Structure of Canadian Committee

Number of members

The Canadian Committee (CC) is composed of six members, with at least one member residing in each of the following three regions:

• Ontario
• Western Canada/Territories (all areas west of the Ontario-Manitoba border)
• Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces (all areas east of the Ontario-Quebec border)

Additionally, no more than three members will be allowed from any one of the above regions.

Committee member selection process

• New members will each serve a three-year term.
• Two members will be elected each year.
• A lottery was held in Dayton, OH on August 1, 2009 to determine when the terms of the then-appointed Canadian Committee members would end. (Note: John Aitken and Tony Leah each volunteered to have his term end on December 31, 2009.) The Dayton lottery randomly determined that the terms of both John Robertson and Jeff Parsons would end on December 31, 2010 and the terms of David Boys and Siri Tillekeratne would both end on December 31, 2011.
• Elections will take place every November for terms beginning the following January 1.
• Candidacies and nominations for prospective CC members for each year's election will run from September 1 to October 15.
• Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who are NASPA members in good standing will be allowed to participate in the electoral process.

Committee member replacement process

If a CC member is unable to complete his/her term due to resignation, incapacitation, or removal, the remainder of his/her term will be filled by a replacement selected in this order until the position is filled:

• (1) The person with the most votes who lost the most recent CC election (subject to the CC's regional provisions).
• (2) The loser of the next most recent election (subject to the CC's regional provisions).
• (3) The most recent previous CC member based on when he/she last served (subject to the CC's regional provisions).
• (4) A person selected collectively by the remaining CC members.

Past CC Election Summaries

2009: Since Tony Leah (Ontario) and Randall Thomas (Western Canada) were the only two candidates, they both won by acclamation. Tony was an incumbent. Randall effectively replaced John Aitken who chose not to run.

2010: John Robertson (Ontario) and Jeff Parsons (Quebec/Atlantic) were reelected. They both finished ahead of Carl Madden in the voting.

2011: David Boys chose not to run for reelection. Three candidates chose to run: incumbent Siri Tillekeratne (Western Canada) and two Ontarians (Lisa Kessler and Carl Madden). Since the CC's rules prevent any region from having more than three members, and there were already two sitting CC members from Ontario, Siri was automatically reelected by acclamation. Thus the election became a two-person race for the one vacant CC seat. Lisa finished ahead of Carl in the voting.

2012: Both Tony Leah and Randall Thomas chose not to run for reelection. Four candidates ran for the two vacancies: Sary Karanofsky (Quebec/Atlantic), Mad Palazzo (Ontario), Juraj Pivovarov (Western Canada), and Andy Saunders (Ontario). Mad got the most votes, followed by Andy, Sary, and Juraj in that order. Since there were already two Ontario members on the CC, Mad's election gave Ontario its maxumum three members. Therefore Andy could not be elected despite accruing the second-highest vote total. Third-place finisher Sary was thus elected.

2013: Jeff Parsons (Quebec/Atlantic) chose not to run for rerelection. Incumbent John Robertson (Ontario) ran for relection. Bernard Gotlieb (Quebec/Atlantic) also ran. John and Bernard were elected by acclamation.

Feedback

We invite your input to determine the best possible way of making the CC a responsible and accountable body representing the interests of all Canadian Scrabble players. We ask that all Canadian NASPA members participate in the electoral process. Discussion can be posted to the Canadian Committee yahoo groups site by emailing naspa-canada@yahoogroups.com.