B.C. Housing probe could affect entire non-profit housing sector

A prominent advocate said the overhaul of how B.C. Housing doles out funding — recommended in a scathing report into conflict of interest between the housing agency’s former CEO and his wife — will have implications across the non-profit housing sector.

Jill Atkey, CEO of the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association, said while the recommended changes are important to ensure public funds are spent wisely, she doesn’t want to see the pendulum swing so far in the other direction that “the flexibility and the ability to respond quickly (to the housing crisis) is lost.”

An investigation by Ernst & Young, released Monday, found Atira Women’s Resource Society received preferential treatment for housing contracts because its CEO, Janice Abbott, is married to B.C. Housing’s CEO Shayne Ramsay.

The report found Ramsay repeatedly sent text message to staff, which were later deleted, directing that Atira receive government funding. That violated conflict of interest rules that barred him from discussing those projects because of his relationship with Abbott.