Today should have been the first day of the week that finally brought resolution to the Town of Comox’s shameful abdication of its moral covenant to the late Hamilton Mack Laing.

But if you hoped that the BC Supreme Court hearing scheduled for this week (Nov. 15-18) would bring an end to the 39-year-old saga over Laing’s Trust and the future use of his heritage home, Shakesides, you will be disappointed. Again.

This is the Town of Comox, after all, where things often get messy.

It’s head-shaking, but not surprising, that the town has backed out of the latest trial dates it had scheduled to petition the BC Supreme Court for approval to alter the Mack Laing Trust Agreement. The town wants to tear down Laing’s historic homestead and use the considerable funds he left to the town for other purposes.

Five years ago, the town was in a mad rush to get to the BC Supreme Court and plead its case. But since then, the town has scheduled and canceled court dates multiple times.

Read all of our stories about the Mack Laing Trust Agreement

And now, despite the feverish pitch reached in 2019 — and the estimated $200,000 plus that it has spent on legal fees — the town still seems confused about whether to go to court or not.

The town spent most of the time from February 2017 to May 2019 trying unsuccessfully to convince two different Supreme Court Justices not to allow the Mack Laing Heritage Society to present opposing evidence at trial.

But when the town finally set a trial date for June of 2019, they canceled it at the last minute (in May). And then the town went dark for the next 31 months.

This year the town decided to revive its application to alter Laing’s Trust and asked the court to set aside four days for a trial that would have started today.

But, like a skipping record, the town council once again canceled these dates at the last minute and then hinted it might revisit its application in the new year.

WHY CAN’T THE TOWN MAKE UP ITS MIND?

So, what is going on with this Town Council? Why do they schedule court dates and then cancel them? Why does the town continue to incur high-priced fees charged by a Vancouver lawyer when the council is apparently undecided about what to do?

Comox voters and taxpayers have no way to get answers to these questions because the council only discusses the matter behind closed doors. Ever since the town took its three-year hiatus on this issue, all Mack Laing discussions have been held in-camera.

That means if you ask a Comox council member what’s going on with the Mack Laing court petition, they will tell you they can’t talk about matters discussed in-camera.

That’s an odd position for the town to take.

When the mayor and council were in a rush to get a court hearing prior to May 2019, the council discussed the matter openly in regular council meetings. Motions were debated and votes were taken.

The council even held a special open public meeting at the Comox Rec Centre on the topic just a month (April 2019) before putting it all on ice for nearly three years.

So now, the council refuses to talk in public about even the simplest details related to the case, such as why they schedule court dates and then cancel them or whether the town even has a plan to resolve the matter?

The council’s lack of transparency is disconcerting. Its indecision is stunning.

With every misstep, the town worsens its culpability over 39 years for not living up to the agreement it signed with Hamilton Mack Laing. The town took his money and his property but failed to live up to their end of the bargain.

It’s a shameful way to treat one of the town’s most notable and generous citizens. And their actions certainly won’t encourage any future citizen to leave anything in trust to this town.

The issue has also divided people in the community, another of the regrettable results of this debacle.

SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?

It’s simple. Go to court. Get a decision and move on. If the town fears the court will reject its application to alter the Laing Trust, then initiate some form of arbitration.

Or maybe both parties could find a way to compromise. For example, the Comox Valley Regional District provides a good model with Brian and Sarah McLoughlin Park. The McLoughlin’s former house is open for artists-in-residence from May through September.

Restoring and opening Shakesides for a similar program — perhaps with priority given to natural scientists — would avoid the problems of parking that concern the park’s neighbors. And it would come closer to Laing’s vision for his historic home on Comox Bay than another unused and unnecessary ‘viewing platform’

Whatever it decides, the Town of Comox should quit stalling and start being honest and open with the public.