$3.86B North Shore wastewater project could cost taxpayers across Metro Vancouver
Taxpayers across Metro Vancouver could be footing part of the ballooning bill for a costly wastewater project in North Vancouver.
At a Wednesday budget workshop, Metro Vancouver board members discussed The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant – a $3.86 billion dollar project – and whether its cost should be shared by taxpayers who don't live on the North Shore.
The plant was initially scheduled for completion by December 2020 at a cost of $500 million. Metro Vancouver fired the original contractor, Acciona Wastewater Solutions, in October 2021, at which point the project's estimated cost had increased to more than $1 billion.
If the taxpayer burden of the project is only borne by people who live on the North Shore, it would cost households an average of an extra $725 annually for the next 30 years.
At Wednesday’s meeting, District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little, said he doesn’t believe his part of the region should bear the full brunt of the expensive project.
“It’s not really fair for the North Shore municipalities to carry such a heavy load,” Little said. “We’re asking for help from our neighbours to carry that.”
If the cost of the project is split between municipalities across Metro Vancouver households would see about a $140 annual bill, according to Little.
Adriane Carr, a Vancouver city councillor, said she’d like to see an equitable outcome for taxpayers.
“Is it fair to burden those people on the North Shore with really big rate increases?" Carr asked. “Or should we each take a little bit of an increase and make it fair for them.”
Another option the board considered was front-loading the costs instead of spreading them out across multiple decades – a move that would have an immediate impact on taxpayers.
“My recommendation is that it would work if there’s wider distribution,” said Jerry Dobrovolny, commissioner and chief administrative officer of Metro Vancouver.
At the end of Wednesday’s meeting, the board decided to defer the decision to a later date.
The plant is expected to serve more than 300,000 residents and businesses in the City of North Vancouver, the districts of West Vancouver and North Vancouver, the wx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation).
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.