The Yukon Party is asking the Yukon Liberals to explain why five members of the Yukon Housing Corp. board were dismissed last week.

The board was dismantled without sufficient notice, and with just a deputy chair and one member remaining, it’s in poor shape to carry out its duties, says the Official opposition party.

The outgoing board members are Wayne Huffman, Ron McFadyen, Cheryl O’Brien, Rebecca Edzerza and Reg Steers.

“They decimated the entire board,” said Wade Istchenko, the Yukon Party housing critic, in an interview Friday.

“It’s left without a chair and without enough members to operate.”

The board’s overhaul comes amid the ongoing housing crisis in Ross River, which was highlighted by Chief Jack Caesar of the Ross River Dena Council during the October 2016 territorial election campaign.

“When it comes to the Yukon and it comes to housing, there’s always going to be urgent housing issues, like in Ross River,” said Istchenko.

“Having that board to give direction, it’s really needed.”

Housing corporation board members are appointed by the premier and are routinely shuffled out when a new administration takes over.

The Liberals said changes to the board should not come as a surprise, as members’ terms were set to expire in January and February.

Some of the board members’ terms were up Jan. 31, and some Feb. 16, cabinet spokesperson Lana Selbee said Friday.

Four members’ terms expired in January, and three in February, said a spokesperson for the housing corporation.

Selbee couldn’t say why at least one of the board members was apparently let go prematurely.

“There was no intention of firing, no act of firing,” she said.

Istchenko said the board was gutted without fair warning, and the members weren’t given proper notice.

“We received the signed order-in-council to revoke the appointments, so we reached out to the members to ask if they were aware of their terminations and they weren’t,” he said.

The former Environment minister said it’s par for the course for a new government to change up the board, but it should be done in a way that does not disrupt the board’s ability to function.

“When we were in government for 14 years, we never fired an entire board of directors in one sweep, like the current government’s just done,” said Istchenko.

To be sure, there are two board members currently listed on the Yukon Housing corporation website: deputy chair Fiona Charbonneau, and board member Carl Rumscheidt.

The housing corporation board comprises one chair, one deputy chair, and five or fewer members.

Selbee said the call went out to fill Yukon Housing Corp. vacancies in the fall, and that the government is currently working to fill the remaining five seats.

Former chair Janet Moodie is now principal secretary to Premier Sandy Silver.

The Liberal government wants to have a smaller board, said Selbee.

The board vacancies come as the Yukon government and the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) are dealing with a critical housing situation in Ross River.

In an October 2016 letter to territorial politicians, Chief Caesar said nearly half the homes in his community are unsafe to live in, and that emergency temporary shelter is needed for 48 to 60 families before winter.

Selbee said the shuffling of the housing corporation board members won’t impact the work being done in Ross River.

“The Yukon Housing Corporation board of directors provides strategic direction, so they don’t get involved with the operational activity,” she said today.

“The Yukon Housing Corporation staff are supporting the Ross River Dena Council and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in assessing the housing priorities.

“That work is ongoing and is not affected by the changes board.”

In early January, the Yukon government and INAC sent inspectors into the community to investigate the homes.

At the same time, Pauline Frost, the minister of Health and Social Services and minister responsible for the housing corporation, John Streicker, the minister of Community Services, and INAC representatives visited Ross River to discuss housing with the First Nation’s chief and council.

In an interview following the January trip to Ross River, Frost said the three orders of government would decide what should be done in Ross River after the territory and INAC wrapped up their inspections.

Whether the Yukon government or INAC has received the inspection results is unclear, as are possible next steps.

INAC spokesperson Rick Massie said he was not aware today of any updates regarding the housing situation in Ross River.

Neither Caesar nor a member of the council could be reached for comment before today’s press deadline.

Frost was unavailable to the Star Friday and today to discuss the departing housing corporation board members.