legal affairs
June 5, 2010
Federal Court granted a leave to hear two applications by members against CSIC Board of Directors
(1) Adebogun vs CSIC - This case seeks a declaration that the election held last September was unfair and contravened the rights of CSIC members to associate with other members and express themselves freely as guaranteed by s. 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
(2) Onuschak vs CSIC - This case seeks several declarations that the Board has acted without jurisdiction or in contravention of the By-laws or procedural fairness in respect of 13 separate matters (the nominating criteria, restrictions on attending members meetings, a director serving as CEO, Mr Ryan as third-time Chair, the gag orders, on-line only AGMs, improper auditor's appointment, etc). Because of the loss of membership status of Ms Onuschak, another CSIC member, Kay Adebogun, has joined the case as an Applicant to ensure the issues may be heard and decided on behalf of all members.
The cases were in Federal Court on May 28th for hearings on the leave applications - leave is necessary in these cases before Judicial Review on the merits will be scheduled. To obtain leave, it is only necessary to show the applicant has "a serious issue to be tried, a fairly arguable case". CSIC opposed that. However, the Court rejected CSIC's arguments and has granted leave to review several different matters including the 3-terms served by Mr Ryan as Chair, the dual role of the Chair and CEO, election restrictions, imposing conditions on members to attend meetings, the nomination criteria, etc.
April 10, 2010
Application to Federal Court made by Miller Thompson LLP on behalf of three CAPIC directors
After two years of "investigation", CSIC disciplined three of the CAPIC Directors
On June 24, 2008, CAPIC posted on its website a letter to the CSIC asking it to support the findings of the Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration.
The same day, CSIC launched complaints against each of CAPIC's 12 Directors for alleged breaches of its Code of Ethics. The alleged breaches related solely to the statements contained in CAPIC's letter.
To refresh your memory, here are excerpts from the letter:
...We believe that what is "unacceptable" is a Complaints and Discipline process that does not apply to unregulated agents, and which cannot have its decisions enforced in law even for its own members, because the Society is not supported by statute. It is also unacceptable that its decisions cannot be subject to judicial review, meaning that members could lose their right to practice even if an error is made in the process.
...Mr. Ryan states that CSIC has a Strategic Plan. That is news to most of us, as we have never seen it. It does not appear anywhere on the web site. Perhaps that is why so many feel that CSIC is busy doing things to us, instead of listening.
...Mr. Ryan also states that CSIC presents Audited Financial statements to its members. Again, there is no mention of this on their web site, and to the best of our recollection, we have not seen one in two years. In the past, any Audited Statement that we have seen has been so top-level, that members cannot see how their fees are being spent in any kind of meaningful way.
In the months June, 2008 to March, 2010, CSIC conducted its investigation into the Complaint. All individuals who were the subject of the Complaint cooperated fully with CSIC and answered questions and provided requested documentation. The Complaint was dismissed against all CAPIC directors except Phil Mooney (President), Gerd Damitz (Treasurer) and Rhonda Williams (Secretary).
Upon completion of CSIC's investigation into the conduct of the Applicants, the Manager made the following decisions:
- Philip Mooney was found to have breached Rules 16.5 and 16.6 of the Rules of Professional Conduct and was fined $1,000 pursuant to an Administrative Discipline Order;
- Rhonda Williams was found to have breached section 2.6 of the Complaints and Discipline Policy for withholding and concealing information and was issued a Letter Of Warning to be placed in her membership file;
- Gerd Damitz was found to have breached section 2.6 of the Complaints and Discipline Policy for withholding and concealing information and was issued a Letter Of Warning to be placed in his membership file;
The following documents were filed with the Federal Court on May 14, 2010.
Disciplinary actions against some members of CAPIC Board of Directors
2009 CSIC Elections - Kay Adebogun challenge; counsel: Lorne Waldman
