Fellow Council Members, Background one issue debated but unresolved by the drafting team is the oddity in Council voting over abstentions. To date an abstention has counted as a vote against the motion because of the way the old by-laws were written. I believe this is no longer the case in the new by-laws and so the decision is up to us as Council as to what we want to put in our internal rules (the operating procedures). The current draft continues the old practise. Proposal I would like to propose an amendment to the draft op. procedures as follows: 5.4 "Abstentions will count towards the establishment of a quorum but do not count as votes cast." This will mean an abstention is just that a decision to not vote. At present it is not the case.(The ability to state why a member abstains remains). The only rationale for the current situation is the the same rule applies for the Board. To my mind there are reasons why a Board may have such a rule that are not relevant to a policy development body such as Council. Is everyone happy to make this change ? Philip