COURT FILE NO.
COURT ALBERTA PROVINCIAL
APPLICANT NADINE E. BEWS
RESPONDENTS JOHN WM. CONROY QC; JASON F. WILCOX;
MMAR PPL/DPL COALITION AGAINST REPEAL
AKA CANNABIS RIGHTS COALITION ET. AL.
DOCUMENT REQUEST FOR TRUST ACCOUNT AUDIT
ADDRESS FOR Nadine E. Bews, Self-represented
SERVICE & CONTACT 3563 – 33 Street SE
INFORMATION FOR Calgary,Alberta T2B 2C1
PARTY FILING THIS Email:
[email protected]
DOCUMENT Phone: 403-248-1188
Solicitor for the Respondents
John Wm. Conroy QC
2459 Pauline Street, Abbotsford, BC
Phone: 604-859-3361
NOTICE TO RESPONDENTS
This application is a request for an audit of the trust account in the name of
MMAR PPL/DPL Coalition against Repeal aka Cannabis Rights Coalition (the “Coalition”) held by
John Wm. Conroy QC (“Conroy”) at the offices of Conroy and Company at 2459 Pauline Street, Abbotsford, BC and any and all other trust and/or bank accounts and deposits held in the name of
Jason F. Wilcox (“Wilcox”) and/or others.
This application is made by parties who are disaffected Coalition founding members and former directors who are acting as
directors-in-exile.
This application is being made on behalf of
· volunteers who have contributed immeasurable amounts of time and resources to the Coalition’s fund raising efforts; and
· patients who have donated scarce funds; and
· sponsors who have donated funds, goods and resources to finance an injunction against
the Health Canada Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (the “MMPR”).
The applicants are the trust fund beneficiaries and have repeatedly requested information from trustees of the trust in which the beneficiary has an interest, only to be met with incomplete and inconsistent responses, silence, delay, misleading information and further manipulation.
Objectives and Scope of Audit
The objective of this audit shall be to provide assurance over the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal controls over the management of trust and other funds. More specifically, the audit shall:
· Verify the accuracy and appropriateness of a sample of transactions within the trust and other accounts;
· Assess the adequacy and effectiveness of controls to confirm accuracy , integrity and completeness of the financial system including the data interface between the donor and the recipient of the funds; and
· Evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness, economy and compliance of administrative practices with fundamental accounting and generally accepted business principles and procedures.
The scope of the audit shall not be limited exclusively to the financial management of trust fund belonging to the beneficiaries of the
Coalition and held in trust by
Conroy but shall also include bank and trust accounts and deposits held by
Wilcox and others.
More specifically, this audit shall include detailed testing of the accounting and administrative practices related to the receipt, management and disbursement of funds for the fiscal period commencing with the inception of the Coalition on January 15, 2013 to date ________________, in accordance with specific provisions of the Professional Code of Conduct and other relevant statutes, policies and guidelines.
MEMORANDUM OF FACTS
1. On December 12, 2012, Health Canada published notice in the Canada Gazette that the
Medical Marihuana Access Regulations (the “MMAR”) were to be replaced on April 1, 2014 by the
Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (the “MMPR”). The MMPR replaced
personal production licenses (PPL) and
designated production licenses (DPL) with public-private partnerships called
Licensed Producers (LP).
2. On January 15, 2013, the
MMAR PPL/DPL Coalition Against Repeal also known as the Cannabis Rights Coalition (the “Coalition”) was founded via teleconference for the purpose of soliciting funds from the public in order to finance a legal action to stop some or all of the pending MMPR.
3. On November 28, 2013, Conroy filed in Federal Court an application to maintain the status quo and for an injunction on some or all of the MMPR;
Federal Court File No. T2030-13 (the “Allard Action”).
