When I picked up last Monday’s Province, and read the front-page article about TLC, I was reminded about why we are in the CCAA process. The article appreciated the dismay of the family of a major donor that not all the money donated has made it to the organization that TLC and the family agreed would fulfill the terms of their mother’s will. Although this is not a common occurrence, it is one that has made us uncomfortable about the things that have gone sideways in the past that we now have to set right. This kind of distress for a family of a well intentioned donor is regrettable. The Board and Staff of TLC have been working diligently to remedy the problem and make sure that it is done as the donor wished. The Galiano Conservancy holds a promissory note signed by former Executive Director Bill Turner for the debt and TLC is in the process of getting Court approval to pay it.
In 2010, when Mrs. Kleiman’s will was to be settled on the Galiano Learning Centre, TLC was already experiencing the beginning of its financial difficulties. The accounts payable were mounting and the administration was trying to find its way out without truly informing the Board about the dimensions of the problem. It is ground zero of the problem that TLC is dealing with now. Available cash was being used to keep the organization running, with administration counting on the next grant or donation to pull itself out of trouble. Its books were audited that year, and no irregularities were detected.
When the current Board determined to squarely own up to the debt that TLC owed to the Galiano Conservancy Association and many others, it chose the rigor of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, known as CCAA, to transparently address its obligation to its creditors. The Galiano Conservancy Association registered the amount that TLC owes it as a debt to be paid under Court supervision. TLC acknowledges its obligation and has a plan to sell properties to repay it.
The Province article quotes Briony Penn, Chair of TLC’s Board of Directors, on the fact that TLC has developed a “Plan of Arrangement” the instrument that CCAA provides to seek creditor and Court agreement on how the organization is going to pay its creditors. We are currently discussing the Plan with creditors to explain the Board’s approach to both pay the creditors and protect the conservation values of the properties.
TLC has enough agreements in place to assure that the secured mortgage holders will be paid in full. We have already secured over a million in debt forgiveness, and will need to transfer or sell properties, and release densities from two urban properties that TLC has protected, to see unsecured creditors paid. We know that it will take 18 to 24 months to complete these arrangements, and TLC will ask its unsecured creditors for the latitude to be able to accomplish this without putting the land in jeopardy.
TLC is planning to restructure its business so that it is never again in a position where it is encumbered by massive debt. TLC is taking steps to guarantee transparency in its financial affairs, and will work with other trusts to strengthen the credibility of the land trust movement. By the time we have completed our work we will be operating as a model for lean and efficient environmental protection, playing a new role in the conservation community.
John Shields
Director of Operations
