The Kamloops Blazers Sports Society, the non-profit organization that operates the WHL franchise, and River City Hockey Inc., the five-man group that badly wants to purchase the team, will meet in a Vancouver courtroom on Friday.
The topic of conversation in B.C. Supreme Court will be this clause from the society’s constitution: “The purpose of the society (is) to own, manage and operate the Kamloops Junior Hockey Club and to promote amateur and junior hockey in and around the City of Kamloops.”
The society has received a legal opinion, from Barry Carter of the Kamloops firm MJB, that it needs to change that clause before it can even consider entertaining offers for its franchise.
Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi, who heads up RCH, has said his group has received a differing opinion from Alan McEachern, a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court of B.C., and that a constitutional change isn’t needed to sell the franchise.
“Barry Carter is very familiar with our constitution,” society president Murray Owen told a Wednesday news conference. “He had given us an opinion on our constitution and how we should proceed. Mr. McEachern’s opinion was in conflict with ours and that’s why we’re taking it to the Supreme Court of B.C.”
In light of this move, the society has postponed the extraordinary general meeting it had called for Aug. 7 at which members were going to be asked whether they wanted to change the constitution. That meeting now will be held during the week of Aug. 20, should the court rule on the situation before then.
All of this has happened since July 18 when RCH offered to purchase the Blazers for $6, 100,176. Last summer, RCH attempted to purchase the team for $6 million.
“It was clear from our perspective that the formation and the . . . sole purpose of this organization, when it was founded in 1987, was to operate and manage the Kamloops Blazers hockey club,” Bob Smillie, the chairman of the society’s governance committee, said. “We feel strongly that if the assets of the society, which is primarily the
franchise, are being sold, that would require a special resolution of our
membership.”
Should the society be granted a special resolution, according to the B.C. Society Act, it would take “a majority of not less than 75 per cent of the votes” to change the constitution.
RCH maintains that an ordinary resolution is all that is needed, meaning 50 per cent plus one would carry the day.
Further muddying the water is that fact that the society now has received at least one other offer.
“We have had an offer,” Owen said, adding that he has “talked to one of the principals and he has indicated that if the decision to sell the hockey club is made, he
would be interested in putting an offer in.
“I reiterated our stance that the club is not for sale at this point in
time.”
Owen chose not to provide any details of the second offer, saying only that “the actual wording came through a law firm expressing an interest, that should it come to the market, they would look at putting an offer in. This was an official letter from a law firm requesting the opportunity, should it come available."
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There long has been a myth that the Kamloops Blazers are community-owned. They aren't. The franchise is owned by shareholders, somewhere around 200 of them, who at some point in all of this are going to have to decide (a) whether to entertain offers, and then (b) whether to sell.On July 11, 2006, members voted 49-38 -- that's right, only 87 members voted -- that the society's assets weren't for sale.
At that point, Gaglardi didn't own a share, thus he wasn't a member. Since then, he has purchsed a share, as has Mark Recchi, one of four ex-Blazers involved with RCH. The other three ex-Blazers -- Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla and Darryl Sydor -- are in the process of becoming members, if they aren't already. Other RCH supporters, including members of Recchi's family, now are members. As a member, Gaglardi has access to a membership list and has been actively recruiting support.
Which is why a ruling on whether, if it is necessary, a vote to change the constitution will need more than 75 per cent or 50 per cent plus one is so important.
In the meantime, the lawyers take centre stage. With this getting messier and messier, somehow that is only fitting.
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