Iqaluit (Mar 03/03) - The Iqaluit Housing Authority board of directors was either pushed off the balcony, or they jumped.

In any case, they are gone.

Kelvin Ng -- the Nunavut minister responsible for housing authorities -- had the final say, dismissing the board, Feb. 24, because it went too far in a disciplinary action against a housing authority manager.

Ousted board chair Brian Hellwig said the board considers itself as having resigned en masse after minister Ng refused to back its decision to dump Iqaluit Housing Authority manager Susan Spring.

The dustup is over Spring's hiring a new tenant relations officer (TRO) in January.

The board was not happy that Spring handed a candidate the TRO job in the middle of the posted job search period.

While Hellwig admits that hiring TROs is within Spring's mandate as a manager, he says the board thought Spring was high-handed in not allowing the hiring process to go its course.

"The tender for that position was to close Jan. 15, but somebody was put into that position without the board's agreement on Jan. 9," Hellwig explained.

"We didn't find out until Jan. 13," Hellwig said.

"When a job is posted for a certain date, that's the date the public expects to see it close by," Hellwig said.

This was not a case where the board thought a "friend" had jumped the line, Hellwig said.

"The board was concerned with the whole perception of the process," Hellwig said. "The overall integrity of the housing authority was being put into jeopardy."

When Spring stuck to her guns for her hiring decision, the board moved to dismiss Spring.

That's when the housing minister stepped in.

"To me a dismissal on these grounds is not appropriate," Ng said. "A reprimand may have been okay, but this individual has been here over 10 years."

When the board refused to back down, Ng acted, saying to support the board "could result in significant financial repercussions for the Authority."

A week-long series of letters back and forth that climaxed Feb. 24 started with the board wanting its position upheld by the minister.

When that wasn't happening and the minister threatened the board with dismissal instead; the board announced Sunday its members would unanimously resign on Feb. 24 at 4:59 p.m.

Ng beat them to that deadline, announcing Monday afternoon that he had dismissed them.

Board members are volunteers who receive $89.10 as a meeting expense.

An interim board of senior Nunavut Housing Corporation officials has been appointed until a new board can be created from public nominations.