Vancouver Park Board votes in favour of hiring legal counsel to review mayor's dissolution plan

The Vancouver Park Board voted in favour Monday night of seeking legal counsel amid the mayor's efforts to eliminate it.

The motion, which was brought forward by park board commissioner Tom Digby, passed with a 4-3 vote. It allocates $20,000 for legal advice on "the merits and probability of success of quashing via judicial review" the mayor's plan to dissolve the elected board. 

"Green/Indy caucus, respecting 170,000 voters in last election, votes to fight mayor's anti-democratic motion to abolish mid-term," Digby wrote on social media after the vote, tagging Mayor Ken Sim and Premier David Eby.

After the 2022 election, Sim's ABC Party held a majority on the park board. However, that changed when he announced his plans to move forward with a plan to eliminate it. Now, Digby and three former ABC commissioners – sitting as independents – constitute the majority.

In order to abolish the board, the province would need to amend the Vancouver Charter. Nevertheless, Sim has already announced a transition team tasked with overseeing the board's dissolution. 

"It is important for clear and transparent information to be presented to this board to guide our direction in light of the mayor's undemocratic move to disenfranchise thousands of Vancouverites," park board commissioner Scott Jensen, who voted in favour of the motion, wrote on social media.

Commissioners Brennan Bastyovanszky and Laura Christensen also voted to pass Digby's motion.

Ahead of Monday night's board meeting, Sim discussed the motion during an interview on CTV Morning Live saying, "at the end of the day, people can do whatever they want to do."

"What we're focused on is making sure our parks are vibrant, they're protected and they actually grow over the next hundred years," Sim said, claiming the park board's structure is "not fixable."

"We do have a group of vocal, passionate individuals who believe that the status quo works but what I share with everyone is what got us here doesn't necessarily get us to the next stage … I can tell you the parks system, it needs some help."

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Lisa Steacy and Ben Miljure