Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman introduces new bill to ensure social housing providers are not be overcharged by Housing Services Corporation for natural gas and insurance
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Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman announced Monday he is introducing a private member’s bill that raises a red flag about an organization he compares to scandal-ridden ORNGE.
Hardeman, the PC critic for municipal affairs, accuses the non-profit Housing Services Corporation (HSC) of having many similarities to the beleaguered air ambulance service, such as creating for-profit subsidiaries, expensing international travel and salaries disappearing off the sunshine list.
The goal of the organization when it was created in 2000 under the Social Housing Reform Act was to save affordable housing providers money by negotiating bulk discounts of gas and insurance.
But that has changed, Hardeman said.
“They are spending far too much on administration and squandering their money,” Hardeman said in a phone interview on Monday.
Howie Wong, CEO of HSC, said he is disappointed Hardeman hasn’t recognized “the progress made over the last couple of years.”
Wong, who took on the position in mid-2013, said not only has HSC stabilized and improved gas prices to providers, but they also trimmed down their organization to become “lean and efficient.”
Wong said that international travel is a requirement of his job, which allowed him to actually cut insurance costs by $3 million by including London underwriters.
Wong said a third-party independent review of the operation, including subsidiaries, will be completed by Deloitte over the next two months and shows HSC’s commitment to transforming the organization.
HSC spokesperson Stefanie Millon said the corporation is not required to disclose its salaries but voluntarily lists the top three employees with the highest accrued expenses, as well as the expenses incurred by board members.
However, Hardeman said he hopes the bill will work to insure social housing providers are no longer overcharged for natural gas and insurance by giving the province’s auditor general the authority to investigate.
The bill, known as the Housing Services Corporation Accountability Act, would also remove the mandatory requirements for affordable housing providers to purchase gas and insurance through the HSC.
“With an affordable housing waiting list of 165,000 families, we simply can’t afford for housing providers to be taken advantage of,” he said.
For example, he said, the City Housing Hamilton reported it paid $1.1 million more for natural gas because it had to purchase it through HSC. The savings from opting out, he said, would have been enough to provide rent supplements to 140 families.
Hardeman said he hopes the new bill will bring awareness to the HSC, with hopes Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Ted McMeekin “will decide the need for change.”
Conrad Spezowka, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, said the legislation regarding accountability standards that governs the HSC was reformed in 2011, requiring the corporation to provide audited financial statements.
“Furthermore, the HSC asked the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to assist in setting up a third-party independent review of their entire operation, including any subsidiaries they have created,” wrote the municipal affairs spokesperson in an e-mail. “The HSC has committed to covering all costs related to the review.”
heather.rivers@sunmedia
Housing Services Corporation expenses
(Source: Freedom of Information filed by MPP Ernie Hardeman's office)
Prior to becoming CEO in May 2013, Howie Wong was the HSC’s chief operating officer, starting in January 2012.
Expenses for Wong between February 2012 and June 2013 included seven trips to London, England. On one trip he returned to Ontario on a Thursday night and then returned to London, England, two days later.
Two trips to Vancouver included one with a $1,000 hotel bill at the Fairmont Pacific Rim.
They also included over $3,000 to fly to a conference in Sydney, Australia, with the claim form listing the destination as Sydney, Nova Scotia. Another conference in Los Angeles cost more than $2,000.
A six-day trip to England included more than $1,355 in expensed meals.
According to Stefanie Millon of Housing Services Corporation the organization updated their board and staff expense policies to bring them in line with provincial guidelines in December 2014.
Million said Wong retroactively reimbursed all expenses not inline with the updated policies “which included all alcohol and all meals over newly imposed hospitality caps.”
A total of $4,000 was reimbursed.
Operating expenses for the organization in 2013 included $6.3 million in salaries, $3.5 million in program consultants and $2 million in management fees.