Vancouver council candidates join call to limit district salary ‘double dipping’

A former Vancouver city councillor wants to limit the amount of money municipal politicians can make by serving on regional district boards.

Earlier this year, mayors and councillors who serve on various boards like the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD) and TransLink had their salaries called into question.

Some are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, and in certain cases, more than B.C. Premier David Eby.

Former City Coun. and TEAM for a Livable Vancouver Party candidate Colleen Hardwick is calling to end what she calls “double and triple-dipping” — a practice in which municipal politicians serve on multiple regional district boards to boost their salaries via taxpayer dollars — during an affordability crisis.

“Should municipal politicians be making more money than the premier of the province of British Columbia? And I think everybody would agree that the answer to that is ‘no,'” said Hardwick.

“So notwithstanding if there are boards that actually require work — rather than just showing up on a Zoom call — then perhaps there is some legitimacy behind [additional salaries], but the whole matter deserves some careful examination.”

City of Vancouver data shows the mayor makes over $200,000 as a base salary, while council members make a base salary of just over $100,000, but those salaries can increase depending on board participation.

MVRD confirmed at the end of 2024 that a review of its spending was being conducted. The announcement came after months of heavy scrutiny, with questions surrounding international trips, high salaries, and oversight repeatedly coming up since April last year. The beleaguered municipal district has also faced criticism over its handling of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, with the estimated cost of that project ballooning to $3.86 billion last year — five times over its original budget.

Last week, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province will get involved with the review, as long as it doesn’t have to pay for it.

“Metro Van has requested the province participate in its review. If pay and stipends are included, we will ensure the province is participating in a Metro Van-funded review to increase transparency,” said Kahlon Friday.

‘TEAM’ party member and candidate running in the upcoming byelection, Theodore Abbott backed Hardwick’s cry Wednesday. He says it’s not fair for municipal politicians to make so much when the average Vancouver resident makes around $65,000 and $68,000 per year.

“If you’re a construction worker, for example, or a nurse, you can’t simply triple your salary by just putting in a little bit more work, or going in and sort of doing some symbolic work,” said Abbott.

“Not to take anything away from the work that these boards are doing, but I think if you’re a nurse and you were working in such a way that allowed you to triple your salary, you would you drop dead on the job.”

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the City of Vancouver’s governing ABC Party for comment.

—With files from Emma Crawford, Charlie Carey, and Sonia Aslam