Hi,

On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 12:34 PM, L.Gelauff <lgelauff@gmail.com> wrote:

As I read from your email, you submitted already to the government?

I believe so.
 
Somehow I must have missed something here. I realize that there have
been some miscommunications in the past between Canadian wikimedians
and the chapters committee, but the regular way to start up a chapter
is by first going through chapcom and thén go through the government
process. The chapters committee does not want to make your life hard,
but would like to give input on bylaws and structures (we think we
might have some experience in chapters that might come in use), and
would like to give that input before you apply for incorporation to
make it easier to process some possible changes.

I have to admit that I am somewhat surprised by your move for
incorporation, the chapters committee was not aware of that until I
read the archives of this list (although we knew there was an interest
in setting up a chapter). I hope that communications can be improved
from here on, and that we can follow regular processes.

Well, it seems you aren't the only one surprised -- a number of list members, including myself, weren't aware of the decision to submit the paperwork to the government.

Now, I have to admit that putting together the basic by-laws to get the chapter off of the ground seems to have been a stumbling block in the past, and killed at least 2 attempts to get things off the ground. There is a groundswell of support for doing some work with regards to Wikimedia projects and goals, but to be honest the legal stuff is dull and boring, and involves many fine details that are hard to be excited about.

From what I understand from the banter on the list (and those in the know correct me if I'm wrong), we are still waiting on word back from the Government, which could take some time, and there is no guarantee that it will be accepted. That said, what needs to be done to make WM.CA come into good standing as far as the Chapcom is concerned?

There is a little bit of chicken-and-egg here, since nothing is "official" legally here until the Government approves things, and if memory serves, chapcom just looks at the charter of a chapter (which won't exist until we are approved by the Gov't).

So, let us know what we have to do to get back on track.

Thanks,
Gerald