"Governors are not managers. Governors do, however, carry the responsibility for hiring good managers and holding them accountable for specific outcomes."
The Sage Report, September 24, 2003, p. 13.

Interim Authority for Community Living Board member M. Lynn Rolko, the Authority's Corporate Secretary and a member of its Executive Committee, in an interview on the Rafe Mair show on January 20th, alternated between defending Doug Walls and denying that he was really the Authority's CEO except for communication purposes with the Ministry and as required by the Authority's by-laws. She went on to say that he was one of two senior staff. Rolko's reference to "communication purposes" may be in recollection of the February 7, 2003, minutes of her Board which noted her appointment as Corporate Secretary and also recorded that "Doug Walls has been appointed as the Interim CEO and will deal with all staffing issues". The minutes had the unrelated heading "Communication Protocol". Her recollection wasn't so good when it came to financial matters. Despite her claim that "Mr. Walls was not managing the taxpayer's money", the financial statements on the Interim Authority's website, bear the signature of Doug Walls dated May 9, 2003, with the title Senior Consultant, Planning and Development and Chief Executive Officer.

Community living, the name used to describe services to people who were previously housed in institutions like Woodlands, has a budget in excess of $600 million. That is a lot of tax money that will be handed over to an appointed board which must in turn be accountable for those funds as well as for the services its clients receive. The government's plan is to develop the Interim Authority for Community Living to the point where responsibility for that budget can be handed over in what Minister Gordon Hogg described as a "turnkey" operation. The resignation of the Interim Authority's acting CEO may attract attention to what the Interim Authority has been doing, and it may once again delay Hogg's plans. The key was to turn by June 2004 but the Readiness Panel chaired by Vince Collins warned that the Interim Authority is not ready.

Special prosecutor Josiah Wood has made it clear that he is not looking at any matter involving the Interim Authority, and that his appointment is limited to matters related to a commercial crime investigation in Prince George. Doug Walls should be presumed innocent of whatever charges or allegations are made with respect to him or his former company. That does not, however, mean that the question of how he was appointed to be acting CEO of the Interim Authority should be ignored, nor should the performance of the Interim Authority under his leadership escape careful examination. Two reports have been done on the problems with the transition, the Sage Report and the Readiness Report.

The Readiness Report (Vince Collins, chair), dated December 19, 2003, said "that failure to appoint an interim CEO and to initiate immediately the recruiting process for the permanent CEO and the senior management team and to appoint the permanent Board members by January 31, 2004, will significantly reduce the probability of a successful devolution on June 1, 2004." Didn't anyone who was advising the government know about Driscoll's letter of January 23, 2003, or about Walls signing the financial statements as CEO?

The minutes from the March 26, 2003, Board meeting recorded that "The Chair advised that the recruitment process for a CEO is underway. All candidates will be subject to a joint paneling by both IACLBC and Ministry. Once a candidate is selected they will work for the IACLBC and subject to the Board’s satisfaction, they will be moved over to the Permanent Authority. Betsy Gibbons of Korn/Ferry International has been chosen to work on the recruitment process. An ad has already been drafted and it will be placed in the Globe and Mail shortly. The Chair advised that Betsy will be meeting with the Board tomorrow to gain feedback on what is expected for the CEO position." The meeting continued the next day and included a lengthy discussion of desirable attributes for the CEO including that it be "Recommended that the candidate should be familiar with and/or come from the Community Living movement." The minutes of the April 24th Board meeting recorded "The Board arose from the in camera session and agreed that the advertisement for ICEO/CEO should be terminated at present and resumed once the permanent Authority is established". Was that really a decision to confirm Walls by default? It was July 17, 2003, before the Interim Authority's Board minutes provided any further details on the search for a CEO, and then it was noted that "The Chair advised that he would discuss the issue of CEO recruitment with the Minister when he met with him on Monday." The Interim Authority's website includes board minutes through November but there is no reference after the July minutes about CEO recruitment. It appears that the Chair's discussion with the Minister was the end of the matter!

On Mair's show Rolko emphasized that as a director of the Interim Authority (IA) she is not accountable to the Ministry but to a majority of the families served. That could be very bad news if the Authority becomes responsible for an enormous budget, even as it is the Interim Authority spends over $3 million of taxpayer money. The Readiness Panel asked "Do the Ministry and IA have a clear understanding on the nature of the Accountability Framework within a public sector context, and the type and structure of the expected governance model? Have the roles and responsibilities of the new Authority and the Ministry been clearly identified and is there an accountability framework that documents the agreed upon decisions?" If Rolko's comments are any indication, there is a lot of confusion over accountability. The Readiness Panel said that the "Development of an Accountability Framework that is accepted by both parties, and development of a draft performance agreement" had to be accomplished by January 31, 2004. It looks like they have a long way to go in the next ten days.