The CEO of British Columbia housing operator Atira Women's Resource Society has stepped down after an audit found a conflict of interest over her marriage to the former head of Crown social housing provider BC Housing.
Janice Abbott resigned with immediate effect, the society announced Monday.
Elva Kim, who chairs the board of Atira, said in a statement that she's confident Abbott's resignation would allow Atira to continue its work with "fewer distractions."
Premier David Eby said Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon told him Monday about Abbott's resignation.
"This will, my hope is, set Atira back on its path of restoring public confidence and trust so they can continue delivering essential services to people across the province," the premier told an unrelated news conference.
Atira will also open its books to allow a third-party independent review, he said.
"I'm very hopeful Atira is on the right track, as of today," Eby said.
Atira's statement thanks Abbott for helping "thousands of women and children" over 31 years of leadership at the organization, which is BC Housing's largest provider.
"The focus for the board now is 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," it said.
Leadership renewal at Atira will help it move forward in partnership w @BC_Housing and our govt so that appropriate policies & procedures are in place. We welcome the appointment of a govt rep to Atira's Board and look forward to working with them to ensure concerns are addressed
— Ravi Kahlon (@KahlonRav) May 15, 2023
The forensic investigation by Ernst and Young found mismanagement, risk to public dollars and violations of conflict-of-interest rules at BC Housing related to former chief executive Shayne Ramsay, who is Abbott's husband.
The review, commissioned by the province, said Ramsay repeatedly influenced decisions that benefited Atira and a lack of oversight resulted in a culture of tolerance for non-compliance with conflict-of-interest policies.
After announcing his retirement from BC Housing last August, Ramsay became executive vice-president of the Nch'kay Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the Squamish Nation.
His photo and biographical information were removed from the corporation's website after the audit was released last week. The corporation did not respond to questions about whether Ramsay was still employed there.
The premier said last week that the government expected Atira to take steps to ensure public confidence in its operations, which could include leadership change.
The statement from Atira said the provider had also returned $1.9 million in surplus funds to BC Housing, agreed to include a government representative as an observer on its board and established a group to investigate Atira's policies and practices, including how it deals with conflicts of interest.
Atira reiterated its commitment to "open, transparent and proactive communication" with the government and BC Housing, and said it welcomes the opportunity to discuss the report with them.
The board will be appointing an interim CEO as soon as possible, it said.
Atira operates nearly 3,000 units of housing for women, children and gender diverse people in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
"The board and staff at Atira are deeply committed to serving and protecting women and children and providing much-needed housing," Kim's statement said.
