Group of councillors call for overhaul of Metro Vancouver governance
Posted June 5, 2024 9:23 pm.
A group of four councillors from around the region is calling for changes to how Metro Vancouver is governed.
Councillors Linda Annis of Surrey, Daniel Fontaine of New Westminster, Kash Heed of Richmond, and Ahmed Yousef of Maple Ridge want you, the voter, to elect municipal leaders to represent your city on Metro Vancouver boards — rather than local governments.
The group says, “Metro [Vancouver]’s current governance model with 41 appointed board members from 23 local governments is not working, and voters should have the final say on who represents them.”
Maple Ridge city councillor Ahmed Yousef told CityNews the current system lacks transparency and accountability, citing a turmoil surrounding the new wastewater treatment plant in North Vancouver.
Yousef admits he’s light on the details of how the vote would actually work.
“I would like to propose the idea of having the electorate, the general public, be able to have a say in how Metro Vancouver looks, who’s on the board. Whether it be through a separate election or whether it be something that’s added to the ballot, for example, that’s yet to be determined. And that’s the part that I leave to the province,” said Yousef.
He says he’s not worried about low voter turnout for those ballots — in spite of dismal turnout at the last two municipal elections — he says residents in Metro Vancouver care about how their money is spent and how their infrastructure is managed.
“I think it would actually help to engage [voters] a bit more in that now they have more of a stake in voting municipally,” said Yousef. “I’d like to see the entire institution re-examined and looked at as in 2024 — in order to be more resilient, more transparent, and more accountable and efficient, most importantly.”
CityNews has reached out to the provincial government for comment.
