An emotional John Volken said his Langley farm will keep operating, but he has sold the Surrey site where a recovery centre with his name operated until it was recently shut down by the provincial Ministry of Health.
"I keep on saying they crucified the Savior," Volken told a Monday, March 25 press conference at the centre, his voice shaking.
"What bad did he do?"
Volken said his charitable foundation will continue to operate its Langley farm, which operates an agricultural program at at 23480 40 Ave. that employs a number of Academy graduates, but does not run a recovery program.
"It's a good life," Volken said of the farm.
"They [the workers] live there. They progress there. They learn trades. And, you know, we have a store there. We have a lot of buffalo, bison, chickens, pigs. And it's an awesome life."
A number of former students of the academy attended the press conference to praise Volken, who also displayed a box full of letters from families and firmer clients, expressing gratitude.
Twelve people remain at the Surrey centre, John Volken Academy (JVA) manager Andrea Chambers said, but they will be taking a work-life skills program.
"We took addiction recovery out of the program," Chambers advised.
While the property has just been sold, the deal doesn't close for a year, Chambers explained.
An emotional John Volken revealed he has sold the property where a recovery centre with his name used to operate in Surrey until it was recently shut down by the provincial Ministry of Health. He said his foundation will continue to run its Langley farm. pic.twitter.com/bQ3EU80B1f
— Langley Advance Times (@LangleyTimes) March 25, 2025
Volken lashed out at two senior Ministry of Health officials over the decision to cancel the registration of John Volken Academy (JVA) as an assisted living residence, calling Sue Bedford, Director, Community Care Facility Licensing and Assisted Living, at Ministry of Health "nasty" and "evil" and complained that Ross Hayward, the assistant deputy minister in the ministry, who ordered the shutdown, never visited the facility.
He took issue with a letter from Hayward that objected to a number of Academy practices, including speaking bans, and the "bench," where someone can be ordered to sit by themselves, along with what was described as excessive hours working at JVA businesses including the farm, and allegations of restriction of liberties where academy clients were required to work additional months for JVA businesses - in one case after making phone calls without permission to complain about JVA to the ministry.
"That's a lie. Nobody's been held back," Volken said, referring to a Langley Advance Times article about the allegations.
"Nobody makes anybody do things what they don't want to do," Volken went on to say.
"They can leave. There's no barbed wire."
An incident where one person was gored at the farm by a water buffalo, as referred to in the ministry letter, drew a response at the press conference in the form of a letter from the injured person with their name redacted that called it a "freak accident" and "completely my fault" for failing to adhere to farm rules.
Farm manager Dorian Pierson told the press conference workers are given 40-hour weeks, but occasionally have to put in extra time.
A handout at the press conference blamed the ministry for the death of one academy client.
It said the student, identified only as KJ, left the facility because of rumours of an impending closure on Oct. 17, 2024, then relapsed.
"Both he and his parent begged JVA to accept him back into the program," the handout said, but because the ministry had directed JVA to stop admitting or readmitting residents, the return was denied and on March 9 of this year, he died from a fatal overdose.
"We never had one person overdose and die in our program here [before that]," Volken told the press conference. "Not one."
Asked for comment, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said the Volken Academy "is a facility that is not publicly funded and I think that's an important point to make."
"It's not in compliance with the Community Care and Assisted Living Act and it ceased to be a registered residence in this case," Osborne said.
"What I can say is that it's a real priority for our ministry in improving oversight and accountability of all supportive recovery residences, and we're going to continue to do everything that we can to ensure the health and safety of people – that is always the primary focus here,"
Osborne added the ministry will "continue to do everything to ensure that publicly funded beds are available for people and this closure won't impact the availability of those publicly funded beds because it's [Volken] not a publicly funded facility."
