Our Organizational Structure

Alex Laidlaw Housing Cooperative is a membership centered democratic organization that operates on the basis of self-helped self-served provisions of our "Organizational By-Law". Members elect the board of directors of the coop during their annual meeting. The board of directors consists of seven coop members . The board of directors is responsible for day to day running of the coop business. The board members elect among themselves.

• a president
• a vice-president
• a secretary/chairperson of the standing committee on legal and corporate matters
• a treasurer/chairperson of the financial committee
• the chairpersons of the standing committees for Membership, Maintenance, Internet and Communications committees
• a delegate to any co-operative or other external organization that the Co-op may choose to join

Roles of Directors and Committees:

Directors organize and facilitate the association of the volunteer members in committees where they take part in operation of the committees at all levels from decision making process to execution of the committees' annual operational plans. The roles of the committees are defined by our organizational By-law as follows,

• Each standing committee presents an annual work plan to the board for approval and reports to the board at least quarterly
• A committee must have the authority from a by-law or from a motion passed by the board to
  • spend any money
  • authorize any expense
  • enter into any contract, or
  • commit the Co-op to any action

Members' Rights and Power:

Members entertain a variety of rights to oversee the control of the coop. Provisions of our organizational By-law regarding the members' rights and power are as follows,

• electing directors under 5.4 of the organizational By-law
• removing directors under 5.11 of this By-law
• approving the budget and housing charges under Article 4 of the Occupancy By-law
• requisitioning directors to act under Article 4 of the organizational By-law,
• appointing the auditor each year under 11.3 of this By-law, and
• approving the annual operating and capital budgets of the Co-op
• The Act allows members' meetings to make decisions if:
  • the by-laws or the Act say that a members' meeting must decide something
  • the by-laws or the Act give members the right to overrule a board decision, or
  • members follow the procedures in the Act and in Article 4 of this By-law.

External Associations:

ALHC is a member of the Cooperative Housing Association of Eastern Ontario ( CHASEO), which itself is a member of Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada ( CHF).