City of Vancouver will require referendum to dissolve Park Board: B.C. gov’t

If Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim still wants to dissolve the Board of Parks and Recreation, the city will first have to hold a referendum.

The ruling comes as part of legislation introduced by the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Christine Boyle, in the B.C. Legislature Thursday morning.

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In December 2023, city council passed a motion asking the provincial government to help transition Park Board responsibilities to the council. The Park Board has challenged the move, voting to remain an elected body and preserve its 135-year existence in September 2024.

But the decision to amend the Vancouver Charter to allow for dissolution is in the hands of the provincial government, which paused any action at the end of its last legislative session in May.

Now, Boyle says the province will allow city council to dissolve the board, “Upon obtaining electoral support through an assent vote” — meaning Vancouverites would have a say.

In a statement Thursday morning, Sim says he appreciates Boyle’s decision.

“While we review the final details of the legislation and determine timing and next steps, we are hopeful that this announcement finally provides the clarity and direction needed to move this process forward,” said Sim.

He repeated a city staff calculation that dissolving the board would save Vancouver approximately $7 million per year.

“We are excited to potentially bring forward a new era for parks and recreation.”

Coun. Pete Fry says he’s skeptical that this is the result Sim was seeking.

“What the province is proposing is obviously quite different,” said Fry.

“While this is certainly a better approach than the mayor’s proposed unilateral and undemocratic approach to eliminating an elected board, this probably will give a lot of pause for serious consideration from Vancouverites.”

In light of council recently voting to approve Sim’s “Zero Means Zero” motion, designed to freeze property tax from increasing at all in 2026, Fry says financial transparency in City Hall is a problem.

“Vancouverites should be very leery of any proposal to eliminate the Park Board and fold it into city management because what we’re seeing is really a culture of mismanagement on the part of city council.”

The B.C. government says, if the board is dissolved, jurisdiction over all areas designated as ‘parks’ in the city would transfer to council as well.

“To strengthen protection for permanent parks, the legislation would require a unanimous vote of Vancouver council, along with an assent vote, for removing a permanent park designation. As requested by the city, permanent parkland being transferred to First Nations would be exempt from the assent vote,” the province explained.

Fry says the majority of park spaces in Vancouver are not considered ‘permanent’, and that has him worried.

“I have zero faith in this mayor that the intention is not in fact to privatize parks, monetize parks, dispense with parks that might be otherwise more profitable to exploit for different purposes.”

He says the elected members of Vancouver’s Park Board have been responsible for keeping green spaces, beaches, and waterfronts accessible to all.

“Given the tenor of this mayor and his administration, I would worry that privatization is a potential goal.”

Sim declined to provide a timeline for a potential referendum.

—With files from Ben Bouguerra