Shane Ramsay out at Nch’kay after bombshell BC Housing audit

Just four days after the release of a bombshell audit that found he had violated conflict of interest rules, the former CEO of BC Housing has resigned from his role at a Squamish Nation company.

The Nch’kay Development confirmed Friday that Shayne Ramsay was no longer with the company, where he was serving as executive vice-president.

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Nch’Kay is the economic development arm of the Squamish Nation, spearheading the massive Sen̓áḵw housing development on Squamish land next to Vanier Park in Vancouver.

“I’ll leave decisions from another organization, from the First Nations to speak from itself,” B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said of the departure.

“Certainly the forensic investigation highlighted some real concerns, but we can’t really speak to decisions made by other organizations.”

The audit, released earlier this week by B.C.’s comptroller general found a conflict of interest between Ramsay as head of BC Housing and Janice Abbott, who serves as CEO of Atria Women’s Resource Society — the recipient of millions in funding from the Crown corporation.

The report found that neither Ramsay nor Abbott had benefitted materially from the conflict, but flagged numerous mismanagement issues.

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The audit found Ramsay repeatedly involved himself in matters related to Atira and interfered in decision making.

It also found that while Ramsey was CEO, Atira secured contracts without a competitive bidding process and saw its funding increase substantially.

Ramsay altered meeting minutes to obscure concerns raised about an Atira property purchase and regularly deleted text messages despite regularly doing BC Housing business through text, it further concluded.

Ramsay retired from BC Housing last August with a public letter saying he had been physically threatened and that “I no longer have confidence I can solve the complex problems facing us at BC Housing.”

Neither Abbott nor Ramsay have publicly responded to the report to date.

Earlier Friday, Atira said it was forming a task force to appoint an independent team to review its policies and practices, and said it would return a $1.9-million surplus to the province.