The Chestermere-Strathmore constituency association (CA) board is defying an order by the UCP Arbitration Committee to hold an annual general meeting (AGM) by the July 30 deadline..And there are no immediate plans to hold an AGM in MLA and UCP leadership candidate Leela Aheer’s constituency..Aheer's nomination for the scheduled May 29 provincial election is being challenged by Chantelle de Jong..It appears there’ll be no pressure from the dispute resolution panel on the CA to rectify this and appease members unhappy about a “legally binding arrangement” not being upheld..Meanwhile, CA President John Kittler alleges it's all the party’s fault the AGM is delayed because it’s withholding Constituent Information Management System (CIMS) access to the membership list..That claim was disputed by the UCP..“The Chestermere-Strathmore board has access to the membership list,” said UCP spokesman Dave Prisco..The AGM deadline was one of the conditions set by the panel when it reinstated the board in March, declaring the results of a January AGM when 17 of 22 board members were voted out as invalid..READ MORE: Chestermere-Strathmore board reinstated.Two members of the reinstated board are Aheer’s relatives. Her husband Malkeet Aheer serves as vice-president for membership. Her son Akesh Aheer is a board member..The election of Nick Boots as CA president was nullified by the panel..“I want to bring to your attention the fact that the current Chestermere-Strathmore UCP board has ignored the ruling of the Arbitration Committee,” wrote Boots in a July 11 email to several UCP officials..“All of the deadlines have been missed as of now (July 5th for membership notifications), and it appears that the Party is not planning to implement its own ruling,” wrote Boots..“The riding members have emailed me multiple times in the last week asking why they have not received anything notifying them of the AGM.”.Boots asked UCP officials “how this will be remedied,” what “repercussions” the current board would face for disobeying the ruling, and when an AGM would be held..“I would kindly ask you to reply to me as soon as possible because of the significant backlash. I am not an elected official or a paid party staffer, and it is not my job to update the membership in the riding about this issue.”.“It was the UCP that made this ruling, and I think it is only fair for the Party to notify the members about the situation adequately and take steps to implement its verdict.”.In its March decision, the panel stated: “It is ordered that the 2022 CA AGM shall be held on or before July 30, 2022, and the Claimant board shall give at least five days’ notice to the party office … of the dates upon which it would like to hold the 2022 AGM and the Party shall respond within five days of reaching said notice advising which date it will be.”.Members must be notified of an AGM 21 days in advance..One reason the results of the January election were nullified was the board hadn’t given members adequate notice..Arbitration Committee Chair Thomas Kent suggested it was inappropriate for the Western Standard to ask him about the AGM..He did say the matter may have to head to a dispute resolution panel..Kent’s response to Boot’s email was obtained by the Western Standard..“Mr. Boots, from the Arbitration Committee’s viewpoint, if a party brings forward a complaint in accordance with the GDRP and the Rules, a panel will deal with it,” wrote Kent in an email..“While the Panel on the Chestermere matter is what is known legally as functus officio, it would likely be the same panel if a Complaint is lodged with the President.”.“I realize that you likely think that the 'guts' of a complaint are in your email, but a party with standing to make such complaint needs to follow the Rules and file a proper complaint seeking specified relief.”.“Another option may be to have a mediation to attempt to fashion an acceptable result. If the relevant parties are in agreement, the Committee could facilitate same.”.Kittler claimed there wouldn’t be this problem if only the party hadn’t “blocked the system out” in mid-May, restricting the CA from access to the membership list..“The condition of the arbitration was that we have access to CIMS. We don’t have access to CIMS.”.“There’s never really been a clear answer as to why they closed the CIMS portal. They’re claiming it’s due to the leadership race that they blocked the system out.”.“For functional purposes I believe once the leadership race is over in October then the CAs will have access.”.That also would mean Aheer wouldn’t have to focus on two races simultaneously..Kittler claimed it was “impractical” to plan an AGM without knowing how many members there are..“Our lawyer sent a letter to the party requesting that we delay the AGM,” said Kittler, declining to provide a copy..“What if I have 1,000 or 2,000 all of a sudden. What venue do I book to hold my AGM?”.“We have a suspicion that our wannabe MLA (de Jong) and her followers are working very hard to bring people into this, selling new memberships for the AGM.”.One party member didn’t buy it..“All the local board must do when they want to hold an AGM is tell the party when and where they want it. The local board is not the entity that sends out the notification and brings in own staff to conduct the AGM. The party does that,” said the member requesting anonymity..That was confirmed by Prisco.."Yes, the party sends notices on behalf of CA's. The board also has access to the membership list. We're looking forward to an AGM taking place as soon as possible so that the members can vote on who will sit on their local board,” he said..De Jong said she’s disappointed the “current MLA’s board has chosen to disregard the ruling and is refusing to allow our members to have their voice heard.”.“The MLAs board has decided to deny our members that opportunity and that’s outrageous.”.“I’m ready to listen to the voice of our riding’s members. The current board should be willing to do the same.”.Boots called it a “big mess.”.“My opinion is that the board doesn’t want to cooperate with the party or the riding members… It seems the whole system is upon taking advantage of law-abiding party members.”
