Rick Mowles has been moved out as CEO of the beleaguered, government-appointed agency responsible for providing services to adults with developmental disabilities in B.C.
Denise Turner, chair of the board of directors of Community Living BC, said in a statement late Friday that board members felt the agency needed to seek new leadership.
"The board has a vision for the evolution of the organization, which will require new leadership to move it forward," she said.
Mr. Mowles had headed CLBC for the past six years.
But in recent months, there has been a storm of public controversy over the government's decision to move many developmentally disabled adults out of group homes, where they had resided for years, into cheaper private residences.
Just this week, newspaper stories reported the case of John Gaffney, who has Down syndrome and suffers from dementia.
According to his sister, Mr. Gaffney has spent the last five months in hospital because the government is refusing to move him into a group home.
Premier Christy Clark recently appointed Stephanie Cadieux as Minister for Social Development, replacing Harry Bloy, who did little to quiet the growing furor, fanned by families of individuals being moved into unfamiliar private residences.
Current CLBC vice-president Doug Woollard was appointed interim CEO until a permanent replacement for Mr. Mowles is named.
Last week, the government acknowledged that more than 2,800 developmentally-challenged adults are waiting for publicly-funded services across B.C.
At one point earlier this year, the CLBC told a union seeking waiting list information that such a list did not exist.