The B.C. Liberals say….
When I (Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Social Development) found out last fall that Community Living B.C (CLBC) had a variable pay compensation system for senior staff, I immediately directed that incentive-based compensation at CLBC be terminated as quickly as possible. In a people-first organization like CLBC, performance based targets and measures are simply not appropriate.
While these incentives were a legally binding part of each employee's compensation package at the time of hiring, they did little to motivate focus where it needs to be - on care of individuals with developmental disabilities and support to their families.
However, we needed to make this change without ripping up employment contracts - as such action would have potentially resulted in litigation. The CLBC Board of Directors worked to develop a new compensation plan that is much more transparent and doesn't distract from the agency's true mandate - care to those with developmental disabilities.
The incentive pay aspect has been eliminated and instead, a three-year average of that portion is being applied to the base salary. CLBC will see an overall reduction in compensation paid to senior staff and honour the existing employment contracts, while having a net zero impact on the CLBC budget.
Over the past months, we have taken a number of steps to address the issues affecting CLBC as well as at the broader system of supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
A thorough and rigorous review was undertaken in the fall to understand the nature of the problems affecting CLBC, and in January a comprehensive plan, along with an additional $144 million in funding over the next three years, plus $36 million being held in contingency, was announced to improve services and supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.
Our government is making progress in improving supports for people with developmental disabilities and their families. A new, dedicated Integrated Services Support Team has been established to give people with developmental disabilities and their families a place to turn to for assistance when they have concerns about the services they are receiving.
For families with transitioning youth, a minimum of $2,800 annually is now be available for respite or other services for, with additional funding and services available to young adults with higher needs.
The B.C. NDP says…
The Liberals should be making meaningful changes at Community Living B.C. that improve the lives of British Columbia’s most vulnerable citizens, not engaging in short-term, misleading damage control, say New Democrats.
"The Liberals said they were scrapping the executive bonus program at CLBC, but their answer was to just roll the full bonuses into base pay," said Nicholas Simons, New Democrat critic for Community Living B.C. "The Liberals are showing once again that they have their priorities all wrong by being more concerned about fixing the pay structure for executives than they are about fixing the system itself.
"Adrian Dix and the New Democrat opposition have been saying there needs to be an independent review of CLBC, and this fiasco just underscores that need," said Simons. "It's another example of poor judgement that undermines public confidence, and it's families that are being hurt the most by these decisions."
After New Democrats repeatedly raised concerns both inside and outside the legislature about Community Living B.C. clients being forced out of their homes, and about the revelation that CLBC executives were being given bonus pay for doing it, the Liberals pledged to end the bonus structure last fall.
“Rolling bonuses into the base wages of CLBC executives is not only misleading, it shows that the Liberals simply don’t understand the core issue, which is that British Columbians want their government to treat the developmentally disabled with compassion, dignity and respect,” said New Democrat social development critic Carole James.
“If the Liberals wanted to improve public opinion about the job they were doing at CLBC, they should have worked to improve services for vulnerable families rather than telling the public they would do one thing when they planned to do another. By misleading the public about their plans to address executive bonuses at CLBC, the Liberals showed that they can’t be trusted to put the interests of clients and their families before their own narrow political agenda," said James.
“Now, more than ever, it’s essential to have a fully independent review of CLBC and its management structure. It’s clear that the internal reviews done by the Liberals haven’t gotten to the core issues. British Columbians want meaningful changes at CLBC, not window dressing and damage control."
Add new comment