Severance upsets families
Critics of the government agency Community Living BC (CLBC) are concerned over $345,000 in severance money Rick Mowles, former chief executive officer, is set to receive.
Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA and NDP critic for CLBC Nicholas Simons said families of people with developmental disabilities are upset by the severance package. For the past two years group homes throughout BC have been closed due to static funding and increased demand. CLBC has an estimated shortfall of somewhere around $60 to $70 million to provide all services currently needed.
According to Simons the severance package for Mowles is a concern both as a matter of actual money and as a matter of principle. The money could potentially “sustain a number of families,” said Simons and is especially troubling as it comes “amidst what is essentially a crisis in Community Living.
“When executives leave their positions they get these severance packages that often sound pretty exorbitant,” said Simons, “and they sound even more exorbitant in contrast to the nickel-and-diming that CLBC has put agencies through.”
Simons is advocating for an external review of CLBC’s practices and policies that would include executive compensation. Simons said that at this point it is too late, that a contract is binding and that Mowles should get his promised severance. However, Simons believes a review should ensure that future severance packages are in line with similar contracts.
Simons also reported that the government has “backed down” on the closure of a group home in Langley.
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