Atira CEO steps down after damning B.C. housing audit
Atira Women’s Resource Society CEO Janice Abbott has stepped down from her position.
This comes a week after the B.C. government released the results of a forensic audit into BC Housing, finding mismanagement related to a conflict of interest between the former CEO of the Crown corporation and his spouse, Abbott.
A statement from Atira did not specifically name a reason for Abbott’s resignation. However, it noted that the board of the Atira Women’s Resource Society was focused on “working collaboratively with the B.C. Government and BC Housing, and restoring the public’s confidence in Atira’s integrity, vision, mission, purpose and values.”
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To do so, Atira is reiterating its “commitment to open transparent and proactive communication with the Government of B.C., and BC Housing,” and says it welcomes to opportunity to discuss the housing report with the province and BC Housing.”
In addition, Atira says it has “agreed to include a representative from the B.C. Government as an observer on its Board,” has “returned the $1,908,172 in surplus funds for the fiscal year 2021/22 to BC Housing,” and has put together a task force to hire a third party who will be tasked with conducting a review of the organizations policies and practices, “including how it makes decisions on real estate matters and deals with conflicts of interest.”
“The Board and staff at Atira are deeply committed to serving and protecting women and children and providing much-needed housing. We are confident that this path forward will allow us to focus on the essential work with fewer distractions,” said Kim. Board Chair Elva Kim said in a statement.
The organization says it will appoint an interim CEO “as soon as possible.”
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Premier David Eby said during a news conference Monday he believes this move is a step in the right direction.
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“This puts us in the position where we’re going to be able to ensure once those reviews are done, and those audits are done, that the public can have confidence about the outcomes. My hope is that Atira comes through those reviews a stronger organization able to take on new contracts, but at this point, that’s not the case.”
He says he believes the resignation will help rebuild trust between the society and the province.
“I’m very hopeful that Atira is on the right track as of today, they’ve committed to work with governments on all of our asks of that, opening their books, the government appointee to the board, and more,” Eby said.
Eby says if there are “further concerns about Atira’s operation they will come up through the audit.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But at this stage, they are committed to opening up to us to make sure that we can restore that public trust and confidence that will allow the organization to move through this and hopefully come out the other end stronger.”
In 2021, Eby, who was the housing minister at the time, called for the audit following a damning, independent report from Ernst & Young, which found a number of issues at BC Housing, including a lack of oversight when it comes to spending, and its inability to manage risks, among other concerns. It wasn’t known he asked for the audit until November.
Following that report, Eby fired the entire board at BC Housing in July 2022. In September, the CEO, Shayne Ramsay, resigned.
In findings released Monday, May 8, the province says its independent investigation has identified 20 recommendations to improve oversight, prevent future conflicts of interest, and ensure accountability for public funding to be used to provide housing.
The B.C. government has said while the forensic audit found no evidence that public money was used outside of intended purposes or to provide “any material benefit to any one individual, Ernst and Young identified concerns with BC Housing’s financial oversight processes, including its conflict-of-interest protocols and the requirements under which funds were provided to Atira.”
Ernst and Young’s comptroller’s report alleges that multiple people told the financial organization that Atira regularly bypassed the “traditional communication channels by approaching more senior members of BC Housing directly for matters such as funding requests.”
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It says Atira was “direct-awarded” contracts without “transparent, competitive processes designed to ensure the proper use of public funds,” and adds that it was told that Atira was given a level of consideration “that others might not be … or a level of comfort with BC Housing that does not exist with other providers.”
With files from Michael Williams and Emily Marsten
