Expand conflict of interest guidelines after BC housing audit: Green Party

BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau says she would like to see an expansion of conflict of interest guidelines and whistleblower protections across all ministries in response to a recent BC Housing audit.

A recent forensic investigation into BC Housing found mismanagement regarding a conflict of interest between former CEO Shayne Ramsay and his spouse Janice Abbott, who is the CEO of the Atira Women’s Resource Society.

“We have also seen a pattern of disturbing reports into provincial institutions and practices, including the BC Lottery Corporation, the Ministry of Children and Family Development, professional reliance, and more. Rather than wait for the next catastrophe or scandal, this government must proactively apply transparency, effective oversight, conflict of interest guidelines, and whistleblower protection across its ministries and Crown Corporations,” Furstenau said in a statement.

“At all times we should be having … the ongoing conversation about how do we protect the integrity and the orientation of public service. When we have an $85 billion provincial budget, that’s a big job.”

Beyond that, Furstenau stresses BC Housing and its housing providers must not be negatively impacted as a result of this audit.

“I think that we have to really recognize that it’s going to take a proactive approach to ensure that we’re not back here in another six months or another year,” she said.

Read more:

• BC Housing audit finds ‘mismanagement’ between CEO and Atira housing

But there’s also a concern about collateral damage, with Furstenau suggesting that any change the province makes must not negatively impact BC Housing and its housing providers, as she insists BC Housing does important work.

“While this work is ongoing, I want to emphasize that the essential supportive housing services offered through BC Housing and its housing providers must not be negatively impacted. If anything, these services need to scale up dramatically, so that the most marginalized people in our province can live in safety and dignity,” she said in a statement.

Atira says audit contains ‘factual errors’

In a statement Monday evening, the non-profit at the centre of the forensic audit’s findings says it is examining the investigation carefully.

“It is important to appreciate that neither Atira nor its executive staff benefited financially by expanding and taking on more buildings. To the contrary, as a non-profit organization, Atira’s expansion provided no financial benefit to Atira and was simply an effort to provide more housing to people in need,” it said.

Atira says it is “unsurprised” that the audit found no evidence of financial improprieties, and the organization cooperated fully with Ernst and Young, the financial company undertaking the audit.

However, Atira says only a handful of its staff were able to take a look at the draft report before being published, and the “many factual errors in the draft … were not corrected in the final report released today.”

“To the extent the review highlights administrative and operational challenges to be addressed by Atira, those recommendations will be examined closely with the assistance of independent professionals and action will be taken to resolve them. In addition, the Board welcomes the forensic audit proposed today by the B.C. government.

“Atira has grown quickly in an effort to respond to British Columbia’s housing and homelessness emergencies, and administrative and operational challenges understandably have arisen as Atira took on the management of new buildings and projects to meet the overwhelming need for safe and secure housing.

“Atira’s Board of Directors remains confident that its CEO and senior management will guide the organization through these challenges and make required improvements to Atira’s operations and administration. The Board acknowledges and appreciates the quality of the work of our finance and accounting staff, and their tireless commitment to Atira, in service of our mission,” the organization wrote in its statement.

It says it is committed to working with the provincial government to implement the recommendations put forward in the audit to “make the system work better for the people it serves and for the people who work within it.”