4. On July 1, 2015, Benchers approved changes to several
BC Law Society Rules on trust accounting. The definition of
“trust funds” in
Rule 1 has been changed to include funds that a lawyer receives in his or her capacity as a sole or joint personal representative of a person or as a trustee under a trust if the funds received by a lawyer, as a joint personal representative, are trust funds. Trust funds now include funds that a lawyer receives in his or her capacity as a
sole or
joint personal representative of a person or as a trustee under a trust, if the appointment derived from a ‘
solicitor-client relationship’. Prior to the amendment “trust funds” included funds received by a lawyer as a sole personal representative but not funds received by a lawyer as a “
joint-personalrepresentative”. This distinction did not appear sensible. It also was arguable that the rules did not apply when a lawyer was appointed a joint personal representative with a
‘non-lawyer’. The Trust Review Department recommended that all trust transactions by a lawyer, as a personal representative, be included in the definition of trust funds’ so that the Law Society will be in a position to carry out its responsibilities to the public.
CLAIMS
5. A
Conroy-Wilcox joint-personal representative solicitor-client relationship with a non-lawyer is directly derived from the appointment of Conroy as trustee of Coalition trust funds.
6. The purpose of the trust is for payment of legal fees incurred in challenging the constitutionality of the MMPR.
7. Conroy acts as the solicitor in the Coalition’s legal action and, as principle lawyer for the Coalition’s legal actions, Conroy
is the direct benefactor of the trust funds.
8. In addition to acting as the Coalition’s legal counsel, Conroy concurrently acts as trustee of the Coalition’s trust fund creating non-arm’s length transactions and a conflict of interest between
Conroy the trustee and
Conroy the legal counsel.
9. Dependent upon Conroy’s success in federal court, the Coalition’s
MMAR patients are
indirect benefactors of the trust funds.
10.Wilcox operates the Coalition under his sole authority and under the direction of Conroy.
11.Wilcox failed to operate the Coalition in a manner consistent with the generally accepted principles and procedures governing accounting and business conduct in Canada.
12.Without volunteer and supporter consultation, Wilcox federally incorporated the Coalition in December 2014 and changed its name to Cannabis Rights Coalition and changed its intents and purposes, also without consultation or approval.
13.Allegations of corporate and criminal misconduct include:
· Intentionally misleading the public; and
· Abuse of authority; and
· Slander and intimidation; and
· Lack of accountability; and
· Lack of transparency; and
· Conflict of interest; and
· Non-arm’s length transactions; and
· Theft of property and funds; and
· Misappropriation of funds; and
· Money laundering; and
· Kidnapping; and
· Extortion; and
· Issuing and posting verbal and online slander, intimidation, duress and death threats; and
· Breach of the
Legal Profession Act, the
Law Society Rules (
the “Rules”) and the
Code of Professional Conduct (the “Code”) governing solicitation of cash for the purpose of legal fees payments.
REMEDIES SOUGHT
· Complete accounting of the trust account held by Conroy at the offices of Conroy & Company in the name of
MMAR PPL/DPL Coalition against Repeal, aka Cannabis Rights Coalition from inception to date; and
· Complete accounting of the Coalition’s internal operating accounts, including the " community " account at the
TD Bank, account number: 5231378 Transit: 94480 inst: 00; and
· Complete accounting of the lock box campaign; and
· Complete accounting of the funds raised through concerts and corporate sponsorship and donations; and
· Complete analysis of significant financial transactions including travel and accommodation, meals and entertainment and legal fees paid to all legal counsel that were part of the
Allard Action, the
Smith Action and the
Macros Defence; and
· Complete accounting of all irrevocable pledges from the
Branch McMaster privacy breach legal action against Health Canada to the Coalition’s trust account; and
· Complete copy of the incorporating documents for the Cannabis Rights Coalition incorporated in December 2014; and
· Copy of all financial transactions between the MMAR PPL/DPL Coalition against Repeal to the incorporated Cannabis Rights Coalition; and
· Reimbursement of all costs related to the preparation and execution of this application and all costs related to conducting the financial investigation and the trust fund audit.
· The foregoing is to be delivered to the applicants no later than14 days from the receipt of this application.
APPLICANT
___________________________________ __________________________
Nadine E. Bews Date