The latest and potentially final chapter of the Pebble in the Pond Environmental Society saga has unfolded in an unfortunate fashion.
The non-profit society, founded by former Liberal MLA Judi Tyabji and local environmentalists in 2008 to reduce the amount of plastic garbage in the community, announced via social media on Wednesday, March 23, that its board of directors unanimously approved to dissolve the society, effective immediately.
After conflict of interest allegations from the New Democratic Party in the provincial legislature on March 10, Tyabji and Pebble in the Pond have been publicly criticized in relation to a Job Creation Partnership project for a sheep-tanning business that tanned less than 150 of the proposed 1,000 hides, selling less than 40. The project paid Tyabji $67,000 while she remained president of the society.
The society’s social media post claimed Pebble in the Pond was dissolving in part to the “partisan attacks” it has received in the past two years regarding involvement in efforts to save Lot 450 from logging and the recent tannery business.
As of press time, no official statement has been issued by the society, other than a Facebook post to the 406 people who like the page. The post stated the board of directors unanimously voted in favour of a motion presented at its March 14 meeting to dissolve the society. Nine days later, the post was made announcing the decision, but also detailing the ways in which the society claims it was attacked by those “traditionally associated with the NDP or environmental causes.”
This is not the way any non-profit society should be dissolved.
Using its dissolution as an opportunity to fire back at detractors on social media only lessens the importance of the work done by the society since its inception eight years ago. Some of the efforts made by the society around waste reduction in the community, including a previous project to encourage the use of cloth bags over plastic, were successful in engaging residents around environmental issues. The society also worked with School District 47 and Powell River Historical Museum to provide education around plastic waste. This work has been diminished by the society’s recent actions.
Another issue is a society cannot just make a motion at a regular meeting to dissolve. There is due process outlined in the BC Society Act, including holding a Special General Meeting for membership and properly dispersing any assets the society holds.
It is a shame that even in its dissolution, Pebble in the Pond couldn’t have done the right thing and bowed out gracefully. The lengthy social media post announcing the decision degenerated into a tirade against its detractors, claiming partisan attacks and political motivation as a reason for the society’s downfall.
Unfortunately, the work done by the society to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the community has taken a backseat to politics. We now have a defensive post on Facebook as its lasting legacy.
Jason Schreurs, publisher/editor
