Despite minor changes (such as the 1922 amendment which allowed for the inclusion of composers of musical works and designers of illustrations in the CAA membership), for more than twenty years after its establishment the Canadian Authors Association operated under its original provisional constitution, drafted in March 1921 by John Murray Gibbon, publicity manager for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and Louvigny de Montigny, lawyer and expert in constitutional law employed by the federal government. The CAA was formally incorporated in 1947 and letters patent were issued to the association in October of the same year. In 1948 the constitution was revised. Seven years after incorporation, the existence of the CAA was seriously threatened by a single yet substantial constitutional amendment, when the National Treasurer, Arthur Child, advocated the abolition of the advisory National Council and proposed concentrating all administrative and advisory control in the hands of a National Executive Secretary. Child's proposal was viewed by many as undemocratic and met with such hostility that a significant number of members resigned in protest. In order to avoid alienating the remaining membership, Child's amendment was abandoned.
As is customary, CAA by-law amendments are brought before the membership for general vote during the Annual General meeting, held yearly at the National Convention/Conference. Once accepted by the membership, amendments are then sent to Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada (formerly the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Ottawa) for official approval. Although they usually accepted CAA amendments, in 1986 Consumer and Corporate Affairs refused an amendment regarding the convening of general meetings outside Canada, which had possibly been proposed as a concession to the CAA's new affiliate, the Bermuda Writer's Club.
The series consists mainly of drafts and correspondence relating to by-law amendments for the forty-one year period from 1954 to 1995. Also included in the series are copies of the 1947 letters of patent (copied in 1994) and the 1948 revised constitution and by-laws. The amendments documented in this series range from minor changes in nomenclature and wording to more substantial organizational revisions such as Child's proposal. One file contains biographical information on the 1992-1993 National Executive ( see : By-laws and amendments. -- 1990-1993). The files are arranged chronologically.
