The five remaining volunteer board members of Many Rivers Counselling and Support Services resigned Thursday evening in a move they hope will force accountability for the organization onto the territorial government.

“This is a debacle that could have been avoided had communication from (the Department of) Health and Social Services been open; had people just sat down and talked to us about what the future held and what we could do to provide services,” said resigning board member Jordan Aslett.

“It did not have to be this way.”

About 40 ex-employees, ex-clients and members of Many Rivers gathered Thursday to hear from four of the five remaining board members at Yukon College.

The remaining board, comprised of Aslett, Coreen Wells, Frank Turner, Christopher Stebbing and Robert Wills (who was not present), announced that the organization is facing a debt of more than $500,000. Members were told by the Yukon government that they were responsible for explaining the discrepancy.

The recently resigned board explained that they inherited the debt when they were elected on April 26.

The meeting heard that on Aug. 9, Stephen Samis, the deputy minister of Health and Social Services, addressed a letter to Many Rivers explaining that funding would not be allotted until answers to the outstanding debts were provided.

“Although Many Rivers has a new board, this board must assume responsibility for the actions of the previous board as the organization has remained the same,” Samis wrote.

The letter itemized “a number of areas of concern” in the Many Rivers budget for the 2018-19 year.

This included expenditures in “Contracts-Blood Ties Staffing and Cleaning/snow removal” that exceeded the budget by 436 per cent, or by $176,342.

“Contracts-bookkeeping/audit” exceeded the budget by 115 per cent, or by $20,786.

The expenditures in office equipment, communications, computer network and maintenance, board expenses and travel all exceeded the budget by more than 30 per cent.

The wage of executive director Brent Ramsay was also boosted 20.5 per cent from a budgeted $115,900 to $139,622. Ramsay resigned from the position last February.

The Yukon government added that Many Rivers did not provide quarterly budget variance reports, which would have explained the additional expenses.

As a result, Many Rivers was in default of the Yukon government’s Societies Act.

In addition, the government questioned Many Rivers’ professional development/training expenditures, including $25,000 paid in multiple instalments of Euros to the Paris School of Business for a Doctorate in Business Administration.

On the Many Rivers website, where Ramsay is still listed as executive director, Ramsay is described as completing his Doctorate of Business Administration from the Paris School of Business.

The letter added that Many Rivers has “retained leased vehicles and rental offices in communities that are no longer required, and we require an explanation for why this has occurred.

“Until we receive answers to the questions I have outlined above, we will not be able to begin discussions regarding a TPA (Transfer Payment Agreement),” the letter said.

The board members expressed disappointment at Thursday’s meeting for what they considered to be a shirking of responsibility.

“We can’t be expected to account for something that happened while we weren’t there, that we know nothing about,” Aslett said.

He explained how the board members had volunteered countless hours toward trying to get the organization back in compliance with solutions for the debt accrued.

“You can imagine how disheartening this letter was, that we were being held to account for somebody else’s behaviour.”

The Many Rivers town hall saw an itemized timeline of events dating from the election of the new board of directors on April 26 up to Aug. 29.

The timeline states that Dena Zavier, the president of the board, called a meeting on Aug. 20 to discuss the contents of the letter and resigned at that meeting alongside fellow director Skeeter Wright.

The next day, another letter was sent to the society from the Yukon government informing the society of money owing to the government for rent paid on community offices.

Last Friday afternoon, Health and Social Services issued a press release announcing a new delivery model for counselling services in the Yukon.

Funding was promised to the Canadian Mental Health Association and the All Genders Yukon Society without mention of Many Rivers.

The board members told town hall attendees they were blindsided by the release, which they saw “by accident.”

At this point, Aslett said, the board felt there was no hope for recovery and drafted a resignation letter which he read to attendees.

“These three communications (on Aug. 9, 21, 23) taken together totally demoralize the board. We were left feeling disrespected and without hope,” Aslett read.

“With the knowledge that YG does not intend to work alongside us to hold the former ED (Ramsay) and board to account, we have to act on the assumption that this government is not interested in working with us toward delivering services either.”

