EBC manages over 30 nature preserves on Manitoulin
ONTARIO—Depending on who you talk to, Bob Barnett, the former executive director of the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy (EBC) was fired or chose to quit after turning down a different position to remain with the EBC. And while the current board of the EBC is pleased with the way the organization has moved on since Mr. Barnett left, a group of former donators and volunteers to EBC have posted an advertisement in a magazine “That change is needed at EBC with founder and executive director Bob Barnett having been fired without cause and calls for members to change the board.”
“This is what happened,” said Mr. Barnett of the advertisement in Escarpment Views and that he was fired without cause. “It goes on to say in the advertisement that the EBC needs a new board.” He said in the past EBC has had staff running the day-to-day operations of the EBC, with the board making policy decisions. But the board and CEO is now operating the day-to-day operations of the organization. “No other land trust in Ontario is run like that,” Mr. Barnett added.
Mr. Barnett said EBC had offered him a change in his role with the EBC, from being the former executive director to focus on the role of “acquisitions management. To accept this different position would have meant accepting a constructive dismissal.”
“I thought we, the EBC, were doing well and we just had a record year for acquisitions,” said Mr. Barnett. “The chair of the board told me I was spending too much time on land acquisitions.”
“We have a really good management team and new CEO (Saba Ahmad), although some people may not feel the same way,” said Dr. Roy Jeffery, a local member of the EBC board. “We hope membership is happy with what we are doing. Maybe after the annual general meeting (June 25) these concerns will all go away.”
Dr. Jeffery acknowledged Mr. Barnett is no longer with EBC. “He was offered a different job and decided that he considered it as a constructive dismissal. We thought he would do very well in the new position and that he would continue to be a benefit to the EBC as he has been for many years. He chose not to accept the altered job description. It is all unfortunate.”
Dr. Jeffery explained Mr. Barnett would have no longer been the EBC executive director but would be in charge of acquisitions and public relations, “Things we thought he did a very good job of with over the years.”
Saba Ahmad, the chair and CEO of EBC told The Expositor, “There is not much I can say concerning employment matters. My lawyers they said we can confirm that (Mr. Barnett) has moved on, terminated, but I am not able to comment any further on that.”
“Staff is really happy with my leadership and the way the board has been operating,” said Ms. Ahmad. “I have a background of being a very compassionate person in law (being a lawyer) and in life. We are being very respectful of the current situation.”
“The EBC is a very important organization, and the staff is very competent,” said Ms. Ahmad. “We are all very grateful to Bob for all the great work he has done over the years, staff is trained very well and will continue to work well. And I look forward to the work we are doing. I am very optimistic about the future of the EBC.”
As the EBC is a working board, under the EBC bylaws it says the chair also holds the position of CEO. Ms. Ahmad has been chair of the board for the past three years.
Ms. Ahmad told the Expositor in an email, “I’ve read some rumours that have been circulating, and I thought I should point out that our original bylaws always vested the chair with the CEO powers and responsibilities. This was the structure when Bob (Barnett) became EBC’s first volunteer chair. When he became the paid executive director, we did not update the bylaws. When the laws changed and we were required to update the bylaws, the ‘working board’ structure was not changed.”
Barbara Heidenreich, one of five people who put their names at the bottom of the advertisement in the Escarpment Views magazine told The Expositor, “What you have read in the advertisement is true. In all my years working with private and corporate entities I have never seen this type of action taken before. Bob was literally fired for no reason, and from the start of the discussion on changes to be made he was excluded from board meetings from October 2022.”
Ms. Heidenreich accused the new executive director of EBC of not being qualified and that the chair should not be able to take over the position of executive director. “And to treat anyone who like Bob has worked so hard for 25 years and provided the EBC with the most successful land security in the province? He has proven to be one of the most competent conservancy representatives in the province.”
Ms. Heidenreich, who is not a member of the EBC board, but has donated funds to EBC for land purchases over the years said, “it is shocking that all of this has happened.”
Mr. Barnett noted that the advertisement in the Escarpment Views, which listed the names of Ms. Heidenreich, Gunter Springer, Doug Dingeldein, Ivor Simmons and Gwen McConkey, “they are a number of a very big group of people that has supported the EBC with donated land and money to the EBC over the years.”
Those reading the advertisement were encouraged to become a member of the EBC and to contact the advertisement organizers with their contact information.
This week’s edition of The Expositor contains a half-page ad from EBC, urging interested parties to consider applying for a position on the board. The ad appears on Page 9.
