Although many contemporary Doukhobor societies have received funding from the C.C.U.B. Trust Fund, not everyone is aware of the origins of this funding organization. As a member of the board serving my second term since being appointed by the BC Attorney General, this question has come up on different occasions. I hope that the following will help clarify the emergence of this fund.

Simply put, the C.C.U.B. Trust Fund, is the financial remnant of the once flourishing Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood.

Incorporated in 1917, and brought to its knees in 1938 through foreclosure action, some resources of this one time exceptionally successful communal enterprise remained as a legacy to the present day Doukhobor societies.

After the devastating foreclosure action by Sun Life Assurance, the Canadian Imperial Bank and Crown Life over the outstanding $300,000 interest, the BC Government negotiated a settlement with the Trust companies by paying $280,000 on the debt, and thus becoming owners of the entire C.C.U.B. holdings.

Previous to the BC Government takeover, the receivers announced to the CCUB governing Doukhobors that they intended to liquidate available resources to recoup their financial outlay.

This liquidation continued until most of the Doukhobor resources such as lumber and any other items in stock were sold off at fire-sale prices, and the basic industries such as the jam factory were totally depleted so there was no chance of the Doukhobors reviving their CCUB company in a meaningful fashion. After the receivers had completed their work, the Government of BC took over and imposed a second condition, that being permission for the Doukhobors to remain in the villages as tenants on the properties they had previously owned.

After the government recouped their $280,000, there was a balance left which was deposited into a holding account in Regina, Saskatchewan, and was supervised by the Government of Saskatchewan under the terms of the bankruptcy procedures.

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