A former resident of Bralorne (in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District’s Area A, north of Pemberton) is raising concerns about transparency at the Bridge River Valley Community Association (BRVCA).
Steve Oakley has owned a home in Bralorne for more than 20 years, and prior to moving to Kamloops this year, lived full time in the community (which has a population of about 60 people) for four years.
In 2019, he sat as Bralorne’s representative on the BRVCA board.
“After a few meetings, I started asking some questions and realized quickly that they weren’t really going to be very forthcoming with any information, particularly around financials,” Oakley said.
“Just really basic, simple questions, you know?”
While BRVCA shares some financial information at its annual general meetings, “they’d just give a kind of a 36,000-foot view of the documents, and really no detail,” Oakley said.
“I asked for some of these documents and was essentially ignored, so then I started investigating well, how can I get a look at these records?”
Not-for-profits like BRVCA are governed by the Societies Act, and are not subject to the same Freedom of Information disclosure requirements as public bodies.
Under the Societies Act, any person can request copies of a society’s financial statements. Under the Act, the society must send a copy of the documents no later than 14 days after receipt of the request.
When BRVCA refused to turn over the requested documents under the Societies Act, Oakley contacted a lawyer, who suggested he try the Civil Resolution Tribunal, where the matter now stands.
“In this matter, the [BRVCA] is balancing its obligations to protect the privacy of its members, volunteers, employees and contractors with its obligation to provide transparency to its members,” said Pat Dahle, BRVCA president, in a statement sent on behalf of the BRVCA board in response to an interview request.
“As the [BRVCA] is currently awaiting instructions from the justice system regarding its competing obligations, we do not think it is appropriate to comment at this time.”
BRVCA declined to offer further comment, or to clarify what “instructions from the justice system” it is waiting on.
Oakley also had no luck when he appealed to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD), which funds BRVCA in part through tax requisitions and grants.
Oakley himself served a brief stint as the SLRD’s Area A director (which boasts a population of 187, according to the 2016 census) from fall of 2019 to February 2020, when he lost in a byelection.
The SLRD declined to comment on the matter, noting BRVCA is governed by the Societies Act.
Oakley said he isn’t insinuating that money is being misused, or that there is something nefarious going on.
“But the common sense side of me is going, well, if there’s nothing to hide, then why wouldn’t they just turn these over, or let me go look at them … rather than spend thousands of dollars over a year to deny these requests?” he said.
Ultimately, the authority to enforce the rights laid out in the Societies Act lies with the Supreme Court of B.C.—an avenue Oakley said he might yet pursue if the matter isn’t resolved through the Civil Tribunal process.
