3 days ago
New P.E.I. hockey board elected in fiery meeting
The air was tense at a recent annual general meeting for the Morell Minor Hockey Association.
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Almost 100 residents and hockey parents showed up at the local fire hall to hear an update on finances and vote on a new board.
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At least a dozen people asked pointed questions about the audited financial statements, board leadership and AGM process.
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Before things got heated, the board read through minutes from the previous two AGMs.
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After hearing the minutes from the 2024 meeting, lawyer Matthew Bradley called a point of order to say Hockey P.E.I. instructed Morell to hold a new AGM, nullifying the 2024 event.
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'Last year's annual general meeting was determined to have procedural abnormalities, so the motions that were passed at that point in time are in no effect at this point in time.'
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Hockey P.E.I.
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In February, Hockey P.E.I. sent a letter to board chair Danny Kelly outlining procedural problems at the previous meeting. The meeting was only online, fell outside the required time frame, and the board only allowed itself to vote on resolutions, and not ordinary members of the organization such as hockey parents and volunteers, the letter said.
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'During our October (2024) meetings with the members of the MMHA board, those members candidly admitted that they had incorrectly refused to allow the membership, other than current members of the board, to participate in any of the votes that occurred during the online meeting.'
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The letter ordered Morell to hold a new, full AGM and erased all decisions made at the earlier meeting, which it said did not qualify as an AGM.
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In a June 3 Guardian email, Kelly said the board interpreted the organization's constitution to mean only the board could vote at the 2024 meeting that was nullified.
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'This interpretation was the result of many years when few individuals, if any, other than board members, attended the AGM. Hockey P.E.I. disagreed with this interpretation and deemed the motions passed at the 2024 AGM null and void.'
