Bishop orders audit, election of new finance committee after Chase the Ace controversy in Bay de Verde
'Great blessing' of money raised from 2016 event in N.L. town has raised concerns about how it has been spent
A church leader has ordered a financial audit of a hugely successful fundraiser in the small Conception Bay community of Bay de Verde, N.L., and directed the Parish of the Assumption to elect a new finance committee.
"It is worth our time to seriously reflect on the fact that what seemed like a great blessing (financial security) has also exposed divisiveness, suspicions and distrust," Rev. Anthony Daniels, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Falls, wrote in a recent letter to parishioners.
Tension flared in June after questions arose about how the money from the Chase the Ace event was being spent, including the process by which some contracts were being awarded. A decision to give $100,000 to a neighbouring parish in Northern Bay also angered some residents. One parishioner said, "That money was raised for Bay de Verde. Not to be given away to Northern Bay."
The fundraiser began attracting thousands to the community of about 400 last fall.
The ace of spades was finally drawn on Sept. 21, with a group of 10 splitting a jackpot of more than $730,000.
The reward for the tiny parish that once struggled to pay its bills was even greater. A financial statement obtained by CBC shows the total income for the parish in 2016 was just under $2.5 million, with much of that attributed to Chase the Ace.
It's not clear how much the parish got from the event, but the money is being used for repairs to the church, parish hall and a parish house.
Bitterness and infighting
The elation has been replaced by bitterness and infighting. During a special parish meeting in late June, the bishop laid out a series of directives aimed at healing the division and addressing concerns.
"The reason for asking for that audit is really to demonstrate, hopefully, that everything was done by the up-and-up," Daniels told CBC News.
"If not, then we'll learn from it. But at this point I have no reason to believe that anything that was done was intended to mislead either the diocese or the parish."
The audit will begin in the fall, and the results will be made available to parishioners, Daniels said.
The bishop said there will be a new election this fall to replace the current finance committee.
"I think that there was a feeling on the part of some parishioners that the finance committee didn't have their confidence, but I think, more importantly, many of the finance committee members questioned whether or not they had the confidence of the parishioners," he said.
"And without that, they felt they couldn't exercise their mandate. So it was really almost a mutual decision to move in that direction."
'Money can really bring out some ugliness'
It was expected the vast sums of money pouring into the parish would increase the level of scrutiny towards those making the spending decisions.
The bishop suggested communicating those decisions could have been done better.
"Having a lot of money is not necessarily better than having none, because having a lot of money can really bring out some ugliness in any one of us," he said.
"But, more importantly, I think that we've learned that when the stakes get high, it's important to be as transparent as possible, and as well to communicate well and to follow the procedures that are laid out as closely as possible."
The bishop said he has no plans to ban Chase the Ace, as many parishes have benefited from the fundraiser.
"In the other parishes it was fun, entertaining, raised a little money and no harm was done."
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