Dispute pits patriarch against relatives
Brian McGarry files complaint against chief operating officer of Hulse, Playfair & McGarry funeral firm
The iconic Ottawa funeral firm Hulse, Playfair & McGarry is in turmoil, wracked by an escalating dispute pitting former chief executive Brian McGarry against his former wife, his son and another relative.
The internecine battle is unfolding in the upper ech- elons of a prestigious 88-yearold firm that has arranged state funerals involving former prime ministers, governors general and other high officials, including those of Pierre Trudeau and, most recently, the 2011 state funeral of former NDP leader Jack Layton.
Brian McGarry, 70, who stepped down as CEO and sold or gave away his major- ity stake in Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Inc. about five years ago, told the Citizen that he filed a complaint in August with the Board of Funeral Services, the body that regulates Ontario’s 2,500 licensed funeral directors.
In it, he named Hulse, Playfair & McGarry’s chief operating officer, Patrick McGarry, a second cousin.
“I have monetary concerns and I have labour relations concerns,” Brian McGarry said. “That’s about all I can say. My concerns are under review and we’ll know better when the Ontario Board of Funeral Services renders a decision.”
In a written statement to the Citizen, Brett McGarry — Brian’s son — acknowledged that his father has stated that he made a complaint.
But speaking on behalf of himself and his mother, Sharon McGarry — the two directors of Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Inc.— he said they have not been notified of any complaint by the board, “nor are we aware of any investigation.”
The allegations underlying the dispute have not been proven or verified, but the Citizen has chosen to report the positions of both sides in the public interest.
The dispute escalated Friday as Brett McGarry sent a letter to his father, informing him that he has been suspended with pay, effective immediately, from his employment with the firm for repeatedly breaching “specific directions and prohibitions” outlined in a Nov. 26 letter from the firm.
The Citizen obtained the letter from Brian McGarry. Among other things, it says Brian McGarry had disclosed confidential information to the media and third parties, interfered with the relationship between the company and Patrick McGarry, and involved himself in “human resources issues” and the dayto-day operations of the business.
During his suspension, the letter says Brian McGarry is barred from the company’s premises and prohibited from performing any duties.
It also warns that the company “reserves the right to cease paying your salary and benefits and to terminate your employment. Once a final decision has been made regarding your future employment, you will be advised.”
Contacted by the Citizen, Brett McGarry declined to comment on the letter, saying “we do not intend to engage in a dispute through the media.”
Brian McGarry, a former regional councillor, school board chair and Conservative candidate, no longer has any active role in Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Inc., the operating company, though he holds the title of chairman. His former wife, Sharon, is now the majority owner and president.
He remains president and one of three directors of McGarry Family Ltd., a holding company that owns shares in various companies. The other two directors are Sharon and Brett McGarry.
In his statement to the Citizen, Brett McGarry, who practises criminal law in Ottawa, said the company’s directors “take very seriously any allegation that would affect our trusted relationships with our client families.
“We are disappointed that Brian McGarry, who now owns a small minority of shares, has chosen to go public with his assertions and grievances over the leadership of the company and decisions taken by the board of directors,” he said.
The Citizen also approached Patrick McGarry for comment. In an email, he said Brett McGarry’s response to the Citizen, which the two discussed, represented all he had to say on the matter.
Since relinquishing his operating role, Brian McGarry has grown increasingly discontent, alleging that Sharon and Patrick McGarry have strayed from the business philosophy of his mentor, Charles Hulse, who founded the company with his brother, Percy, in 1925.
One of Brian McGarry’s allegations is that Patrick McGarry has instructed the firm’s funeral directors not to disclose a low-end price the firm offers for cremation to clients unless absolutely necessary.
As a result, he alleges that some clients have paid up to $2,000 more for a complete cremation service package than Hulse, Playfair & McGarry charges for its most basic “cremation only” package.
But Brett McGarry said the “cremation only” package is an online service offered through an affiliated company in Wakefield. “It offers far less than the services provided at Hulse, Playfair & McGarry’s physical locations,” he said.
“Most importantly, the online ‘cremation only’ service involves little to no assistance from a licensed funeral director. Rather, a ‘ cremation only’ client fills out the required forms online and later retrieves the cremated remains. That is the full extent of the ‘cremation only’ service.”
Coming to one of Hulse, Playfair & McGarry’s Ontario locations for a direct cremation service is “a completely different experience in every way,” Brett McGarry said.
However, Brian McGarry vehemently denied that the “cremation only” package is offered exclusively online. “That’s totally wrong,” he said. “I have it right in front of me. It says nothing about online.”
