City council votes to amend Vancouver Charter, moves closer to dissolving Park Board
Posted December 13, 2023 10:43 pm.
Last Updated December 14, 2023 10:29 pm.
Vancouver city council passed a motion asking the province to make an amendment to the Vancouver Charter on Wednesday night, bringing the city one step closer to dissolving the Park Board.
This decision closed a 12-hour meeting that saw numerous local speakers give their thoughts on the matter. More than 100 speakers signed up to share their thoughts during the meeting.
Sim brought forward the motion after announcing his plan last week. It was passed 8 – 3 with his ABC Vancouver colleagues voting in favour.
“I think it’s very clear that, while we may have differences of opinions and how we get there, I can tell you I’m I’m really happy that there’s so much energy around our parks and people across the city love them — they want them to be better they cherish them and they want them protected for future generations,” said Sim.
Sim said the Park Board is costing the city too much money, and said he intends to absorb the responsibility of parks into the city’s operations.
The motion was opposed by OneCity Coun. Christine Boyle, and Green Couns. Adriane Carr, and Pete Fry.
Councillor slams mayor for playing politics
Speaking during the meeting, Fry slammed Sim’s motion for not having “substance.”
“[I’m] reminding folks that for us non-ABC councillors, the first we saw this motion was at the press conference that it was released to the entire public of Vancouver just one week ago,” Fry said. “That is the disdain that we have for democracy in these chambers, that this is how this process has unfolded.”
“When the mayor was first elected, at his victory speech, he promised he wasn’t going to do governance by Twitter or polls. … He promised this sort of ‘evidence-based decision making’ and this is not evidence-based, this is pure politics. And it really doesn’t come with a lot of reason,” he continued.
‘Shocking lack of detail’ in mayor’s motion, councillor says
Boyle told CityNews she has concerns that moving the responsibility of parks to the city could lead to a lot of gaps and problems if things are rushed forward, “as the mayor is proposing without having figured out how” council can do it to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
“One of the many flaws in the motion was a shocking lack of detail about any plan or process moving forward, including with the province,” Boyle said late Wednesday night.
Boyle shared that consultation with Vancouver’s Host Nations also has to occur before anything can move forward.
“The province has legal requirements under their UNDRIP legislation to consult with local First Nations. Which means, that this request for a Vancouver Charter change to abolish the Park Board should be a conversation that the province has with Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations before they make the change provincially.”
Boyle says Sim “didn’t really do his homework adequately” before putting forward the motion, “so a whole number of questions are still on the table.” She also said she doesn’t understand where Sim and ABC’s decision is coming from, as council heard from “dozens” with concerns and questions about the move.
“[There is] a lot of really legitimate questions about process, about what this means for community associations, about what this means in terms of government, about the alleged cost savings that the mayor has mentioned, but hasn’t provided any detail on,” Boyle added.
Boyle says the pace in which the motion has come about is “undemocratic.”
“It’s been very sudden, and we heard that from so many community voices as well. This wasn’t a promise that ABC ran on in the campaign. In fact, they lost a number of their own Park Board commissioners over it in the past week. So, the public didn’t vote for them on this promise. This motion came out of nowhere.”
The motion’s approval doesn’t mark the immediate end for the 135-year-old Park Board just yet. For it to be dissolved, the province will ultimately have to give its stamp of approval.
