The Board Resourcing and Development Office is where to go to find out who runs government agencies and boards in British Columbia. Some of the most powerful people involved in the taxpayer-funded organizations are friends of the governing BC Liberal Party.
One body that has been a deserved lightning rod for criticism is Community Living British Columbia, which oversees adults with developmental disabilities.
On Oct. 14, 2011, CEO (and standardbred horseracing mogul) Rick Mowles was replaced by vice-president Doug Woollard after months of controversy and cutbacks. Mowles was paid $222,919 for the year-ended March 31, 2011 and got a $345,000 golden parachute. CLBC was back in the news in June 2012 for the wrong reasons when senior executives got a pay raise to compensate for the axing of their bonuses. Lindsay Kines of the Victoria Times-Colonist summarized the mess on his blog.
The Community Living Action Group website, a network of concerned families and staff, is a clearing house of information on an organization that many believe needs a total house cleaning. Critics have called for Premier Christy Clark and Minister Responsible Stephanie Cadieux to resign and question their commitment to the Families First agenda. Is it a slogan and nothing else?
So, what's the latest in this comedy of errors? Most of the CLBC board was quietly reappointed by the BC Liberals via a Ministerial Order. On July 5, the notice was posted to the Board Resourcing and Development Office website. Five members were re-appointed for another three-year term, including chair Denise Turner, whose biography is below.
One body that has been a deserved lightning rod for criticism is Community Living British Columbia, which oversees adults with developmental disabilities.
On Oct. 14, 2011, CEO (and standardbred horseracing mogul) Rick Mowles was replaced by vice-president Doug Woollard after months of controversy and cutbacks. Mowles was paid $222,919 for the year-ended March 31, 2011 and got a $345,000 golden parachute. CLBC was back in the news in June 2012 for the wrong reasons when senior executives got a pay raise to compensate for the axing of their bonuses. Lindsay Kines of the Victoria Times-Colonist summarized the mess on his blog.
The Community Living Action Group website, a network of concerned families and staff, is a clearing house of information on an organization that many believe needs a total house cleaning. Critics have called for Premier Christy Clark and Minister Responsible Stephanie Cadieux to resign and question their commitment to the Families First agenda. Is it a slogan and nothing else?
So, what's the latest in this comedy of errors? Most of the CLBC board was quietly reappointed by the BC Liberals via a Ministerial Order. On July 5, the notice was posted to the Board Resourcing and Development Office website. Five members were re-appointed for another three-year term, including chair Denise Turner, whose biography is below.
Community Living British Columbia
MO#140/12, July 3, 2012:
• Mr. Mark Duncan re-appointed as Director for a term expiring July 1, 2015.
• Ms. Norah C. Flaherty re-appointed as Director for a term expiring July 1, 2015.
• Mr. Ernest H. Malone re-appointed as Director for a term expiring July 1, 2015.
• Mr. John McCulloch appointed as Director for a term expiring July 1, 2015.
• Ms. Denise E. Turner re-appointed as Chair for a term expiring July 1, 2015
• Mr. Arn van Iersel re-appointed as Director for a term expiring July 1, 2015.
Denise Turner, Chair
According to the schedule of board and employee remuneration through March 31, 2011, Denise Turner was paid $21,112.11. She is the wife of former B.C. Lottery Corporation chairman T. Richard Turner, who is a prominent BC Liberal donor both personally and corporately. T. Richard Turner has interest in the Edgewater Casino in Vancouver and gained attention as a lobbyist for Edgewater parent Paragon Gaming when it was revealed that he pressured B.C. Pavilion Corporation to approve a retractable roof for B.C. Place Stadium and lease Edgewater land west of the stadium for its proposed new home. The Turners are the principals in TitanStar Properties Inc.
Denise Turner has been working full time for the Turner family business since 1995. Drawing on her 15 years experience in the financial services sector, she has been responsible for finance, legal and contract negotiations for various privately- and publicly-owned real estate-based companies, as well as all day-to-day operations of a property management and real estate development company. Most recently, the Turners founded a private investment firm which specializes in commercial real estate acquisitions in Canada and the U.S. Turner has served on several boards of directors in the past including eight years as Vice Chair of the Board of the BC Provincial Health Services Authority; Board Chair of the YWCA of Vancouver; Board Chair of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland; Vice Chair of the BC Aviation Council; and a Director and Trustee of the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies. In addition to serving as Board Chair of Community Living BC, Turner also serves on the Boards of the Child & Family Research Institute; the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; the Honorary Advisory Board of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland; and the Finance, Audit & Investment Committee of the YWCA. Turner is a recipient of HRH Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Award for outstanding service to British Columbia and to Canada.
Denise Turner, chair of the embattled Community Living B.C. board
You might also call them Titans of the BC Liberals.
