Mastodawn

May Likes Toronto 2d ago

Time to back up, export, and leave if you're on mstdn.ca
https://ottawa.place/@stephanie/116267088513251309

If you can't see the above post, here's the CBC article about the person who owns and runs the server.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/inglewood-league-lawsuit-missing-funds-9.7136933

Migration tips:
https://zeroes.ca/@StaceyCornelius/115967726861839689

Edit: These are allegations and there's a state of the instance coming up. I'd err on the side of caution and migrate early, or at least back everything up, because losing an account here kind of sucks.

Stéphanie (@[email protected])

If you're on mstdn.ca, I would save my list of follows/followers immediately and think about moving. The owner is getting sued for over 300K by his community league. I wouldn't bet on the instance surviving this latest thing 😞 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/inglewood-league-lawsuit-missing-funds-9.7136933

ottawa.place

Ev Delen 2d ago

I hate to be "That Guy" but I would remind everyone that these are allegations in the form of a statement of claim, not a finding of fact in a court of law.

As far as I'm aware we do have a presumption of innocence in Canada.

Obviously the allegation is disturbing, but I will withhold my condemnation and won't be moving instances until such time as a finding of fact is made (or at least until we see some evidence to back up the claims).

As for "he's hosting it at home" as some kind of evidence of malice, there was a deliberate and public effort to get mstdn.ca off of "the cloud" and onto Canadian sovereign servers, so I feel like this is slandering someone with their good intentions.

I note, this is not a defence of his alleged actions, merely a reminder of our professed values.

@evdelen @mayintoronto Agreed. This is concerning, but allegations are just allegations.

This is a bit of a shock none the less though, and does give me concern about my data hosted on the servers though. 😬

Sometimes being "that guy" is not fun to be, I've done that a few times on here and been blocked for it, oh well! 🙃

Ev Delen 2d ago

@javensbukan @mayintoronto

Completely agree.

I'm hopeful this is a misunderstanding, or a mistake, not a malice driven endeavour.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the matter!

javensbukan 2d ago

@evdelen @mayintoronto Yeah. It will be interesting to see the details of this case once it comes to light.

I do not understand why an organization would try to reputationally destroy Chad like this though - what's the motive? 🤨

Ev Delen 2d ago

@javensbukan @mayintoronto

I'm not even familiar with the Neighborhood Leagues concept, let alone their scope, operations, etc.

Having been part of Neighbourhood Associations I can attest to the sometimes ramshackle manner in which they can be organized, so this could simply be a matter of poor accounting.

Given the treasurer is ultimately responsible, it's easy to accuse them. This is why I insist on 3 signature expenditures when I participate in such organizations, it helps to spread the responsibility.

May Likes Toronto 2d ago

@javensbukan @evdelen idk, it's being reported through the CBC. In previous years, I'd say that CBC did their research, but it's so hard to trust them anymore.

I'm all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but allegations like that? I'd be inclined to leave.

Ev Delen 2d ago

@mayintoronto @javensbukan

It's on the CBC News site, yes, but it's a Court Docket Reporting piece, not a piece of investigative journalism.

A CBC reporter who's on the courts beat noticed an interesting case on the docket and reported it to the public.

Besides attempting to contact involved parties, and a successful contact of an unaffiliated third-party with broad level familiarity into the issue of Neighbourhood Leagues (Cllr. Tang), the author doesn't investigate the allegations or add any details, just "this group accuses that person of something".

In the days of old, this would have been called a Beat Article, their purpose is to keep the public informed about the goings on within certain institutions, like the Courts, rather than, say, a breaking news investigative article.

Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦2d ago

@evdelen @mayintoronto @javensbukan that's useful context, thanks.

Ev Delen 2d ago

@deborahh @mayintoronto @javensbukan

Cheers!

To be sure, this *could* go somewhere, I'll remind everyone that Woodward and Bernstein of All The Presidents Men / Watergate fame, were also Courts Beat Reporters, and their initial reporting was simply beat reporting of the burglars initial appearance in court. However, they took it upon themselves to dig deeper and that's how we began to learn about the extent of Nixon's corruption!

Jean-François Mezei 2d ago

@javensbukan @deborahh @mayintoronto @evdelen I know nothing of the context. Whether community assoc confronted him with numbers and he was uncooperative so went to court or whether they went to court without asking him for explanation. Could be accounting error with no money stolen or he could have taken $280,000 to bring girlfriend to Paris for breakfast at Tiffany’s. Innocent until proven guilty. Unfair he’d be hurt socially if allegations are untrue.

May Likes Toronto 2d ago

@jfmezei That's what defamation counter suits are for, unfortunately.

I will say that it is rare for a single member of a board of directors to get sued. Usually it's the whole board.

@javensbukan @deborahh @evdelen

GunChleoc 23h ago

@mayintoronto @jfmezei @javensbukan @deborahh @evdelen It's prudent to export all your data now though

Jean-François Mezei 2d ago

@evdelen @mayintoronto @javensbukan

The Inglewood Community League web page has their vague side of story. Does not mention court case. Does not mention Chad's name. But they lost a number of board members, not just him.

https://inglewoodcl.com/

Inglewood Community League, Edmonton – One of Edmonton's oldest neighborhoods

Richard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️2d ago

@mayintoronto @javensbukan @evdelen

If it comes to it, changing admins might be a better solution than everyone abandoning the instance.

Jérôme 2d ago

@mayintoronto @javensbukan @evdelen for me it’s not about the allegations, the court can handle it.

But it’s important to know the largest fediverse instance in Canada is very centralized.

It’s not a separate non profit, all the servers are in his home and under his name (assets), he pays all the bills and collect donations under his name.

So to know that he’s being sued for 300K is important info. It’s all the same bucket. If he loses or have big lawyer fees, this is all the same entity.

Ev Delen 2d ago

@jerome @mayintoronto @javensbukan

You have a point there, and we have the good fortune of a forum being available to answer some of our questions / make some decisions around these issues, specifically the State of the Instance meet up tomorrow.

Personally, if there is a call for volunteers for replicating and distributing the infrastructure I believe I have the skills and resources to volunteer: a fibre connection, backup power, some of the technical skills...

And, institutionally, I agree that it might be time to have a discussion around setting up the mstdn.ca organization as a not-for-profit entity with a volunteer board and some of the safeguards I mentioned before, like 3 signature expenditures.

This is part of the evolution of such communities!

I look forward to the discussion tomorrow!

Joseph Simons 🍁 🌱4h ago

@evdelen @jerome @mayintoronto @javensbukan I'm really liking this idea of repair over abandonment, perhaps with a non-profit setup. Too bad the state of the instance was cancelled.

Deborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦2d ago

@jerome @PhoenixSerenity @mayintoronto @javensbukan @evdelen exactly. Those servers have no protection; they could be seized well before allegations are proven or dismissed.

Ms. Que Banh 2d ago

@deborahh @jerome @mayintoronto @javensbukan @evdelen Chad keeps lying to people (again), trying to provide false sense of unrealistic security. Straight fucking up.

Ms. Que Banh 2d ago

@mayintoronto look at all these men, defending a pathological liar!

Ms. Que Banh 2d ago

@javensbukan @evdelen @mayintoronto All of you are now - Those guys. Gross(volunteers).

https://beige.party/@PhoenixSerenity/116269738706654157

Ms. Que Banh (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Have the day you don't deserve for supporting a wankerbutternoodle & being an active ableist to boot.

beige.party