The board of Atira Women’s Resource Society is rejecting calls to dismiss its CEO Janice Abbott in the wake of an audit released Monday.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The board of a non-profit housing organization in B.C. that has been criticized in a recent forensic audit is refusing to fire its executive director, despite being urged to do so by the provincial government agency that is its major funder.
In a statement Tuesday and in correspondence released by the BC United Party, the board of Atira Women’s Resource Society flatly rejected calls to dismiss CEO Janice Abbott following the release of a report that found Atira’s financial records were incomplete or late and that some purchases worth millions of dollars were done without approvals.
The audit, released Monday, also found the former CEO of BC Housing – the agency that funds Atira and other non-profits to provide housing to the province’s most vulnerable – had breached conflict-of-interest rules multiple times by communicating with BC Housing staff about contracts that were directed to Atira. The former CEO, Shayne Ramsay, is married to Ms. Abbott.
But the audit did not find that either Mr. Ramsay or Ms. Abbott benefited financially from the breaches.
In a letter to the Atira board sent last Thursday, the new chair of BC Housing, Allan Seckel, made it plain Ms. Abbott should go.
“Given the investigation’s findings, the current leadership is not able to make the necessary and significant changes required. I reiterate our view that leadership renewal is required to ensure Atira works with BC Housing in a manner consistent with its operating agreements.”
But all the members of the Atira board signed a letter last week refusing.
“In light of there being no findings of wrongdoing by anyone on its executive, Atira’s board will not terminate its senior executive team or any of its members on request from BC Housing with one day’s notice.”
The Atira board members include a lawyer at a prominent blue-chip Vancouver firm; the chief operating officer of a major development company; a former managing director of the accounting firm that conducted the audit on Atira; and the wife of the NDP’s Forests Minister Bruce Ralston.
The letters were made public by the BC United Party, the province’s Official Opposition.
Although non-profit boards are not subject to government orders, the province could force compliance by withholding money for future operations.
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The Atira board also questioned the audit findings, saying in a news release Tuesday there are errors in the report.
The letter exchange happened late last week, a few days before Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon released the Ernst & Young forensic investigation.
Mr. Ramsay and the province had established a protocol in 2011 to prevent conflict-of-interest problems by keeping him at arm’s length from any decisions involving his wife’s non-profit. But the auditors, who seized laptops, cellphones and databases as part of the investigation, said there were multiple indications that Mr. Ramsay had sent directions to staff about Atira projects and that he had deleted many text messages in what appeared to be an effort to avoid detection.
Atira saw its funding from BC Housing go from $21.2-million in 2018 to $74.1-million in 2022. It houses about 3,000 people in 28 buildings, along with running daycares and other support programs, largely for vulnerable women.
Mr. Eby said Atira’s funding has been frozen at current levels until there is a more complete review undertaken.
The Atira board also declined to immediately return $1.9-million in surplus from 2021 that Mr. Seckel requested, saying it would do that when that year’s financial review was complete.
Mr. Kahlon expressed shock Tuesday that the board had responded so negatively, saying the organization was showing a lack of concern about serious problems.
It’s unclear what Atira’s future is given the NDP government’s strong criticism. Atira is the province’s largest organization of its kind and was the go-to for BC Housing, but also for others, including the City of Vancouver.
Vancouver has provided Atira with about $4.5-million in grants over the past 10 years, including $1.2-million in 2014 to develop the Olivia Skye private rental and social-housing apartments on East Hastings. It approved a grant of $350,000 in 2016 for a project on Hawks Avenue, but that hasn’t been paid out because Atira has been unable to get all the financing it needs in that case.
That is one of at least two projects that Atira was trying to develop in recent years but which stalled because of a financing shortfall. BC Housing was not able to provide a list immediately of other Atira construction projects that might be affected.