The board of the Delta Hospice Society (DHS) is being taken to court, an attempt to cancel or delay a special meeting to change the society’s constitution to include statements about Christian principals.
A petition to the B.C. Supreme Court filed last week by Sharon Farrish, Christopher Pettypiece and former board president Jim Levin seeks to block the June 15th meeting, alleging the notice contravenes the Societies Acts as well as the Emergency Program Act.
The court action follows the DHS board rejecting without explanation many society membership applications by Delta residents opposed to the DHS board.
Social media has been abuzz with irate residents, many having started a letter writing campaign to government, saying they’ve been denied membership to the society which, ironically, saw a large number of late sign-ups by opponents of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) just prior to an annual general meeting late last year.
The newly signed members were enough to change the balance of power of the board, which promptly cancelled a policy by the previous board to allow MAiD at the Irene Thomas Hospice in Ladner.
The new board and its president Angelina Ireland are now being accused of breaching the Societies Act by not allowing other people to join, including those who had contributed to the building of the centre, in an effort to keep the current membership stacked with a minority imposing their religious viewpoint.
The petition, among things, seeks an order for the society to provide a list of all the people whose membership applications were rejected and the society rectify the register of members to include the names of all persons whose membership applications were rejected since Nov. 28, 2019.
“The board of the Society has manipulated the membership list to stack the deck, by holding back up to six months, and ultimately rejecting without basis, hundreds of membership applications by community members concerned by the direction of the Society, all the while selectively accepting members supportive of their philosophy and direction. Once this manipulation was complete, the Society has now given minimum notice of an extraordinary meeting. It is intended to change what has always been an open, secular community organization into a closed, religious organizations,” the petition states.
The petition also states that the DHS bylaws do not authorize mail-in voting and that the court's intervention is required to prevent the board from employing a method that is in breach of the Societies Act and the society's bylaws
“The Society seeks to effect this very fundamental change by excluding those legitimately entitled to participate and by means of a voting process that is not permitted under the bylaws of the Society or Societies Act.”
Noting the April 15, 2020 list shows approximately 800 members added and that about half of the members reside in other communities, the petition notes the past practice of the society has been to accept memberships that are submitted in the proper form with the proper application fee.
The board’s “wrongful rejection of the Applications contravenes the open membership provided for in the bylaws of the Society, in breach of the duties of directors, and violates the Petitioners’ reasonable expectations,” the petition adds.
The well-established practice that memberships are processed automatically can be considered an implied term of contract between the society and its members, the petition explains.
The petition further states, “The proposed bylaws seek to require that members of the Society make a commitment to the Christian faith, and seek to provide the Incumbent Board (and any future board0 with the power to terminate memberships of people who, in the board’s discretion, do not share that faith-based commitment.”
The petition has a number of affidavits attached from those whose membership applications were rejected including several prominent names such as former MLA Vicki Huntington, former mayor Beth Johnson, former police chief Jim Cessford, current school board trustee Daniel Boisvert and others.
In a recent interview, Huntington said she had applied months ago only to get a letter in the last two weeks that she had been rejected without explanation.
She said it’s clear the current board is going out of its way to stack the membership with supporters only, regardless of who applies and their good standing in the community.
“It is such a sad state of affairs. So many people in this community have helped and believed in Delta Hospice,” said Huntington.
In response, Ireland in an interview told the Optimist the DHS board has not been acting in contravention of the Societies Act, saying they have been inundated and they are a private society who have the right to vet applications.
Ireland was also critical of comments by Delta South MLA Ian Paton, Delta Mayor George Harvie and others, saying instead of telling the whole story, they’re resorting to slanderous comments.
Vicki Huntington recently said the rejection of many membership applications of those who don't agree with the current board's religious view 'smacks of intolerance and disrespect'
“Just because you want to, and it’s just not possible given the resources that we have at this time, to accept everybody. They want to make it ugly and make it seem there’s ulterior motives…We have people who have maliciously and intentionally inundated the society with their memberships, so we unfortunately had to draw the line somewhere,” she said.
Representing the current board, Ottawa lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos wrote to Paton, who had written a letter to Ireland asking the membership be open to all Delta citizens.
Polizogopoulos noted while it is true that a number of applications for new membership were denied, it is not correct to say that the applications were made by individuals who are part of the community or who have been partners in DHS.
Polizogopoulos noted, “Your letter further goes on to state that DHS’s ‘membership must remain open to all Delta citizens.’ On what point of law or which DHS bylaw is this statement based? DHS, like all societies in British Columbia, operates pursuant to bylaws that have been approved by its membership as well as with the Societies Act.”
He also suggested Paton review the Societies Act and DHS bylaws.
“Your letter suggests that you have not. In fact, your letter seems to suggest that membership in DHS is a right individuals have? The DHS is not a government body. It is a private society that operates pursuant to a specific and unique constitution and bylaws. Despite this, you have used your position as a Member of the Legislative Assembly to try and intimidate a private organization into a specific course of action. You have further threatened to encourage people to pursue regulatory proceedings and litigation, despite not pointing to a specific individual or a rule or law which would give them standing to do so.”
He added membership in private and voluntary associations are discretionary and not a legal right.
Having given one-year’s notice in February that provincial funding for DHS will be terminated without cause, and the society would no longer be allowed to provide palliative care, Health Minister Adrian Dix has chosen not to enter the society’s membership controversy, only saying there are remedies people can take if they believe a group is in contravention with the Societies Act.
