This December, club owners RayJean Fafard and Cliff Andrews, in apparent unison with disgruntled former Pride Board Director Tawde Clark, caused an uprising at the Pride Calgary AGM in an attempt to purge the board and start the organization from scratch. Forced to defend the integrity of the existing organization, Male Co-Chair John Skorka had little recourse but to disband the out of control meeting and refund all memberships, stating that the AGM would reconvene at a later date.
The news of this coup left many in the community shocked and outraged, and many of those concerned individuals showed up to the rescheduled AGM that occurred earlier this month. An approximate head count showed an impressive 55 people who were barely able to fit into the meeting room. The meeting started slightly late due to the backlog on memberships being processed. Among others, in attendance were senior board members from ARGRA, the president of Fairytales, the chair of GLASS, in addition to a strong presence from the Miscellaneous Youth Network. Many other non-profits stated their support for the Pride Board, but did not or could not attend the meeting.
Anyone in the membership expecting a fight was disappointed. Clark, Andrews, and Fafard all showed up for the meeting but were turned away at the door, most likely under section 1.6 of the organization’s bylaws, that states: Any member, upon a three-fourths vote of the Board of Directors of the society, may be expelled for any cause, which the society may deem reasonable. Since the prior meeting had been disrupted before the old directors could step down (not including Skorka, who had 1 year left of his elected 2 year term), the resolution was carried by the remaining board members. This effectively barred entry and issuance of new memberships to the three individuals who were deemed the root cause of last month’s commotion.
“The reason we went to this extent… [was] for the well being of Pride Calgary. This has been going on for a while to the extent that individuals and some business people in our community will not come to a Pride AGM because of what they have seen in the past. Also, something we have kept quiet about is that some of our board members refuse to attend an AGM…these people enjoy what they do in volunteering but they don’t want to be ridiculed and accused of things when they’re here doing their best for the interest of the organization.”
After it began, the meeting went swiftly. The documents that had been so thoroughly criticized prior, passed the scrutiny of those from the boards of other non-profit groups, pending only minor questions. New opportunities for funding were presented for discussion at a later meeting.
Nevertheless, Fafard did turn out to be correct in his conjecture about Pride Calgary’s non-profit status. The Pride Board only became aware, when the organization was struck in 2006, that they had neglected to file their annual return forms and audited financial statements dating all the way back to 2003. Skorka first held his board position in 2006, making this a problem that dated back well before his time. In fact, this oversight can most likely be traced back to a similar overthrow attempt made on Keith Purdy’s board that succeeded, serving as a testament to the damaging effects of knowledge lost in a hostile board purge. Though Skorka stated at the November 2007 AGM that this problem had been corrected, he readily admitted at this later AGM that he had been mistaken. He explained that the responsibility of updating the paperwork for the past 5 years, in order to revive the organization’s standing with the government, had been delegated to Female Co-Chair Tamryn Hildebrant. Though Skorka states he was given the impression it had been resolved, he investigated further and found this to not be the case. Skorka reported that he resolved this matter personally, before the AGM reconvened in January.
Despite the strong attendance, many members were reluctant to volunteer for director positions, observing potential conflicts of interest, and perhaps in light of the severe criticism they had learned prior boards were receiving despite their best efforts. In the end, the new board mainly consisted of people also involved with the Miscellaneous Youth Network, making it the youngest Pride board that Calgary has ever seen. Nevertheless, with new blood come new energy and ideas, and with the experience of John and other re-elected board members at their side, there is renewed hope that Pride Calgary will continue to improve and build upon itself.
This year however, the board may have to fight a little harder to be successful. Witnesses allege that, later that week, Fafard got on the microphone in his club and publicly announced his disappointment at his ejection from the meeting, citing it as evidence of further deterioration in the organization. At this time it is uncertain whether the club still plans to launch or support a competing organization to work against the Pride board, as previously threatened.
