regulated Members to be elected in a District, such candidate or candidates shall be declared elected by acclamation and the provisions of sections 11.9 to11.13 of these Bylaws shall not apply to the candidate or candidates so elected.
11.9 The Chief Executive Officer, not later than ten days before the date fixed for the election, shall forward by email a link to a designated website to every Qualified Elector on the Main Register (other than electors practicing in a District where the ballot is by acclamation) which will contain a statement of the number of vacancies to be filled in such Qualified Elector’s District and a ballot containing the names of all persons duly nominated for the District.
11.10 Ballots shall be received through a secure website hosted by an external provider designated by the Chief Executive Officer that ensures anonymity and which is both SSAE16 and CSAE 3416 certified and SSL secure.
11.11 Upon holding of the election, all ballots shall be checked against the list of Qualified Electors and electronically counted through a secure web site hosted by an external provider designated by the Chief Executive Officer before the hour fixed for the holding of
the election.
11.12 The Chief Executive Officer shall ensure that the ballots are retained for a period of sixty days and at the expiration of such time, if no proceedings are in the meantime taken to set aside the elections, shall have the ballot data deleted.
11.13 An accidental oversight or omission in the giving of a notice required by this section does not render an election void.
11.14 In order to be eligible for nomination and election, a Regulated Member on the Main Register shall be in good standing and have their ordinary residence in that District.
11.15 For the purposes of the election of Regulated Member Directors under these Bylaws, the province shall be divided into the following five Districts:
(a) The Edmonton District comprises all that part of the province between the south border of Township 49, the north border of Township 55, west of Range 22, West of the 4th meridian and east of Range 1, West of the 5th Meridian.
(b) The Calgary District comprises all that part of the province between the south border of Township 19, the north border of Township 27, and west of Range 24, West of the 4th Meridian.
(c) The Southern District comprises all that part of the province lying south of the north border of Township 24 (7th baseline), excluding the Calgary District.
(d) The Central District comprises all that part of the province between the north border on Township 24 (7th baseline) and the north border of Township 49, excluding the Edmonton district, the Calgary District, Jasper National Park, and the City of Lloydminster.
(e) The Northern District comprises all that part of the province lying north of the Central District including Jasper National Park and the City of Lloydminster but excluding the Edmonton District.
11.16 The number of Regulated Member Directors to be elected from each District is as follows:
• Southern District: 1
• Calgary District: 2
• Central District: 1
• Edmonton District: 2
• Northern District: 1
11.19 Qualified Electors are only entitled to vote for the election of a Director in the District in which the Qualified Electors have their ordinary residence.
11.20 If a Director moves to a different District during the Director’s term, the Director shall be deemed to still be from the district in which the Director was elected.
Directors Terms of Office
11.19 Subject to this section 11.19 and 11.20 of these Bylaws, there will generally be an election each year for any Regulated Member Director vacancy. Council shall determine annually the number of Regulated Member Directors to be elected and from which Districts the Directors are to be elected, based on the composition of the Executive Committee and on the expiry of the terms of the Directors, so as to comply with section 11.15 and 11.16 of these Bylaws.
11.20 Notwithstanding sections 11.1 to11.18, the Council may in its discretion and at any time hold additional elections for Regulated Member Directors, cancel elections that would otherwise be held or reduce the number of Regulated Member Directors to be elected in any election in order to:
(a) Ensure that the number of Regulated Member Directors from each District, which includes the President, and President-Elect is as specified in section 11.16, and
(b) maintain the total number of Regulated Members on Council at seven.
11.21 The term of office of each Regulated Member Director elected shall be for three years commencing on July 1st of the year of their election and expiring upon the 30th day of June in the third year following the year of their election.
11.22 A Director may at any time resign by letter directed to the Chief Executive Officer and in the event of resignation or in the event of any vacancy occasioned by death or otherwise, the remaining Directors or a majority of the remaining Directors may elect a Regulated Member of the College to fill the vacancy so long as the Regulated Member is eligible for election under section 11 of these Bylaws.
11.23 In the event of a tie between any candidates in an election, there shall be a further election with these Bylaws to apply with any necessary changes, as the circumstances require, except that there should be no new nominations and only those persons who tied
shall run for the district.
11.24 All Directors accept their election or appointment to Council with the understanding that they must work within all governance policies, exclude their personal interests, and make collective decisions in the best interests of the College and must not take any action that would create any real or perceived situation where the College’s impartiality or commitment to its mandate to protect and serve the public interest could be under question.
Removal of a Director
11.25 A Director who is a Regulated Member:
(a) May be removed from the Council if they:
(i) are found guilty of an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada.
(ii) are or have been engaged in any conduct or activity that is, in the opinion of Council, contrary to the duties of a Director or has engaged in any conduct contrary to the best interests of the College in any way; or
(iii) are referred to a hearing under Part 4 of the Act.
(b) If Council believes that circumstances exist for the removal of a Director, the Executive Committee shall convene to carefully and impartially investigate the alleged violation and provide an opportunity for the Director under question to respond to the allegation. At the end of its investigation, the Executive Committee shall make a recommendation to Council.
(c) If the Director under investigation is a member of the Executive Committee, the Governance and Human Resources committee shall convene a three-member ad-hoc committee to conduct the investigation in the place of the Executive Committee. The ad-hoc committee shall carefully and impartially investigate the alleged violation and provide an opportunity for the Director under question to respond to the allegation. At the end of its investigation, the ad-hoc committee shall make a recommendation to Council.
(d) The President or designate shall give the Council seven days written notice of the date on which the vote is to be held which will allow the Director facing the vote for removal the opportunity to make written submissions to Council before the vote is held.
(e) A Director may be removed by the Council by a Motion passed by the remaining Council members. The Director who is the subject of the removal motion shall not participate in the discussion or the vote and shall not be present during the vote.
(f) If a Director is found guilty of unprofessional conduct and all rights of appeal have been exhausted, they shall be removed from Council.
11.26 A Director who is a Public Member:
(a) If the Council concludes that a Director has engaged in conduct or activity that is contrary to the duties of a Director or has engaged in conduct contrary to the best interests of the College, the President shall forward a letter to the Minister of Health outlining the concerns with a request for the removal of the Director.
