As I think we all know by now, the Canadian Soccer Association is getting a new governance structure in May.
Gone will be the old system, where all provincial and territorial soccer association presidents get an automatic seat on the board, even if they have profound conflicts-of-interest, and lack the experience and ideas needed to help the game at the national level.
As many as three of these folks may, in fact remain. But a year from now it drops to two. Another vanishes in 2014, and they’re all gone in three years. They can remain at Metcalfe Street, but would have to give up their provincial post.
The new board will be a president and vice-president, with six elected regional reps and six appointed experts – three this year, three next.
We’ve already talked a fair bit about the appointed positions, and much more is coming very soon.
This morning, though, let’s focus on the six elected regional reps, and how they will be selected.
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In the long-required and much-needed interest of efficiency, this compacting of the board requires certain territories and provinces to bunk in together. The six regional reps will represent:
1) B.C. and the Yukon
2) Alberta and the NWT
3) Saskatchewan and Manitoba
4) Ontario
5) Quebec and Nunavut
6) The Maritimes
I might not be completely clear on the placement of the various territories, but you get the general idea.
What I’ve learned is there will not be six separate elections for these six board seats. Anyone who wants to run throws his or her name into one big hat.
Literally anyone. You, me and a four-piece rumba band can stand for election – as long as each of us represents a different geographical region.
The idea, apparently, is to remove the idea that these new members will specifically represent the issues of a single region. What the CSA Nominations Committee really wants is people who, first and foremost, can contribute to the national agenda and debate.
So – once all the names are in the hat, the voting membership of the CSA casts ballots, voting for one candidate each. Anyone with 50% or more is welcomed to the board – provided their regional seat hasn’t already been filled by someone with more votes.
If that doesn’t fill all six seats (and I don’t see any mathematical way it can), the last-place candidate drops off – along with any remaining candidates who no longer have a free seat to run for – and a new round of voting is held. This goes on (six rounds, maximum) until all six regional elected board seats are filled.
This leaves behind a couple of intriguing questions, answers for which are not yet clear at press time.
1) What happens if there is only one candidate from a particular region? Ontario, for example, is setting up a panel to choose its preferred nominee. I’d be shocked if no one else stepped forward, but who knows? Apparently, the election proceeds until the single candidate clears the 50% threshold.
2) What happens if the only candidate from a small region finishes dead last in a round of voting? Unlikely to happen, but this is just exactly the kind of soft, fuzzy, naïve blind spot the Canadian Soccer Association has been known to accidentally inflict on itself.
The other thing to bear in mind is that the provinces vote disproportionally, based on the membership fees they collect.
Ontario wields a quarter of the votes all by itself. Once their rep is in place, they could theoretically use that power to pick and choose who they’d prefer to hold any one vacant seat in any and all subsequent rounds. That could prove very interesting, setting the table for trans-regional agenda building, which may not be what some of the smaller regions are expecting – or hoping for.
That’s about enough to chew on for now. Up next, a discussion of who actually gets to vote – and who doesn’t.
Onward!