According to the provided timeline, treasurer Christine Bedford closed all bank accounts and paid remaining cash on hand to creditors before resigning that day.

Paige Gallette, the first vice-president, resigned alongside her.

On Wednesday, Frank Turner collected keys from the remaining board members and informed Mary Vanstone, the director of Mental Wellness of Substance Use, that the keys would be dropped off and it would be her responsibility to take possession of client files.

Multiple ex-staff members of Many Rivers spoke at the meeting, expressing anger and disappointment.

Michelle Vainio, the Many Rivers director of intake and administration, blamed Ramsay for the crumbling of the organization and stood up for her fellow management team.

“I do not believe that anybody else had anything to do with what Brent was doing; we were afraid because we didn’t have a union protecting us, he could have fired us at any time,” she said.

“We were not allowed to speak to the board. Brent watched everything we did.”

Brandon Murdoch, who was a counsellor at Many Rivers before being laid off last February, expressed “disgust” with the details of the organization’s closure.

“It’s incredibly disheartening to hear that this is the end result, not specifically because I lost my job, but because I know people have suffered because of what’s happened,” Murdoch said.

“I see clients daily … that are struggling; that are on waitlists with YG and that were hopeful that Many Rivers was going to come back in service.”

Amanda Carothers, a former administrative assistant at Many Rivers, told the Star she has relied on employment insurance since she was laid off last March. Until this month, she held out hope that Many Rivers would resume service.

“I felt that we were the heart of the community, I felt that we were valued, and to see that the government doesn’t see us that way is very upsetting,” Carothers said at the meeting.

“But we’re just sheep; we’re nothing to them. There were so many times I felt like we saved people.”

Multiple ex-staffers expressed the concern that Many Rivers clients would refuse government counselling services.

Karen Chan, the assistant deputy minister of corporate services, confirmed this morning that all client files, including paper documentation like client art, have been secured by the Yukon government.

Clients who had files with Many Rivers can retrieve them from the government or request they be transferred to another organization.

Chan expressed confidence that the government’s realignment of funding to the Canadian Mental Health Association and the All Genders Yukon Society will fill the gaps left by Many Rivers’ closure.

“We are going to provide the services, and the same commitment of funding (toward mental health services) remains exactly the same,” Chan told the Star.

Chan added that the Yukon government’s hands were tied when it came to laying responsibility for the massive debt on the new Many Rivers board of directors.

“The problem is the society is a legal entity,” she said. “I’m sympathetic to the individuals, but legally, the reality is they are the board.

“Their responsibility as a board, once they took that on, was to actually try to figure out what the entity owed, what the responsibilities were, and try to figure out a plan related to that.”

Since the Many Rivers Society hasn’t yet been dissolved, Chan said, the question of outstanding debt is unresolved. She said she expects the issue to eventually appear before court.

In response to Many Rivers’ ex-employees expressing disappointment at the government’s lack of support for the organization, Chan said she believed the people providing services at Many Rivers were “fantastic”.

“This isn’t about the people who actually were delivering quality services to Yukoners at all; it’s unfortunate that people would feel that way,” Chan said.

“I know there were a lot of really good, qualified people who were providing good services to Yukoners.”

Though Many Rivers no longer has a board of directors, the society has not yet been dissolved, and its 150 members are responsible for planning its next steps.

At last night’s meeting, attendees put their contact information on a list inviting future meetings.

No concrete plans were made, though there were mentions heard of action through public protest and aiming to hold the previous board accountable for debts unpaid and questions unanswered. Attendees were urged by the resigned board to lobby their MLAs to take action.

The society’s employees, represented by the Yukon Employees’ Union, waged a bitter strike from November 2018 until early this year.

In another blow to the territory’s shrinking roster of mental health services, a press release this morning announced the closure of the Yukon Support and Distress Line, until the organization has “the capacity to re-establish it.”

The release asked that supporters in government, hospitals and other offices take down posters advertising Support and Distress Line services.