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Governance

Nominations

Nominations Process for the CPF National Board

The National Nominations Committee is struck at the first national board meeting immediately following the annual General Meeting of CPF.

The work of the Nominations Committee is guided by the bylaws and by policy. Nominations Process: Call for Nominations to the Nominations Committee and the Call for Nominations to the National Board goes out to the membership through our National Newsletter and on the CPF national website in the spring. Any current CPF member can nominate another person as a candidate.

The Nominations Committee looks for candidates who value French as an integral part of Canada and have a genuine interest in language acquisition, an awareness of issues related to second language learning, and who are willing to promote FSL and liaise with our partners and stakeholders.

They may have volunteered in their community, and may have experience on boards, in business, in education, management or legal settings. Nominees are a self-directed, problem-solvers and life-long learners. They understand that there are many possible solutions and are willing to work as a member of a team to find the best solution for complex issues. Effective communication and leadership skills, and the ability to participate actively in discussion and deliberation, are essential. Anyone currently serving on a provincial or chapter board, or receiving remuneration for work commissioned by CPF, will be required to resign from that position upon their election to the National Board of CPF.

Candidates to the National Board must have a valid membership in CPF.
Board positions are voluntary, and travel is required.
Time commitment will vary based on the board's needs, a few days per month is likely, in addition to attendance at all board meetings (approximately five times per year).
Training sessions for board members are set up in conjunction with the national board meetings.

Candidates will be asked to provide two references (in addition to the person(s) nominating them), a resumé and a written response to certain questions from the pool of questions below:

Tell us about a situation in which you were required to work with people at various levels of an organization?
What qualities do you have that make you an effective team player?
What are your strongest leadership skills and how will they assist you as a board member. Why would you like to be elected to the board?
How do you feel you have contributed to the Board's effectiveness during your current term and what do you think you could do to improve the Board's effectiveness if you are re-elected?
What is your vision for CPF over the next five years?
Where do you think the organization should be going?
In what ways can those who fill the role of President or Vice-President, create a more positive public image for Canadian Parents for French?

Each candidate will be interviewed by telephone by the Nominations Committee. The telephone interviews are scheduled for 45 minutes each, with approximately 30 minutes devoted to questions asked by the Nominations Committee of the candidate and 10 minutes set aside for the candidate to ask any questions about the role of the board members, the commitment required or any other concern they might have about this potential role

Nominees are required to answer questions in the following areas.

Commitment to the values, ideals or principles associated with CPF
Personal attributes: self directed, problem solver, able to see issues from many angles, able to participate assertively in deliberation
Professional, administrative or financial experience
Volunteer experience
Previous board experience/ Board Governance
Experience with dealing with advocacy
Fund-raising skills/commitment to fund-raising
Communications skills
Time required to give to CPF
Knowledge of FSL programs/FSL issues

In addition, various members of the Nominations Committee can ask additional questions, related to the candidate's résumé or responses to the questions listed above.

Once the interviews are completed with all the candidates, the Nominations Committee decides on the final selection of candidates to present to the membership of CPF at the Annual General Meeting. Before making the final decision, members of the Nominations Committee take responsibility for conducting a reference check on the candidates on the proposed slate. Referees are asked the following questions:

Please describe your relationship with the candidate-how long have you known the candidate? In what capacity?
What would you say is this person's greatest strength? Weakness?
Does the candidate stay open to all sides of an argument before reaching a decision?
Please comment on this person's ability to accept constructive criticism.
Would you consider this individual to be more of a task-oriented or project-oriented person?
Is he/she more inclined to maintain smooth and amicable relations at all costs, or is he/she more likely to show displeasure, frustration or even anger when faced with adversity?
What is the individual's capacity for initiative and taking action?
Is there anything you would like to add/contribute to our knowledge of the candidate's ability with reference to this position?

Reference checks completed and satisfactory results obtained, the proposed slate of nominees are contacted and invited to the AGM to be presented to the voting members.