Surrey calling for public inquiry into Metro Vancouver’s governance, accountability

The City of Surrey is calling for a public inquiry into concerns surrounding Metro Vancouver.

Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve a motion to request B.C.’s Inspector of Municipalities to look into concerns around governance and accountability at the regional district.

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“We’ve tried to work with Metro Vancouver to get to the bottom of some of the challenges that I think everybody knows we’re having,” Mayor Brenda Locke told 1130 NewsRadio.

“Certainly, there has been significant financial criticism towards Metro Vancouver, but there are so many other reasons. And so it was just time that we said enough is enough.”

The city cites concerns over transparency surrounding financial stewardship, fairness, and use of corporate assets, among other issues, with Locke pointing to cost overruns at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant project as a high-profile example.

“We have seen scope creep, we’ve seen rising costs, we have seen decisions that do not align with what we want to see as a city,” Locke said.

“But I think there’s so very much more. I mean, we’re also seeing that we are not getting the kind of financial information back. We question some of the engineering decisions, the environmental decisions, and other records and information that we’re getting at the Metro Vancouver table.”

Overall, she says, whether people live in Surrey, North Vancouver District, or Richmond, they deserve to know how public money is being spent and managed.

“We have started this, but I am certain that other local governments share our concern,” she said.

In a statement to 1130 NewsRadio, Metro Vancouver said that Surrey sits on the Metro Vancouver Board of Directors.

“As such, the mayor knows that Deloitte Canada completed an independent review of Board governance at Metro Vancouver, and that we have already completed 22 of 47 recommendations from that independent review. The Province has a representative on Metro Vancouver’s Governance Committee and is working with Metro Vancouver on implementing recommendations from the review,” it said. 

“Additionally, Metro Vancouver completed a Services and Cost Efficiencies Review last year that reaffirmed all Metro Vancouver services and found $364 million in operating cost savings, reducing the impact to ratepayers by half or 2.5 per cent.”

Editor’s note: the story has been updated to include a statement from Metro Vancouver.