Equine Canada has concluded its inquiry, prompted by an Appeal filed with the federation by Lorraine Stubbs against Dressage Canada, concerning her status as chair of the Dressage Canada High Performance Committee.
Equine Canada is posting this report publicly to redress public statements that the federation has determined to be erroneous, and which led to Ms Stubbs’ Appeal.
A few excerpt from the report
Lorraine Stubbs is a member of Equine Canada and of Dressage Canada. She is also accredited by Equine Canada as a senior Dressage judge and by the International Equestrian Federation as a 4-star Dressage judge. On 30 March 2011, the Dressage Canada board ratified an earlier decision by the DC High Performance Committee to name Ms Stubbs as chair of that committee.
On 24 August 2011, the DC Athletes Council met and adopted a resolution asking the Dressage Canada board to remove Ms Stubbs from her role as chair of the DC High Performance Committee, due to concerns by the DC Athletes Council that there is a conflict of interest in having a Dressage judge serve as chair of the DC High Performance Committee. There were no allegations of wrongdoing by Ms Stubbs.
During an in-camera session at its meeting of 25 August 2011, the Dressage Canada board received the resolution from the DC Athletes Council. The Dressage Canada board reminded Ms Stubbs that, as per the Equine Canada “Conflict of Interest Guidelines for Councils and Committees”, she would be required to recuse herself from the vote on the matter.
Equine Canada has received contrasting and irreconcilable accounts from those present of how that meeting unfolded, how much prior notice Ms Stubbs’ received, and what opportunity she had to participate in the process. Although minutes of the meeting were produced, the meeting itself was not recorded. Subsequent events, however, supersede the differences in those accounts.
It is clear that by the end of its meeting, the Dressage Canada board voted to ask Ms Stubbs for her resignation.
Equine Canada has come to the following conclusions:
1. Under the terms of the “Dressage Canada Board Member Resignation/Dismissal Policy”, a resignation by a Dressage Canada board member must be offered in writing to be valid. Notwithstanding Ms Stubbs’ oral statement during her telephone conversation of 25 August 2011 with the chair of the Dressage Canada board – and irrespective of her motivations or the background leading to that statement – all parties are agreed that she did not and has not filed a letter of resignation. As a result, she can not properly be said to have resigned. It is, therefore, the finding of Equine Canada that Ms Stubbs remains chair of the DC High Performance Committee and a member of the Dressage Canada board.
In the absence of a written letter of resignation, the Dressage Canada board erred in announcing that it had accepted Ms Stubbs’ resignation. In consequence, the DC Athletes Council e-mail of 06 September 2011 was also erroneous. Although these actions were taken in the good faith belief that Ms Stubbs’ oral resignation was sufficient, that belief was mistaken. It is, therefore, the decision of Equine Canada that this error be rectified by the public issuance of this report.
Read the full report here http://bit.ly/sIpVuC.
(More Canadian news reached the Eurodressage head quarters that Renee Young (Chair of Dressage Canada Board) resigned and Liz Steacie (acting chair of Dressage High Performance Committee) stepped away from the acting position after 4 months. Eurodressage requested a statement from Equine Canada but despite a few promises for a reaction by email there is still no official news posted).
Related Link
Dressage Canada Board Crisis After Three Resignations