YOUR PERSPECTIVE: BC Housing scandal speaks volumes about NDP’s failed leadership

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Since the report’s release, Premier David Eby has made no secret of the failures at BC Housing and Atira. He has highlighted the wrongdoings, condemned those involved, claimed that change is necessary, and said that he will work to make things better — apparently willing the public to forget that he has been in a position to make these needed changes since 2020, when he first became housing minister. At no point during this process has he taken any accountability for the gross mismanagement of public funds that happened on his watch.

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As housing minister, Eby buried reports warning of the kind of misconduct now confirmed by EY. He failed to be transparent about what was going on, telling media last summer that his firing of the NDP-appointed board of BC Housing had nothing to do with wrongdoing, when we now know that it did.

And perhaps most damning, he more than tripled the government funds going to Atira, even after allegations against the organization came to light. The year Eby became housing minister, Atira got $17 million in funding. By the time Eby moved from his role as housing minister to his role as Premier in 2022, Atira was getting a staggering $74 million in funding — a 335 per cent increase.

Eby wants to portray himself as a hapless victim of the misdeeds of others, but the very clear facts of this matter tell a completely different story.

Looking at the EY report there are only two conclusions to be drawn about Eby’s leadership as housing minister — either he was an incompetent leader who had no idea what was going on in his own ministry, ignoring warning signs and approving millions in funding to an organization that was misusing them; or he knew what was going on, buried the reports and continued to provide funding to Atira so as to not raise any red flags that could impact his 2022 campaign for NDP leadership.

Neither option paints our Premier in a flattering light.

At the end of the day, British Columbians deserve accountability. They deserve a Premier who doesn’t blame others for his own failures of leadership. Anything less is simply not good enough.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.