Habitat for Humanity Canada has denied an accusation from the Hearts and Hands for Homes Society that it planned to fold its Prince George affiliate into its Kamloops affiliate.
"The evidence before the Court is that Habitat Canada has no such documents because no such plan existed," Habitat Canada said in an Oct. 22 filing with B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Hearts and Hands made the claim in a filing of its own, submitted on Oct. 16.
The two are at odds after the national organization filed a notice of civil claim in November 2013 in answer to a refusal by the local group, now known as Hearts and Hands for Homes Society, to hand over its assets after it was disaffiliated from Habitat Canada.
In its latest filing, Habitat Canada also denied it routinely engages in disaffiliation.
"The only evidence before the Court is that in Habitat Canada's history, it has only disaffiliated one other affiliate in Brandon, Manitoba," Habitat Canada said. "This is simply a fishing expedition for documents that either do not exist or will have no probative value."
And Habitat Canada denied it wanted to disaffiliate Hearts and Hands in order to liquidate its assets for its own benefit saying it has provided financial statements that "unequivocally demonstrate the sound financial health of both Habitat Canada and Habitat International."
A chambers application in which Habitat Canada is seeking an order to have Hearts and Hands turn over its assets is set for Nov. 5 in Vancouver.
