Audit of B.C. Crown corporation board appointments show 'gaps' in oversight

B.C. Lt.-Gov. Wendy Cocchia delivers the throne speech in the assembly at the legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

An audit of board appointments at British Columbia’s public-sector organizations shows that provincial oversight fell short when handling conflict-of-interest cases.

The audit by the Office of the Auditor General says the provincial body overseeing health authorities, Crown corporations and other organizations fulfilled most of its duties on supporting board appointments.

However, the audit says it found “shortcomings” in the Crown Agencies and Board Resourcing Office’s lack of documentation for mitigation plans after conflicts of interest were identified.

The audit also found “gaps” in the oversight body’s guidance of public-sector boards to ensure diversity in areas such as ethnicity and disability.

The report was released after being tabled at the B.C. legislative assembly.

Acting Auditor General Sheila Dodds says the Crown Agencies and Board Resourcing Office has accepted recommendations to improve in both aspects.

“I’m pleased that CABRO has accepted both recommendations and has committed to acting on them,” Dodds said at a news conference.

“What the audit identified is there was an opportunity for them to improve the process, to document how they would mitigate any potential or declared conflict of interest.

“So it’s just ensuring better process on being able to monitor those risks and to be able to take actions as necessary.”

The report says the oversight body “generally didn’t have documentation to confirm” conflict-of-interest discussions with boards or their responsible ministries before a candidate was appointed.

The 25 appointments reviewed in the audit showed 11 declarations of possible conflicts-of-interest, but only one case where the board provided a mitigation plan in its documentation.

“Where candidates declared a conflict of interest, we expected to see that CABRO — before recommending the appointment — had confirmed that the board had a mitigation strategy in place,” the audit says.

“Because CABRO didn’t confirm that boards had mitigation plans in place, there was a risk that the conflict would not be managed appropriately,” the audit says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2025.

The Canadian Press