Quest Alumni Action Group - Legal Costs Fundraiser
Donation protected
Just days before the sale of Quest’s campus to Capilano University in August 2023, we, the Quest Alumni Action Group (QAAG, formerly known as Save Quest and/or Friends of Quest) put out a fundraising call in order to obtain legal counsel to investigate concerning new information from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) about important aspects of Quest’s financial history. Further details of that information can be found below.
Since then we, a small team of alumni, have been working to move this investigation forward. In the last few months, we’ve obtained significant additional evidence about Quest’s financial history and land transactions. We are intentionally vague about the details of the evidence, and the case itself, to protect the integrity of the investigation.
This month (May 2024), we signed a client agreement with some of the best legal counsel in Canada who specialize in the specific issues Quest is facing. We have also obtained additional, pro bono support.
At this point, we need to raise funds to cover the cost of obtaining a preliminary legal opinion on the new evidence and assess our options. The estimated initial cost is $30,000. We recognize this is not a small amount, yet, we are confident that it is a worthwhile investment. We were able to raise $5,500 last summer, so we are seeking an additional $24,500.
One Example to Consider: Ownership of Quest’s Original Endowment Land
Quest began with 240 acres of Crown land, meaning that it was owned by the public. This land was then purchased and rezoned for the campus (60 acres) and for real estate development (180 acres). According to agreements with The District of Squamish, the entire 180 acres of real estate development land was intended to endow and benefit the university. By 2006, about 108 acres were sold and the proceeds contributed to campus construction. These land sales appear to be relatively legitimate.
After the initial land sale of approximately 108 acres, 72 acres remained.
Stewart Blusson: Owner of Parcel A and Lot 12
In December of 2023, we learned that the 72 remaining acres are currently owned by Stewart Blusson, Quest’s original benefactor. The 72 acres consists of two sections: Parcel A (60 acres) and Lot 12 (12 acres). Depending on zoning and market conditions, this land could be worth $1 million per acre, upwards of $72 million in total.
Notably, Mr. Blusson is not the registered owner of Parcel A nor Lot 12. Instead, he is the beneficial owner of both. The registered owners are two charities: Global Charity Fund (Parcel A) and Eden Glen Foundation (Lot 12). The fact that Mr. Blusson is the beneficial owner of these lands was not known until the BC Land Owner Transparency Registry was established in 2021 to end hidden ownership of land in BC. Unfortunately, this registry was not yet up and running during the 2020 CCAA process.
Importantly, it is relevant to our inquiry that CRA revoked the charitable status of Eden Glen Foundation. According to researcher Vivian Krause, the CRA found that the sale of Lot 12 had not been handled properly. Furthermore, CRA warned Eden Glen Foundation that it could be subject to penalties of $24 million. This CRA finding from summer 2023 is what prompted our initial GoFundMe.
Upon learning that Blusson is the owner of 72 acres of Quest’s original land, Blusson was asked to consider donating this land towards a re-start of Quest. Blusson would not agree to meet.
This series of facts leads us to conclude that we owe the legacy of our alma mater a proper legal opinion regarding the ownership of Parcel A and Lot 12, and to determine whether any of these lands were rightfully required to benefit Quest. This is important because had Quest owned them or benefitted from them it would have had a stronger financial position over the years.
There are several other issues that we will also explore. When we have proper legal counsel on these other matters, we will be able to share more.
Why donate to fund legal counsel?
There are approximately 1,000 graduates of Quest. We all arrived at Quest inspired and hoping for an outstanding educational and social experience, and many of us received it. We all left with our own perceptions of what Quest should have been, what it actually was, and how it could be better. For some of us, it was pivotal and life changing. For many of us, watching it fall apart was disappointing, infuriating, and confusing. We understand that some of you want to put this chapter behind you. We also know there are many of you who still believe that it was a worthy attempt at building something fantastic and it shouldn’t be left to die without examining how it ended.
If Quest was in fact a victim and not a standard financial failure we know many of you would like to see this come to light. Such a finding would encourage future experiments similar to Quest.
Together with our friends and families, we believe we can achieve our initial goal of $30,000. Our new legal counsel is ready to get to work on our behalf as soon as we pay our initial retainer of $20,000.
Please consider donating to support our legal efforts. If 25% of alumni give $100, that will get us the full funds.
But we extend our sincerest gratitude to all donors, no matter the size of your contribution! Any donation helps and it is important to show support via the quantity of alumni donating.
Who manages the funds?
The Quest University Canada Alumni Association (QUCAA) (a separate group from the Quest Alumni Action Group, QAAG) may or may not be the client, depending on counsel’s advice. But they control and disburse the funds and ensure they are handled with due diligence, exclusively paid to our lawyers for the purposes explained above.
Further reading
1. Dan Fumano. Charitable status revoked for 12 B.C. charities linked to single Vancouver company. The Vancouver Sun. February 28, 2023.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/charitable-status-revoked-for-12-b-c-charities-linked-to-single-vancouver-company
2. Dan Fumano. B.C. philanthropists named in audits of revoked charities. The Vancouver Sun. March 23, 2023.
3. Alissa Thibault. What went wrong with Quest: B.C. politicians raise concerns about university’s financial history. CTV News. March 17, 2023.
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/what-went-wrong-with-quest-b-c-politicians-raise-concerns-about-university-s-financial-history-1.6316267
4. Kathy Tomlinson. Charity network helped wealthy donors get big tax breaks. The Globe and Mail. October 24, 2018.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-charity-network-helped-wealthy-donors-get-big-tax-breaks/
5. Dan Fumano. B.C. charity fighting feds in court after CRA revoked status. The Vancouver Sun. March 29, 2023.
6. Mark Blumberg. “Regina v. BIake Bromley, BIake Bromely Consulting Inc., & QDDQ Services Inc.” - interesting old case Canadian Charity Law. March 23, 2011.
Organizer
Quest Alumni Action Group
Organizer
Squamish, BC