Quest University has announced it will be dropping out of a lawsuit against the District of Squamish that alleged fees relating to development had been unfairly imposed on the school’s lands.
In the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year, the school and several foundations accused the District of breaking an agreement that exempts Quest from development cost charges.
None of those allegations have been proven in court.
On Oct. 30, president and chancellor George Iwama informed students and staff at the school of the university’s decision to remove itself from the legal action.
“The Board has reviewed the situation, and it has concluded that it is not in Quest’s best interests to continue to participate in that lawsuit,” wrote Iwama in an email to students and staff. “Quest’s withdrawal from the lawsuit is not a commentary on the status or rightness of the claims in that suit.”
“The board had no input on the decision to join the lawsuit,” he also wrote.
Quest’s decision has also been confirmed by the District of Squamish.
In a written email statement, Mayor Patricia Heintzman said: “We were contacted by the chair of the board recently to inform us that the litigation was being dropped, and so we look forward to moving ahead in a positive, collaborative light with Quest as our relationship continues to grow.”
However, while Quest has signalled that it will be dropping out of the suit, it remains unclear if the other plaintiffs will be proceeding with the legal action.
When the lawsuit was filed, several other plaintiffs were listed alongside Quest.
These were the Eden Group Foundation, the Global Charity Fund and the Timothy Foundation.
It remains unclear if these groups will proceed with the legal action.
The lawyer representing Quest and the three other plaintiffs in the development cost charge case did not respond to requests for comment before press deadline.
When queried if the legal action would continue, Iwama told The Chief he could not say what the other foundations would be doing.
District of Squamish spokesperson Christina Moore said that it appears as if the foundations have not pulled out of the lawsuit, but further details were unavailable.
Quest’s decision to drop out of the development cost suit occurs weeks after the university issued a statement of defence in response to a separate legal action launched by former president Peter Englert regarding an alleged breach of contract.
That lawsuit centred on a dispute between Englert and Quest and was not intended to be part of the litigation involving development cost charges. However, this suit made references to how Englert allegedly handled the development cost case.
In court documents for the Englert case, Quest alleged that Englert had entered into the development cost charge lawsuit without informing the school’s board.
“The board did not find out about the [development cost charge] lawsuit until after the notice of civil claim had been filed,” said Quest in its statement of defense in the Englert case.
“The [development cost charge] lawsuit harmed Quest’s relationship with the District, which as the local government, is important to Quest’s success.”
“It appears that Quest is being used by the other plaintiffs as a way to avoid making certain payments to the District,” the school said later in the court filings for the Englert case.
None of the allegations with respect to Englert’s behaviour have been proven in court.
Englert’s legal counsel previously told The Chief that the details outlined in Quest’s statement of defence for the Englert case were “unfounded allegations.”
He also said that Englert “at all times fulfilled his duties and responsibilities as the president and vice chancellor of Quest University to the benefit of and in the best interests of Quest University.”
