The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria has lost a petition in B.C. Supreme Court to sell its 98-acre Metchosin property.
In early 2021, the non-profit organization said there was not enough demand for its programs in Metchosin, while services elsewhere in the region were facing wait lists. It wanted to sell the property to fund other programs where it saw more need.
The idea to sell sparked concerns about a loss of green space in the rural community, and residents said the sale would undermine the long-held understanding that the land would remain in its natural state with a conifer forest, Garry oak meadows and a pond.
A conditional offer was accepted in 2021 to sell the property to a group that provides nature-based programs and retreats for youth and adults. The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria Foundation said in a statement the pending sale will not proceed as planned because it didn’t receive court approval.
B.C.’s Attorney General got involved as the agency responsible for charitable-purpose trusts in the province. It opposed a sale of the property, arguing that the non-profit holds the land as a trustee after raising money to purchase the property from the province.
The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Victoria Foundation initiated a petition in B.C. Supreme Court in an attempt to go ahead with a sale.
The foundation bought the land from the province for about $1.63 million with donations. It sought court approval to convert the specific charitable purposes related to those donations, which were to fund the Metchosin property, to more general charitable donations that would allow it to fund services and infrastructure costs elsewhere.
More than 600 individual donations between 2004 and 2010 went toward the purchase of the property or construction of facilities.
The foundation said the cost of running programs in Metchosin has substantially increased while programs in the rest of the region are over-subscribed and it wants to reallocate the equity in the property to fund more in-demand programs.
Justice Francesca Marzari dismissed the club’s petition in a ruling released last week, writing that the proposal to sell the property and to convert its value to charitable purposes unrelated to operating a camp for children and youth on the Metchosin land is not as close as possible to the original purpose of the donated funds.
The people who donated to the foundation to buy the land must continue to have confidence that the purpose for which they donated funds will only be changed by the court “in limited and narrow circumstances,” Marzari wrote in her decision.
“This is not only to protect the over 600 donors in relation to the trusts in this case, but charitable giving and trusts more broadly,” she wrote.
The Attorney General’s ministry said it is not opposed to the foundation ever selling the property if it’s consistent with its obligations as trustee, according to the decision.
The non-profit still wants to sell the property and is evaluating its options on how to proceed.
“No decisions have been made regarding the long-term future of the property,” the foundation said in a statement.
It will continue to offer after-school services for children and plans to run summer day camps on the property.
The land had an assessed value of $4,820,000 as of July 1, 2023, according to B.C. Assessment.
