WHEREAS on March 7, 1986, the Board of Management for Cassellholme – East Nipissing Home for the Aged (Cassellholme), a District Home, gave direction to create a separate legal entity in the form of a new public non-profit housing corporation. This new entity (Castle Arms) would be operated and governed by the same appointees as Cassellholme Board;
AND WHEREAS the assets of Castle Arms have been built through contributions from taxpayers at a federal, provincial and municipal levels;
AND WHEREAS at a Castle Arms meeting held on October 28, 2021, the Chief Executive Officer advised the Castle Arms Board that due to upcoming changes to the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA), the Cassellholme and Castle Arms Boards could no longer have identical membership;
AND WHEREAS although the Castle Arms Board was advised that it had until October 2024 to implement the upcoming changes to the ONCA, at the subsequent meeting on November 25, 2021 – when 8 of the 9 municipalities had no representation due to a wave of resignations and a lack of public consultation – the Castle Arms Board directed the CEO to alter the composition of the Castle Arms Board;
AND WHEREAS in January 2025, Cassellholme obtained a solicitor-client privileged legal opinion stating in part that “neither ONCA nor the Fixing Long Term Care Act contain any provisions that would require Boards of Management to have a different composition than Boards of Non-Profit Housing Corporations”;
AND WHEREAS the November 25, 2021 change to the composition of the Castle Arms Board was made in reliance on advice regarding the requirements of the ONCA;
AND WHEREAS the advice the former Castle Arms Board received appears to have been incorrect;
AND WHEREAS no changes to the former composition of the Castle Arms Board would have been made if not for the Board’s reliance on the incorrect advice;
AND WHEREAS the current Castle Arms Board has an obligation to the taxpayers of the nine (9) member municipalities to restore governance of the Castle Arms Board to representatives from its member municipalities;
THEREFORE BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the first option is to use a third-party mediator at the cost of the member municipalities to work in the best interest of the tenants of Castle Arms and that the results be shared at a public meeting;
AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that failure to find a resolution that the Council of the Municipality of East Ferris calls upon other member municipalities to join in pursuing all available legal and administrative remedies to restore democratic and public oversight of Castle Arms Non-Profit Housing Corporation which includes returning Castle Arms governance to its member municipalities;
AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that a committee, composed of the Mayors of the member municipalities or their designates, along with Cassellholme Board representatives, be established to pursue these options;
AND FURTHER that a copy of this resolution be shared with the eight (8) other member municipalities, the Cassellholme Board of Directors, and Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.