BC Liberals said on Wednesday that documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request reveal new details about the chaos and dysfunction at BC Housing under David Eby, based on exit interview reports of 102 staff who left the organization between March 2020 and April 2022.
“These exit interviews clearly show a massive spike in dysfunction and problems at BC Housing while Eby was housing minister,” said Karin Kirkpatrick, BC Liberal Critic for Housing. “Unfortunately, BC Housing has redacted more than three-quarters of the documents, preventing the public from knowing the true extent of the chaos and mismanagement Eby allowed to spread through this $2-billion organization.”
The latest report ending in April 2022 found a “dramatic increase in staff departures over previous years” and that “the last six months [October 2021 through March 2022], was particularly notable for its record number of 40 departures.” Of the 102 people who left BC Housing under Eby’s watch, 17 were senior executives. Problems contributing to staff departures included “declining morale and understaffing” as well as “excessive workload issues.” Even for staff who left to retire, “almost all of those indicated that the workplace issues described in this report had an impact on their decision to leave when they did, in many cases earlier than they had originally planned.”
“This is just the latest evidence showing that David Eby has been covering up significant problems at BC Housing,” said Kirkpatrick. “From the buried reports showing financial mismanagement at Atira Women’s Housing Society and BC Housing, to these exit interviews detailing the departure of 102 staff in the last two years, we are seeing a clear picture of an organization in chaos. It now seems obvious Eby tried to hide the truth about what was going on at this taxpayer-funded organization because he was instead focused on seizing power through his tainted NDP leadership race. The new housing minister Ravi Kahlon has a lot to answer for, and a lot of work to do to clean up the mess his boss has left behind at BC Housing.”
The documents also highlight “significant upheaval” and note that “one of the departments that appears to be most impacted by departing staff is [redacted], many citing issues with management changes, lack of overall management direction, combined with a lack of resources for front-line work…”
Despite Eby’s supposed commitment to transparency and accountability, additional damning revelations have been censored in the documents, with more than 75 per cent of the pages containing quotes and summaries of employee feedback redacted, the BC Liberals pointed out.
* Excerpts from 2021-2022 Exit Interview Report