He said he has been fielding complaints from disgruntled clients, including a federal cabinet minister, about the company’s prices, and has arranged partial refunds in three cases where he believed they had been overcharged.
According to Brett McGarry, on the “rare occasion” when price or value is questioned, “we sit down with our client families and resolve it to their satisfaction.”
In a Nov. 22 email obtained by the Citizen, Brett McGarry said the company conducted an internal audit of trust funds “in response to Brian’s concerns.” It found no concerns, says his email, sent to his father and copied to seven others, including the firm’s lawyer and banker.
“I take any allegation of mishandling of trust monies by our firm very seriously,” he said in the Nov. 22 email. “That is why I have repeatedly requested details from Brian of his allegations concerning the same. To date, I have received zero evidence.”
Brian McGarry says the overall number of funerals has fallen to less than 1,200 a year from a peak of more than 1,500, with the decline concentrated at the low-cost end of the market.
Brett McGarry declined to comment on that, saying that as a private company, Hulse, Playfair & McGarry does not disclose “financial or marketsensitive information.”
He said the “competitive landscape” of the funeral service business has changed with the entrance of cemeteries into the market, conglomerates buying up many operators and the entry of other service providers. This fall, for example, the not-for-profit Funeral Co-operative of Ottawa opened its doors, promising much lower prices than established funeral homes.
Despite that, Brett McGarry said, “we remain committed to serving all members of our community. We offer a range of pricing options for our client families and will continue to do so.”
In an email, Doug Simpson, registrar of the Board of Funeral Services, said all matters brought to the board’s attention are confidential. “I am therefore unable to comment one way or another on whether an investigation is being conducted in this or any other matter,” he said.
The Ontario government created the board in 1990 as a self-governing body to regulate the funeral industry. If its discipline committee makes a finding of professional misconduct or incompetence, it can reprimand or fine a funeral director or recommend that the registrar take more serious action, including suspending or revoking a funeral director’s licence.
If the registrar determines that a disciplinary hearing is necessary, Simpson said, notice of the hearing, open to the public, would be posted on the board’s website. No such notice has been posted to date with respect to Hulse, Playfair & McGarry.
Brett McGarry confirmed that a board inspector showed up earlier this month at Hulse, Playfair & McGarry locations, but said inspectors do routine audits across the province. “To our knowledge, (last) week’s inspection is nothing more than that. In any event, we are fully transparent and co-operate with any inspection.”
In response to Citizen questions, Simpson agreed that the board regularly conducts inspections of funeral establishments and reviews financial records to ensure compliance with the regulations. It also has formal and informal processes to deal with consumer complaints.
The board also sometimes receives information, outside of the formal complaint process, alleging improprieties, Simpson said. It assesses the information and sometimes conducts an investigation “to confirm or refute the validity of the information provided,” he said.
“In these circumstances, there may be occasions where the subject would not be aware they were under investigation, as this could possibly interfere with the information being sought.”
In his statement to the Citizen, Brett McGarry said company directors have offered to enter into a professional mediation to resolve Brian McGarry’s grievances. “While we disagree with the assertions made by Brian McGarry, we respectfully seek to resolve the issues directly in a mediated process, rather than engaging in a public dispute through the media,” he said.
“Unfortunately, Brian McGarry has indicated that he is unwilling to participate in that process.”
Brian McGarry denied that he has refused to take part but questioned the value of the proposed Jan. 13 mediation. “No one has come up with a purpose yet,” he said. “And I don’t think there is a purpose.”\
The various parties are now “lawyered up,” he said. He has retained corporate lawyer Fred Seller and Michael Edelson, a prominent Ottawa criminal lawyer. Patrick McGarry is represented by Janice Payne, Sen. Mike Duffy’s lawyer.
Brian McGarry holds a large stake in Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Holdings Ltd., the firm’s property wing. Its holdings include the company’s flagship central chapel at McLeod and O’Connor streets, a prime development site that Brian McGarry said has been valued at up to $30 million.
Along with the central chapel, the company operates funeral homes on Woodroffe Avenue, Ogilvie Road and in Kemptville, and runs a chapel and crematorium in Wakefield, Que. It also owns a funeral home in Spencerville, run out of its Kemptville location, as well as numerous undeveloped properties.
Brian McGarry said he has offered to sell his remaining shares in the operating company or buy out the interests held by Sharon and Patrick McGarry, but so far, those discussions haven’t gone anywhere.
The fact that Brett McGarry has taken the side of his mother and Patrick McGarry is painful for Brian McGarry, who speaks with pride of his son’s character and accomplishments. But after more than half a century’s involvement in Hulse, Playfair & McGarry, he views the firm and its sterling reputation as a legacy that now is at risk. “I think we’re an important institution,” he said.