Vancouver mayor taking the next step in abolishing the city’s park board

During Wednesday's council meeting, Mayor Ken Sim is expected to bring forward a motion calling on the province to make amendments to the Vancouver Charter in order to give the city authorization to scrap the park board.

Sim announced the plan to "eliminate" Canada's only elected park board last week, saying the move was "long overdue."

The decision to get rid of an independent, elected body that has served the city for more than a century has drawn backlash from current and former park board commissioners who described the mayor's plan as “gravely concerning” and undemocratic.

“When you put your life in the hands of an investment banker of course they’re going to look for efficiencies,” said Tom Digby, park board commissioner.

“We are actually weaving the democratic principles that we live by and yes we will continue to fight until the end.”

Park board supporters say the group were elected to be the voice of local matters and are vital to the health of the city’s parks.

The results of a performance audit of the park board were recently shared and it found significant gaps in revenue management.

Sim’s ABC party has a majority on city council and his motion is expected to pass on Wednesday.

The mayor said last week that the timeline is unclear but he expects the province to be able to amend the charter within the next six months in order to bring the activities of the board under control of council.