B.C. commits to advancing Vancouver Park Board dissolution after election

The B.C. government says it is committing to “advancing the dissolution of the Vancouver Park Board” — but only after the next provincial election.

The province says it will back Vancouver’s plan, under which the Park Board would cease to exist as an independent body and instead report to council. However, the government adds it would do so in the next legislative session, either in the fall of 2024 or spring of 2025.

“The Province appreciates the enormous amount of work Mayor Sim and the City of Vancouver has done to move this forward,” Premier David Eby said in a statement to the City of Vancouver obtained by CityNews.

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“While there remain some details to be addressed, we are confident they will be resolved in the coming months. Once completed, we commit to advancing the requested Vancouver Charter changes to dissolve the Park Board in the next earliest legislative session.”

The statement goes on to say the province values its relationship with the city, and that it looks “forward to continuing to work productively together with Mayor Sim on all shared priorities, including housing, safe communities, and cost of living support so that everyone can build a good life here.”

In a statement to CityNews Friday, Mayor Ken Sim said he’s “pleased with Premier Eby’s commitment … to dissolve the Vancouver-elected Park Board,” adding, “his dedication to making the necessary changes to the Vancouver Charter in the next earliest legislative session ensures our parks and recreation facilities can serve our community to their fullest potential.”

“This announcement welcomes a new era of parks and recreation in Vancouver and provides certainty to the City, our valued staff, and Vancouverites as a whole. While we are disappointed that this transition will not be taking place this current legislative session, the Premier’s commitment affords us additional time to collaborate with staff to ensure a smooth transition,” the mayor’s statement continues.

The latest on this comes just days after the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations told the province and city they support the dissolution of the Vancouver Park Board, and that they would immediately begin working on the transition process.

In his statement, Sim thanked the Nations “for their continued support throughout this process, and commend the dedication of City staff for their hard work in preparing for this transition.”

“As we look towards the future, the City reaffirms its commitment to working alongside staff, stakeholders and the Province to ensure that the governance structure of Vancouver’s parks and recreation facilities serves the best interests of all residents,” his statement concluded.

‘The system is broken and no amount of tweaking will fix it’

Sim announced his plan to remove the board in December, saying it was inefficient and costly.

“Today, we’re going to take the long overdue step that will ensure that our parks and recreational facilities are able to serve our community to their fullest potential,” he said on Dec. 6.

“Now, the system is broken and no amount of tweaking will fix it in our pursuit of progress and value. For the people of Vancouver, we’re aligning the management structure for parks and recreation services with how it’s done in literally every single city across North America with the exception of Minneapolis and I’m assuming the reason for that is every other city in North America has figured out that this just doesn’t work.”

Last month, the Vancouver Park Board passed a motion, brought forward by commissioner Tom Digby, to bring in independent legal counsel.

It passed by a slim margin, with commissioners Digby, Laura Christensen, Brennan Bastyovanszky, and Scott Jensen voting in favour, while commissioners Angela Haer, Jas Virdi, and Marie-Claire Howard voted to stop it.

Christensen, Bastyovanszky, and Jensen — who are all former ABC Vancouver members — are currently sitting as independents. Haer, Virdi, and Howard are ABC commissioners.

-With files from Pippa Norman