Development Agent, Georges Bahaya has grown the francophone welcome centre for newcomers from a one man show to 30 staff today after leading the start as a one man project to Executive Director today. Georges came to Edmonton in 2000 from Lyon, France, for a university conference.

Since then he has made Edmonton home and built one of the largest francophone organizations in Alberta. Georges worked as Health Educator for immigrants with Plan Parenthood, as Settlement Councilor for Catholic Social Services from 2001 – 2003. In October 2003, he was hired as Development Agent to start a new project that has become present day Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du Nord de l’Alberta – CAE. CAE boast of branches in Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, and its headquarters in Edmonton and Edmonton North in partnership with Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers.

The centre  has grown from a $40,000 initial budget to a current budget of over a million Dollars today with 30 active staff and 50 passionate volunteers. The centre focuses on the integration of newcomer francophone into Edmonton communities, and in the workplace where many of them are surprised to realize that although Canada is bilingual, their French is irrelevant in Edmonton, and they need to learn English to integrate.

Letter from CAE Board Chair

Edmonton, July 8th, 2018 Dear Partners,

We write this letter to keep you informed about the situation at the Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du Nord de l’Alberta (CAE) following the rumors spread by two reports from Radio Canada (RC). The perverse consequences (the result of biased reporting; for example: the journalist’s reported dialogue was without an important aspect in quoting “Emilie”, that is her teasing comments that are identical to those attributed to Mr. Bahaya, not to mention the case of D. Batumike (2011) which was completely falsified in the report, like so many other elements that are equally questionable) – these rumors are likely to affect not only the reputation and the quality of the services offered the CAE but also the employees. This situation forces the CAE’s Board of Directors to modify its action plan established to resolve this problematic matter and take other measures motivated by the best interests of the CAE, while maintaining a concern to see the truth about these allegations, without forgetting to protect the rights of all persons concerned.

First of all, let me remind you that the Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du Nord de l’Alberta that Georges Bahaya helped found in 2003 and that he has headed for fifteen years “has acquired an unparalleled reputation” for hospitality and the settlement and integration of Francophone newcomers. As a result, it is now considered, both nationally and provincially, as a reference institution in these areas. To become a “key player in our community”, as Senator Tardif stated in November 2017 and to earn this “unparalleled reputation for welcoming and facilitating the establishment and integration of Francophone newcomers” in the Province of Alberta, Georges Bahaya has used skills that deserve to be highlighted and praised. Thanks to this know-how and to the support given to him by the French-speaking community as a whole, Georges Bahaya has endowed the CAE over the years with several services that allow him, thanks to the dedication of his twenty-six employees representing eleven nationalities, to help more than 2,000 newcomers settle in Alberta every year. As such, the CAE is the Francophone organization that best reflects the Canadian ideal of diversity.

The survival of this organization that is the pride of the community and that, for fifteen years, has been giving hope to thousands of people in situations of precariousness, vulnerability and uncertainty, even despair, is today threatened by power struggles and rumors spread by an anonymous letter that was widely disseminated within the Francophone community.

On January 18 of this year, an anonymous letter alleging inappropriate behavior by Georges Bahaya was broadcast in the Francophone community of Edmonton. In collaboration with IRCC, we have eventually opted (in the context of several possible action plans) for an independent investigation to shed light on the allegations contained in the anonymous letter. A comprehensive account of the situation as it has evolved since January was presented to the members of the CAE at the Annual General Meeting of May 31, a report which, endorsed by the members, ended with the announcement of this independent and objective investigation into the allegations of the anonymous letter.

Unfortunately, while the proceedings related to the independent investigation commissioned by the CAE and the funders evolved very positively, Radio Canada came to set fuel to the fire by broadcasting two news reports that irremediably compromised the independent investigation that we have set in motion. Therefore, we believe that it is impossible in the aftermath of these reports that an organization or a person implicated by RC can benefit from either a fair process or trial. Indeed, the Executive Director of CAE was thus a priori condemned even before the opportunity to be heard was given to him.

After the broadcast of the first report, on June 25th, RC called several people to ask them if the CAE Executive Director was still in office or had resigned. These questions amply betray the spirit in which their investigation seems to have been conducted. We have serious doubts that the search for the truth was the primary reason for the journalistic investigation by RC’s journalist. The overall analysis of the situation led us to conclude that the CAE is confronted with a powerful network of individuals with various ramifications as well as lawyers with unlimited resources. In the days that followed the reports, we found that the staff was unmotivated and in disarray. One can only imagine the spirit of the Executive Director, who is the main target.

Not having the media nor the financial and political means equivalent to those of RC to be able to defend itself, and fearing with reason that the unfounded rumors which RC unfortunately contributed to give a broad view do not harm the reputation of the CAE, or cause the paralysis of CAE’s operation, or lead to the total demotivation of its staff or diminish the traditional quality of its services helping the thousands of newcomers to whom the CAE gives hope for a better future, the Board of Directors of the Centre d’accueil et d’établissement, guided by the best interests of the beneficiaries of the services, has no choice but to put an end to the employment of Georges Bahaya to whom, moreover, it does not reproach his managerial and professional skills and his dedication to the cause of newcomers. It is because of the malice multiplied by the media towards him, a network that has superior political and financial resources and active relays in some communities that Mr. Bahaya is condemned in advance, not enjoying the basic principle of presumption of innocence granted to anyone charged with an offense; on the contrary, he is already sacrificed without trial on the altar of public vengeance (the context of #Metoo also playing its role).

Finally, we would like to remind you that the action, services and interventions of the CAE are based on the Canadian value of compassion for vulnerable people. We sincerely sympathize with anyone who has been the victim of any inappropriate behavior. Given that the principle of the presumption of innocence is also one of the cardinal values of Canadians, we are asking potential victims to go to the courts, which is the only authority that can deal with this kind of problem. The judicial system will establish the truth and at the same time allow Mr. Bahaya to be heard: “Audi alteram partem”.

_____________ Mr. Beda Kaji-Ngulu (beda.k@lecae.ca) will now be acting as the Executive Director of the Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du Nord de l’Alberta.

Paul Dubé Chairman of the CAE Board of Directors

Centre d’accueil et d’établissement du Nord de l’Alberta

8627 rue Marie-Anne-Gaboury, bureau 108

Edmonton, Alberta T6C 3N1

Tél.: 780 669-6004 – Téléc.: 780 628-5135

Courriel: info@lecae.ca<mailto:info@lecae.ca>

www.lecae.ca