Voters deserve referendum on abolishing Vancouver Park Board, critics say
Critics are slamming Mayor Ken Sim's surprise push to abolish the Vancouver Park Board as haphazard and undemocratic, arguing voters deserve to decide the fate of the elected body in a referendum.
While the mayor and council lack the authority to abolish the park board on their own, Sim announced Wednesday that he's bringing forward a motion asking the B.C. government to amend the Vancouver Charter and remove the requirement to maintain the board.
Given that voters have been electing park board commissioners for more then 130 years, some city councillors believe such a drastic change should be decided directly by the electorate.
"When you put citizens in charge of electing a body, I don't think you get rid of it by a stroke of a pen," said Coun. Adriane Carr of the Green Party. "I think you have to go through due process."
Christine Boyle, the city's lone OneCity councillor, agreed. She also suggested Sim – whose motion goes before council next week – was rushing a plan ahead without doing the "informed work" such a major upheaval demands.
"To be bringing forward a motion with so little notice for council, so little notice for the park board or the public, after a wishy-washy commitment in the campaign, I think it's really concerning," Boyle said.
Sim initially promised to abolish the Vancouver Park Board and bring its responsibilities under the umbrella of city council while running for mayor last year – but walked back that pledge, instead promising his ABC party would work to fix the board instead.
At his announcement Wednesday, Sim noted that he did, in one interview during the campaign, indicate he would take the issue to the province if attempts to address the park board's problems were unsuccessful.
"The voters elected us to make decisions and so that's what we're doing," Sim added.
Less than two weeks ago, Vancouver's auditor general released a performance audit of the park board that found it "did not operate an effective framework for achieving revenue-related objectives for its revenue-generating assets and services."
Park board vice-chair Brennan Bastyovansky said staff quickly approved all of the recommendations made in that audit. It's unclear why the board has not been given time to implement those changes.
Sim was also asked why he wasn't waiting for the next election, when he could run on a clear promise to dissolve the board, but cited dying trees in Stanley Park as an example of why "our parks can't wait another three years."
It was recently revealed some 160,000 trees must be removed from the park due to an infestation of hemlock looper moths.
Carr noted the infestation has been blamed on the extreme drought municipalities across Metro Vancouver have faced due to climate change – and called Sim's suggestion that the park board is somehow responsible absurd.
"He doesn't get biology," Carr said. "He doesn't get climate change."
A 2022 survey found approximately half of Vancouver residents would support doing away with the park board, which is the only elected body of its kind in a major Canadian city.
The first park board was appointed by council in 1888 with a mandate of "providing recreation and leisure for the citizens of Vancouver," according to an illustrated history produced by the city. Officiating the opening of Stanley Park – on land that had just been set aside by the federal government – was one of the board's first duties.
The first elected commissioners were voted in two years later.
Carr argued Vancouver's parks and beaches are some of the key reasons that tourists flock to the city each year, and suggested the park board's cultivation and management of those natural features justifies its existence.
"To have community control, through an elected process, to make sure that park system is a world-class system, I don't think you throw that out," she said. "I think you're getting rid of something that is unique and beautiful about Vancouver, and that the citizens love."
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6975719.1721832068!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
WATCH LIVE Bank of Canada cuts interest rate, signals more to come if inflation keeps dropping
The Bank of Canada has decreased its policy interest rate for the second consecutive time and signalled more cuts are coming if inflation continues to ease.
Wildfire north of Calgary prompts evacuation alert, highway closures
A wildfire is prompting evacuations and highway closures north of Calgary.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
French authorities foil several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics in Paris
French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics, officials said Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Paris.
EXCLUSIVE Canadian company at the centre of alleged international pyramid scheme: authorities
Foreign governments say hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka lost savings to a company headquartered in Canada. This investigation from the IJF and CTV News shines a new light on how Canadian shell companies and registries were used to pull off the scheme.
Wildfire evacuees ordered to leave Jasper find relief after long journey to safety
Some wildfire evacuees who were trapped in traffic for hours while leaving Jasper National Park say they are feeling relieved to have found safety.
Pennsylvania state police commissioner reveals stunning details about Trump shooting
A local law enforcement commissioner revealed during a House Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday stunning new details about the security failures that led to the near assassination of Donald Trump, raising more questions for the embattled U.S. Secret Service.
Host city revealed for 2034 Winter Olympic Games
Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday following a vote of the International Olympic Committee.
Plane crashes just after takeoff from Nepal's capital, killing 18 people. Pilot is lone survivor
A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor.