Atira says it will launch a third-party review into its operations
Days after Atira Women's Resource Society rejected calls for a leadership change after a damning conflict-of-interest report, the non-profit housing agency said it plans to launch an independent third-party review of its operations.
On Friday, the embattled agency said its board of directors has named three people to oversee a third-party review of the organization's policies and practices, “including how it makes decisions on real estate matters and deals with potential conflicts of interest.”
Members of the review team have not been appointed. Overseeing the review team will be Atira's board chair, Elva Kim, and chairs of its finance and governance committees.
“Atira does critical work each day to protect women and children affected by violence by offering supportive housing and delivering education and advocacy aimed at ending all forms of gendered violence,” Kim said in a statement. “We are dedicated to maintaining that support. This independent review, in addition to the B.C. Housing investigation, will help ensure we can continue to do the work that serves this community.”
An Ernst & Young report released earlier this week found Atira received preferential treatment for housing contracts because its CEO, Janice Abbott, is married to B.C. Housing's former CEO, Shayne Ramsay. Ramsay resigned in August after heading B.C. Housing for more than two decades.
Atira has been afforded greater access to public funds than similar housing providers, said the report. It also noted “numerous instances” of conflicts of interest where Ramsay made decisions that benefited Atira, circumventing a conflict-of-interest agreement set up in 2010, the year he married Abbott.
Atira is B.C.'S largest non-profit housing provider and operates 2,969 housing units in the Lower Mainland.
After the report, B.C. Housing board chair Allan Seckel wrote a letter urging “leadership renewal” to allow for “necessary and significant changes required.”
Atira's board rejected the recommendation, saying it will not terminate anyone on short notice “in light of there being no findings of wrongdoing by anyone on its executive.”
B.C. Housing is conducting a review of Atira's operations and said the agency will not be considered for new funding or to manage new buildings until the review is complete.
In its statement Friday, Atira said it told B.C. Housing it is taking the report seriously and is open to discussing recommendations with government, including potentially having a government representative sit on its board as an observer.
It also said it returned $1.9 million in surplus funds for 2020 and 2021 on Thursday, as demanded by B.C. Housing.
Atira acknowledged concerns over the report's finding it received $35 million more than PHS Community Services Society, the next highest non-profit housing agency.
It said the gap was $20 million and was due, in part, because it's a larger housing provider, operating 2,300 housing units compared to PHS'S 1,600 units.
In response to the report's finding that Atira was given “direct award” contracts, skipping the typical request-for-proposal procedures that ensure transparency and fairness, Atira said in “unique circumstances,” including during the pandemic, B.C. Housing had asked it to deliver services when other organizations declined.