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Court wades into feud over selling church land at prime site

The B.C. Supreme Court is being asked to decide which of two groups legally represents the Victoria Truth Centre. At stake is the future of the church, founded in 1898, and its 1.76-acre piece of prime property at 1201 Fort St.
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The Victoria Truth Centre property at 1201 Fort St. One of the churchÕs boards has agreed to sell it for $7 million. Another wants to stay where the church has been since 1949.

The B.C. Supreme Court is being asked to decide which of two groups legally represents the Victoria Truth Centre.

At stake is the future of the church, founded in 1898, and its 1.76-acre piece of prime property at 1201 Fort St. The church has been on that site since 1949.

Each group has its own elected board of directors.

One board was elected at an annual general meeting Feb. 28. It considers the other board invalid. The second board was elected March 6 and confirmed at an emergency meeting on Aug. 7.

The March group is planning an Aug. 28 meeting to discuss membership. It maintains some long-term church supporters are not allowed to belong to the centre.

The February board has agreed to sell the land for $7 million to a Victoria-based developer. The sale is set to close this year, said Abstract Developments founder Mike Miller.

Miller has met with some of the neighbours to solicit views on a residential development. He aims to retain as many of the trees as possible.

The February group would relocate to a smaller location, freeing it from monthly maintenance costs at Fort Street.

The March group is opposed to selling. It wants the church to stay where it is and rent space to a like-minded church. “All the members want to keep the church and to open it up to the community,” said Nina Bonner of the March group.

The late Emma Smiley was the centre’s minister beginning in 1940. Smiley advocated tranquility, happiness and positivity in thought.

“We like our people to think for themselves and evolve their own religious concepts,” she said.

A petition from the February group aimed at resolving the dispute is slated to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court on Sept. 6.

A key issue is whether proper procedures were followed when the boards were elected.

Aurora Faulkner-Killam, lawyer for the February group, has said that the group has followed bylaws, the Society Act and past practices.

The March group is challenging the other group on this, saying that some members were locked out and not permitted to participate at the February meeting, and that there was not a legal quorum.

Scott Bonner, Nina’s husband, said that their group had a legal quorum in place and that the rules governing societies were followed. Nina Bonner said that the meeting had been advertised.

Matters heated up on Aug. 7 after the Sunday service. Documents filed in court from the February group said keys to the centre and society papers were missing from the church following the Sunday service.

Victoria police spokesman Bowen Osoko said in a statement that police were called to a report of a break-in.

“When they arrived and spoke with those on site, officers indicated that the issue at hand was a civil matter and not a criminal one. Calling police would not resolve the issues presented to us at that time,” he said.

Last week, the March group moved to have its members named as officials on B.C. Registry records. Nina Bonner said they attempted to change the locks on the church. She also tried to fire Faulkner-Killam, the February group lawyer.

Under an order made Friday by Supreme Court Judge Brian MacKenzie, members of the March group are not permitted to file new documents with the B.C. Registrar of Companies,

Keys and church documents are to be returned, the order said. As well, Nina Bonner is not permitted on the property, it said.

Officials with the February group have the authority to use money to pay operating expenses. But a $1-million deposit, a downpayment for the property, is frozen until the matter is settled, the order said. The bank froze those funds last week.

“The centre sees the actions of a few people this past week as unfortunate and hopes that the individuals involved will remember the teachings of Emma Smiley that brought the community together in the first place,” Faulkner-Killam said. “The matters in dispute are before the courts for adjudication and the court orders this week were a responsive and proper way to ensure the process is not abused.”