Metro Vancouver moving forward with wastewater project audit, international travel ban

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley chairs a meeting of the Metro Vancouver Board. (CTV News)

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley has only been chair of the Metro Vancouver Board for a few weeks, but he's already facing public pushback.

It's been a rocky few months for the regional district's leadership, with the ballooning cost of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant and a spending scandal leading to the departure of Delta mayor and former chair George Harvie.

Hurley stepped into the role with a mandate to oversee an independent audit of the wastewater project and reign in the board's spending on international travel.

But the Burnaby mayor's choice to lead the audit – prominent developer William McCarthy – proved controversial.

"He generously stepped forward and made an offer to do this audit for us pro bono, and I thought that was important to bring forward to the board," Hurley said, before acknowledging anger from some board members that McCarthy had donated to Hurley's election campaign.

"He did donate to my campaign, but as far as I know, that's legal."

On Friday, the board voted unanimously to initiate an independent performance audit of the wastewater project. McCarthy will not be leading that effort.

Hurley also announced a pause on board and committee members' international travel, and stated the board's intent to proceed with a governance review.

Even B.C. Premier David Eby has weighed in on Metro Vancouver's ongoing issues, promising provincial intervention if the board proves unable to resolve them itself.

"If they fail to address this issue of bizarre and excessive spending at Metro, then the province will step in," Eby said.

When it was first announced back in 2011, the wastewater project was slated to cost $700 million.

The most recent price tag is $3.86 billion, more than five times the original projection. The goal of the audit will be to go over the last 15 years of planning and construction work to understand why the cost has ballooned so badly.

In a statement issued Friday, the regional district said the performance audit "will include retaining reputable, experienced external legal counsel to advise the board."

"The external legal counsel will work with lawyers representing Metro Vancouver in ongoing litigation related to the North Shore project to develop and recommend a scope of work, terms of reference, and a process for selecting an independent and qualified reviewer," the statement reads.

The board has not yet selected someone to lead the performance audit. Its next scheduled meeting is in September.

"We intend to make it a very independent process," Hurley said. "We are very confident in what we are doing, and it goes a long way to restore the confidence that is being questioned out there by Metro Vancouver residents."

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Yasmin Gandham