Vancouver’s SROs are home to some of the most vulnerable people in the province, and some of the most challenging housing to run. So when Atira Women’s Resource Society stepped up to run several buildings, concerns that the CEO was in a relationship with the CEO of BC Housing, the provincial corporation in charge of that housing, were dismissed. 

In the years that followed, there was growing concern about the conditions of the SROs, and why Atira’s portfolio kept growing.

Recently an explosive report released by third party investigators Ernst and Young revealed the truth. 

This week’s episode by Cherise Seucharan looks at how a problem ignored for over a decade, came to light.

Featured in this episode: Jen St Denis, reporter at The Tyee; Frances Bula, reporter, The Globe and Mail.

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor)

Further reading:

• Public housing in Vancouver called ‘crack shacks and brothels’, CBC, 2012
• The Housing Is Owned by the Province. The Working Conditions Are Terrible, Jen St. Denis, The Tyee
• BC Housing has ‘no formal criteria’ for contracts, review finds, Frances Bula, The Globe and Mail
• Devastating Report Cites BC Housing Mismanagement, Jen St. Denis, The Tyee
• Atira statement responding to Tyee reporting, 2022

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