The Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre (MRJC) has opened its doors to Edmonton’s 149 community leagues. The centre is offering mediation services - free of charge – to leagues that find themselves tangled in energy-draining disputes. The service is a key part of a memorandum of agreement struck between the centre and the EFCL last month.

“This is a real breakthrough for our organization,” noted EFCL president David Gibbens. “Some of these disputes have a few of our members tied in knots. They seem to spiral into something larger than they are and if they aren’t resolved, nothing short of a mass resignation of league executive and/or members seems to settle it.”

Gibbens noted that a significant number of leagues have become entangled in long-standing conflicts. Sometimes it is between board members, in other cases it is between the board and the league’s general membership, while in other instances it is between the league and area residents or another agency of some sort.

One of the most common sources of complaint involves board members who receive funds to provide services to the league. It often starts innocently as a measure to help out the league, but over time leads to a conflict of interest that is eventually challenged by one or more board members.

This often leads to a split on the board with members of the executive taking one side or the other and no one wants to be involved in climate of conflict.

“It can cause no end of hard feelings if the two sides don’t attempt to address it.”

Funded by the City of Edmonton and Province of Alberta (through the FCSS program), the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre uses volunteer mediators who have all received training and accreditation as community mediators.

Centre staff are available for one-on-one consultation, formal mediations and conflict-resolution workshops.

One such workshop will be featured at the Board Leadership Conference, which the EFCL is helping to sponsor at Grant MacEwan College on March 21. The workshop will include a session on avoiding conflict as well as a session on dealing with conflict, once the organization is already “in the soup.”

Leagues looking for assistance in any of these areas are encouraged to contact MRJC executive director Susan Logan at 423-0896. OR Community Mediation Program at 424-4632         www.mrjc.ca