September 23, 1995

To: The full Board of Directors, all Staff members & Physicians of Everywoman's Health Centre and to the facilitators, Val E. & Kathy S.

I ask that this letter be read at the beginning of the meeting taking place this morning. It is important to me that everyone is aware of the reasons why I am unable to attend this meeting so that there can be no misunderstanding nor misrepresentation by others.

I would like to take this opportunity and also believe it is the appropriate time to clarify the facts surrounding my decision not to attend the joint meeting in June with Deborah W but instead attended a Provincial Security Conference for Abortion Providers.

1) When the elected board chose that date for the joint meeting they knew that;

a. the Security Conference, which had been scheduled for several months, was on that date.

b. they did so with no consultation with staff. Had they done so they would have been aware that only two core staff members and not a majority of other relevant people were able attend on that date.

2) The core staff believed it was imperative to, have someone from EHC in attendance at the Security Conference and of the 3 core staff available for either the joint meeting or the conference it was believed I was the most appropriate to go to the Security Conference.

3) Upon hearing the date.for the joint meeting, Will Offley, EHC security coordinator, contacted Kim Zander and expressed his concern about the date conflict. He was told by Kim Zander that "It would be alright if Marg attended the security conference".

4) Deborah was contacted by myself and I informed her of my distress over the conflict in dates. I again called her when, after consultation with others l had made my decision to attend the security conference and the reasons for that. She was also informed that only two members of core staff would be able to attend the joint meeting. She said that she would pass this information to the elected board.

5) The joint meeting was on unpaid time and therefore optional and was also stated by the elected board as being optional.

Needless to say I was shocked and distressed to hear the response by some joint meeting attendees, particularly Kim Zander's, to my not being at the joint meeting. More than half of the relevant people were unable to attend the joint meeting, of those I do not believe any one other than myself was publicly criticized and berated for not attending. Of all those people, I was also the only one who was not in attendance because I was attending to EHC business.

I am not at the meeting today because of the following:

1) After the facilitators had informed the core staff that I and Caroline where invited to this meeting we were informed of this by a core staff member

2) After the board meeting on Tuesday night where the elected board said we were not invited to attend we were informed of this by a core staff member.

2) I got an invitation to attend this meeting at 8: 45 pm last night. This did not offer any opportunity to prepare or the meeting. This invitation did not include copies of the handouts that I understand were provided by Val and Kathy for people to read prior to the meeting.

3) Yesterday afternoon I took on responsibilities for this morning and which are not possible to delegate at such late notice.

4) In this invitation it is stated "It is your responsibility to check with your doctor to see if this type of activity is appropriate while you are on sick leave". I hope that the impossibility of meeting this requirement can be easily appreciated.

In 1993 both Kim Zander and I signed a letter to the previous board that included the sentence "It is particularly important when divisions exist that there be a scrupulous regard for democracy". I implore Kim and the other elected board members to act on this. Actions speak louder than words.

In the past I and other staff have expressed concerns about the actions of the elected board. The elected board has insisted that there is no basis for these concerns. In the elected board's two meetings with me, they have insisted that I take responsibility for other's perceptions. If they believe this, I ask that they then take responsibility for others perceptions of their words and actions.

I am sorry that I am unable to attend this meeting. I am extremely distressed at the extremely poor internal health of the clinic. I believe that a situation has been created where the clinic is more threatened by internal forces than external forces. I am heartsick. I only hope that we can resolve this before we destroy each other and possibly the clinic as well.

Sincerely
Margaret Panton

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