Committee Process

Quorum

Before commencing with business at a duly convened meeting of the PGUAS Management Team, the Chair and Co-Chair are responsible to ensure a quorum is present.

For the purposes of scheduling and conducting a meeting, 50% plus one (1) of the Management Team members must be present and come to consensus.

Subcommittees and Working Groups

The Management Team may strike subcommittees and/or working groups from time to time to work on issues of a more specialized nature. Management Team participation on subcommittees or working groups is voluntary; however regular attendance is expected and the rule of consecutive absences will apply.

In addition, the Management Team may from time to time invite external expertise to participate on the working groups. All committees and working groups are accountable to the Management Team.

Decision Making

The Management Team will make all decisions by utilizing the Aboriginal Consensus Model.

The model strives to arrive at unity of opinion rather than a unanimous opinion. Unity means that everyone in the group agrees with the essence of the decision and can support it, even if not all wholeheartedly agree with it. The nature and values of the Management Team create an environment that both seeks and respects diversity of opinion and encourages debate.

  1. Creation of Resolution: a consensus decision is tabled and broad input is sought from the group. Discussion occurs until a unity of opinion regarding a specific proposal is reached.
  2. Support the Decision: the group agrees it has reached consensus on the issue at hand.

Where a disagreement occurs, two options exist:

  1. Blocking or Challenging; or,
  2. Standing or Stepping Aside.

Blocking or Challenging occurs when a person cannot support a decision and believes that allowing the decision to pass would bring significant harm to the group. Thus, one person has the power to stop a decision. The result of blocking or challenging can be final, in which the issue is set aside, or the group can continue to establish a consensus of opinion on the subject and create a proposal that satisfies the group as a whole.

Should the group be unable to come to consensus following an individual blocking or challenging, it is the responsibility of the blocker or challenger to propose an alternative that the group can come to consensus on. Should this alternative suggestion not result in consensus through further discussion with the group, the blocker or challenger will be required to stand or step aside.

Standing or Stepping Aside occurs when a person cannot personally support a decision but does not see the need to block or challenge the decision, as it would not harm the group in any important way.

Conflict of Interest

Where Management Team members, governmental representatives, employees of the PGUAS Community Entity, a member of their immediate family or an organization that they are attached to will benefit financially from a project in which they are involved, they must declare a conflict of interest and excuse themselves from further deliberation and abstain from any of the decision-making process.