Saturday, November 08, 2008
Trust response to how they are spending our money.
Trust Response to Request for Information on How Our Money is Being Spent
Sheila Malcolmson was good enough to pass this on to me. I guess as an ordinary citizen I don’t merit a direct reply from this Fraser character nor from our outgoing Chair Kim Benson who I sent 3 emails to this last week and never got a direct response from her –perhaps she was embarrassed that she couldn’t get that information as one of our employees wouldn’t give it to her. I think I only got this response because my third letter stated that my next contacts on this issue would be to the premier, the ombudsman and the people at Freedom of Information Act. (AND I WOULD HAVE ALSO CONTACTED AS MAY NEWSPAPERS AS POSSIBLE. I WOULD APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU SENDING THIS EMPLOYEES REFUSAL TO YOUR LOCAL PAPERS AND MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE). I will of course send a copy to this to the chair and papers and others but not to the employee that didn’t have enough respect for an Islander to reply in person. If his boss wants to share this response before he reads it in the paper that is up to her. I wonder why the amount of money spent harassing Summer Rain is such a secret. I mean even if the Trust had won it would probably have been thrown out because the Trust violated the Trust act and supporting legislation in filing the suit. I refer specifically to the section that in essence states ‘all means to resolve a problem must be used, including arbitration, before engaging in legal action’, no arbitration was used in this case because nobody thought about it including the attorney apparently because I offered to arbitrate and was told by one of our reps after consultation with the attorney that it was too late for the necessary step of arbitration because they had already filed against summer rain. At that point the Trust should have withdrawn the case because they hadn’t followed their own mandated procedure – but after all it is not like it was their money they were wasting, it was only yours.
From: Mac Fraser
Sent: Fri 07/11/2008 10:38 AM
To: Sheila Malcolmson
Cc: Lisa Dunn; Linda Adams
Subject: FW: financial reports
Good morning, Sheila. In response to the question below about the cost of the Summer Rain litigation, I have spoken with Linda Adams on this and been advised that the Islands Trust does not release this information to the general public, to include candidates. Thank you
Mac Fraser
Director
Local Planning Services
Islands Trust
Preserving and Protecting the Unique Environment and Amenities of the Islands Trust Area
From: Lisa Dunn
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 9:59 AM
To: Sheila Malcolmson
Cc: Ian Lowden; Mac Fraser
Subject: financial reports
Hello Sheila and Ian,
The Islands Trust audited financial statements are here & up-to-date for the most recent 3 years. http://islandstrust.bc.ca/tc/fpc.cfm
Please let me or Craig Elder know if you need previous years.
I confess the text parts of the actual annual reports are still in draft form on my desk - I inherited a 5-year backlog. Nothing to hide there - just a fact of staff worklload. They are close and would have been done by now if it wasn't for this election. I will present as many of them as possible to December Trust Council.
I am cc'ing Mac to address the legal costs question.
Cheers,
Lisa Dunn
Director
Trust Area Services
200-1627 Fort St.
Victoria BC V8R 1H8
In Victoria 405-5174
Enquiry BC Toll-free call 1-800-663-7867
or from the lower mainland 604-660-2421
Websites: www.islandstrust.bc.ca www.islandstrustfund.bc.ca
Preserving Island communities, culture and environment
Sheila Malcolmson was good enough to pass this on to me. I guess as an ordinary citizen I don’t merit a direct reply from this Fraser character nor from our outgoing Chair Kim Benson who I sent 3 emails to this last week and never got a direct response from her –perhaps she was embarrassed that she couldn’t get that information as one of our employees wouldn’t give it to her. I think I only got this response because my third letter stated that my next contacts on this issue would be to the premier, the ombudsman and the people at Freedom of Information Act. (AND I WOULD HAVE ALSO CONTACTED AS MAY NEWSPAPERS AS POSSIBLE. I WOULD APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU SENDING THIS EMPLOYEES REFUSAL TO YOUR LOCAL PAPERS AND MEMBERS OF LEGISLATURE). I will of course send a copy to this to the chair and papers and others but not to the employee that didn’t have enough respect for an Islander to reply in person. If his boss wants to share this response before he reads it in the paper that is up to her. I wonder why the amount of money spent harassing Summer Rain is such a secret. I mean even if the Trust had won it would probably have been thrown out because the Trust violated the Trust act and supporting legislation in filing the suit. I refer specifically to the section that in essence states ‘all means to resolve a problem must be used, including arbitration, before engaging in legal action’, no arbitration was used in this case because nobody thought about it including the attorney apparently because I offered to arbitrate and was told by one of our reps after consultation with the attorney that it was too late for the necessary step of arbitration because they had already filed against summer rain. At that point the Trust should have withdrawn the case because they hadn’t followed their own mandated procedure – but after all it is not like it was their money they were wasting, it was only yours.
From: Mac Fraser
Sent: Fri 07/11/2008 10:38 AM
To: Sheila Malcolmson
Cc: Lisa Dunn; Linda Adams
Subject: FW: financial reports
Good morning, Sheila. In response to the question below about the cost of the Summer Rain litigation, I have spoken with Linda Adams on this and been advised that the Islands Trust does not release this information to the general public, to include candidates. Thank you
Mac Fraser
Director
Local Planning Services
Islands Trust
Preserving and Protecting the Unique Environment and Amenities of the Islands Trust Area
From: Lisa Dunn
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2008 9:59 AM
To: Sheila Malcolmson
Cc: Ian Lowden; Mac Fraser
Subject: financial reports
Hello Sheila and Ian,
The Islands Trust audited financial statements are here & up-to-date for the most recent 3 years. http://islandstrust.bc.ca/tc/fpc.cfm
Please let me or Craig Elder know if you need previous years.
I confess the text parts of the actual annual reports are still in draft form on my desk - I inherited a 5-year backlog. Nothing to hide there - just a fact of staff worklload. They are close and would have been done by now if it wasn't for this election. I will present as many of them as possible to December Trust Council.
I am cc'ing Mac to address the legal costs question.
Cheers,
Lisa Dunn
Director
Trust Area Services
200-1627 Fort St.
Victoria BC V8R 1H8
In Victoria 405-5174
Enquiry BC Toll-free call 1-800-663-7867
or from the lower mainland 604-660-2421
Websites: www.islandstrust.bc.ca www.islandstrustfund.bc.ca
Preserving Island communities, culture and environment
