Several of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation members are being asked some hard questions after two audits showed shocking expenditures that had nothing to do with the housing developments. Now, many of those members are being fired and others are expected to be asked to step down as well.

The results of the audit were published on Monday, February 28, 2011, and they were performed by auditor-general, Jeffrey Griffiths. What was revealed was that board members have not only been spending exorbitant amounts of money on themselves, but that many of the practices they’ve been using to secure vendor bids have been unethical and unprofessional. So, what were the expenses that caused such uproar?

The audits revealed that the TCHC has been spending a huge amount of money on its board members and the employees of the TCHC. These included: a $40,000 Christmas banquet; $1,000 in Holt Renfrew chocolates; $5,000 given to a single staff member, with no supporting documentation as to what it was for or how it was spent; and $800 spent at a staff picnic. Along with these unnecessary expenditures, there were also several business practices and business expenditures that were called into question.

One such practice was the fact that members seemed to be using their own ingenuity to get around some of the spending policies that are in place. One such policy dictates that any expense over $500,000 must be approved by the TCHC board of directors, and not just the CEO. To get around this policy, a China-based company, Well Group Enterprises Inc., had $3 million worth of bathroom lights and fixtures ordered from them from the TCHC, but the housing corporation used 37 different purchase orders to do it. Doing so this way allowed the members to still make a huge purchase without the necessary approval.

But this wasn’t the only shady dealing with Well Group Enterprises. In 2006, there was $5 million in expenses ordered from this company by then chief financial officer, Gordon Chu. It appears as though these expenses were not open to other vendors to bid on, as is proper protocol for the TCHC. Instead, the company is run by an acquaintance of Chu’s and so, they were chosen based solely on that fact alone. Although Chu is no longer with the company, Well Group Enterprises was still being used at the time of the audit, which does not boad well for the already shady dealings within the TCHC.

What’s most upsetting is that the people living in the homes provided by the TCHC are the ones that need the money for upgrades and repairs necessary to ensure proper living conditions. It was this fact that Mayor Rob Ford found most unforgivable and why he is now cleaning house at the TCHC. The chair of the board, David Mitchell, has already been asked to step down and there are rumours that the current CEO of TCHC, Keiko Nakamura, will be asked to resign as well. Ford has also already asked that all citizens that once sat on the board resign as well.