CMTBC will hold the College’s 2019 Annual General Meeting on July 17, 2019, 1 pm, at the Holiday Inn Vancouver-Centre, 711 W. Broadway, Vancouver. More information about the AGM will be posted in the coming weeks.

Resolutions

RMTs and members of the public who have attended CMTBC annual general meetings in the past, and those who have read about them on the College’s website or watched the posted videos, will be aware that the AGM gives registrants an opportunity to present resolutions to the CMTBC Board for consideration. As outlined in the CMTBC Bylaws, any 10 active registrants in good standing may deliver a written notice to the Registrar at least 30 days prior to the date of a general meeting requesting the introduction of a resolution. While these resolutions are non-binding, the Board considers all of them (unless they are voted down by those in attendance at the AGM), and subsequently provides a response that is posted on CMTBC’s website.

Traditionally, resolutions have been presented in the form of a long series of recitals (the technical term for “whereas clauses”), followed by the resolution itself, which is usually relatively short. The “whereas clauses” are usually extensive, and usually begin with the statement that “Whereas massage therapy is a designated health profession under the Health Professions Act” and then continue to the College mandate, and multiple other items before finally arriving at the resolution itself. The same preambles/recitals tend to be repeated in each of the resolutions, meaning that the identical phrases may be repeated seven or eight times.

This drafting style is unnecessarily formal and cumbersome, and makes it harder to focus on the key substantive part of the resolution. Also, the recitals are typically too long to display onscreen in their entirety, so what typically ends up being shown is just the resolution itself, stripped of the “whereas clauses”.

Therefore, in order to simplify the resolutions and make them easier to understand, the College proposes that RMTs do away with the practice of including a long series of standard recitals with each resolution. Instead, the College suggests that each resolution be preceded by one or two concise paragraphs in plain language, setting out the necessary background or context for the resolution being presented. These could be called “Context” or “Background” to distinguish them from the resolution proper. It is not necessary to present the general legal framework of the Health Professions Act, CMTBC’s designation as a college, etc., though it would help to mention the specific statutory provision (if there is one) that relates to the resolution being presented.

Our hope is that this change, if adopted, will result in shorter, simpler resolutions that are easier for all RMTs and others to read and understand.

RMTs who wish to submit proposed resolutions for the AGM must download and fill out the 2019 AGM Proposed Resolution Form (PDF) and ensure the form is delivered to the Registrar by June 14, 2019, 4:30 pm.