A committee formed during the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society's annual general meeting will spend the next three months investigating possible "operational irregularities" within the organization, including the announced removal of Baljit Sethi as executive director.
With no financial report available, the society's members voted to form the investigative committee at an often-heated three-hour meeting Saturday afternoon.
Society members Jameel Khan, Travis Stringer and Sandy Long will join members of the public David Halikowski and Moustafa Beryk on the committee.
"We don't know what the operational status of this organization is," Stringer said. "Where are we? Is our funding at risk because (student) assessments have not been filled out? Where are we at? We don't know. We need this."
"We need better information," said society member Sandy Long. "I think there is a lot of things that won't stand up to the bright light of day that have to be clarified for this group to move forward. Ladies and gentlemen, this group is in crisis. I don't want to hear sugar-coated language that says we're doing great and so on. We're not doing great. This organization is nearly broken and this close to failing and I don't want to see that."
Sethi refused to give her annual report to the meeting because she said she didn't want to wash dirty clothes in public. She added that she had been on sick leave starting a month ago and when she stopped in to pick up her cheque, she found a letter on her desk saying that she was retired after she returned from her leave.
"So I do not agree with that," said Sethi. "It has not been discussed with me."
When Sethi declined to speak further regarding IMSS operations, such as the state of classes and the daycare, the motion was made to form the investigative committee.
Board member Jacob Madjitey welcomed the move.
"I would just like to inform the membership as well as the floor, there is an old saying that says sunshine is the best disinfectant so we need to support this motion so there is no misunderstandings. When there is sometimes a lack of information and when there is no information forthcoming, the gaps are filled with all kinds of stuff so sunshine is the best disinfectant."
Board president Mostafa Mohamed asked the committee to do a thorough job but respect individual privacy.
"We don't like to tarnish the image of any individual or any person. This is not our intention. So if you agree to confidentiality stuff, we are going to reveal information to you."
Roberta Long stood up to say that her membership was ignored and there were others in the room that echoed her statement. Because they were out of order in the meeting, the discussion did not continue.
There are seven people who reached out to The Citizen to say their membership to the IMSS was ignored. Mohamed said in an earlier interview with The Citizen that he feared a takeover of the society's board and did not grant membership to the society to those he believed to be related to employees who were dismissed from their positions last September. The IMSS's policy on its website, however, states that anyone who has legal status in Canada is welcome to join the society for a $10 annual membership fee.
Mohamed also informed the meeting that IMSS has purchased three city lots from the City of Prince George next to their present headquarters at 1270 Second Ave. It took almost two years to close the deal and a condition of the sale is that IMSS must build a daycare within three years of the purchase, he added.
When the meeting was adjourned it was stated the remainder of the annual general meeting will be set up soon to cover the financial report and the voting in of board members. No further details were given.
The Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society (IMSS) of Prince George is a non-profit agency that provides settlement and integration services to immigrants and refugees throughout Prince George and the northern region of British Columbia.
