Dear OPIRG Provincial Members, and OPIRG Provincial Chapters and members,
OPIRG Provincial has been delayed in sharing this information with our membership, and wider public as we received the following Cease and Desist letter from the OPIRG McMaster board, through a lawyer on February 27th, 2025:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LJaDe_4Gs62AVoQz8L96kvy4zpsVIbeD/view?usp=drive_link
OPIRG Provincial provides services to all of the affiliated Chapter Locals (members), and their members (students and community members), such as members of OPIRG McMaster, and you can read more on these here: https://ontariopirg.org/services/
We received this letter from the OPIRG McMaster board on January 19, 2025, saying they would like to disaffiliate from OPIRG Provincial. Our ByLaws and policies allow for disaffiliation, but only once a consensus decision (Level A) has been reached by the Provincial Board, as outlined in our bylaws (Article #11, Members – Campus Locals, termination (a) – Page 11) and our decision-making guide (Pages 5-7).
As a follow-up to OPIRG McMaster’s letter, the OPIRG Provincial Board sent the following communication to the OPIRG McMaster board on February 2nd, 2025, requesting further information to make a Level A decision on their request to leave. Included in that communication was the following document about what happens if a Chapter leaves the Provincial Network: List of chapter impacts of terminating a chapter membership with OPIRG Provincial.pdf Here is the supplementary information we asked for from the OPIRG McMaster board to remind them of our processes and what we need from them: (https://drive.google.com/file/d/19t1CUvPx1Mcedqusxr0v8tTB2N4IZNsN/view?usp=drive_link) – the Provincial Board later followed up with a deadline of February 20th to provide us with this information and received none, and on February 27th, we received their Cease and Desist email and letter – with no responses to our requests for information.
Finally, as members or community members/partners of OPIRG McMaster, you are part of the OPIRG Provincial Network, and you have a right to access your Chapter’s policies, bylaws and regulations. We will link below the documents we have on hand for OPIRG McMaster, in case you are unable to access these from the OPIRG McMaster website or have the OPIRG McMaster board provide them to you:
Other membership rights such as the ability to access financial statements of the corporation during regular office hours (Article 98(2)) can be read on the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act (ONCA).
Reply to Specific questions:
- Why does OPIRG McMaster want to leave the OPIRG Provincial Network? – this is happening because the OPIRG McMaster board has asked for it. OPIRG McMaster has not shared with us any reasons for why they would like to leave – and OPIRG Provincial has asked for information as to how and why this decision is being made and if students (members) have been involved in this decision-making – we have not received documentation from the OPIRG McMaster board, apart from the above linked Cease and Desist letter.
OPIRG Provincial provides opportunities for students to be engaged and take on leadership positions – on our board, through monthly events (https://ontariopirg.org/collab-lunches) and a list of our services: https://ontariopirg.org/services/ – highlighting that Provincial supports PIRGs to keep their doors open primarily through fee support to lower income PIRGS, maintenance of health and LTD benefits for staff who are there to create opportunities and support students, and opportunities to collaborate through cross-province campaigns and events. OPIRG Provincial has previously taken feedback and ideas suggested by OPIRG McMaster and has taken action on them (Collaboration lunches were implemented last year for this reason). Multiple trainings and events have occurred over the last few years, and we always encourage that these be shared throughout the network’s chapters – OPIRG Provincial would be happy to send links and resources to members of Chapters, but these are always provided to chapter boards such as McMaster, to disseminate.
As members of OPIRG McMaster, you have the right to ask the board questions and the right to participate in meetings, especially at any AGM. At an AGM, you are a member and have a right to vote and make your voice heard – whether that be asking questions, requesting agenda items to be discussed, running for a board position, or voting in any elections or bylaw amendments that happen. A note in McMaster Constitution, Article #5 re. Meetings of the BOD and Article #8 outlines the AGM and elections processes. - Implications of leaving the OPIRG Provincial network: List of chapter impacts of terminating a chapter membership with OPIRG Provincial.pdf
- Concerns that the OPIRG McMaster board is dismissing students – we provided above, the OPIRG McMaster ByLaws and policies, which outline the process that the OPIRG McMaster board of directors must follow – if they are not following this, you can submit a complaint to them directly at their email here: board@opirgmcmaster.org.
More Questions – we can update this page as needed if we receive more questions.
For further information you may contact our Provincial Coordinator, who can connect you the the Provincial board of Directors, at opirgprovcoordinator@gmail.com.
