Reforming Metro Vancouver Governance

Direct Accountability to Voters and Taxpayers

Metro Vancouver makes decisions involving billions of taxpayer dollars and critical regional infrastructure. Yet its board is not directly elected by the public. Instead, Metro Vancouver directors are appointed from among sitting mayors and councillors, who take on these regional responsibilities in addition to their municipal duties.

I believe this governance model has failed.

The North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant is the clearest example of what can happen when major projects proceed without sufficient public accountability and effective oversight. North Shore taxpayers are now facing the consequences of massive cost overruns, while many of the decisions that led to them remain inadequately explained.

I am calling for a new governance model for Metro Vancouver: a directly elected board whose members are accountable to voters and taxpayers.

Managing an organization responsible for major regional infrastructure, utilities, and billions of dollars in public spending should not simply be an additional responsibility assigned to municipal mayors and councillors. Metro Vancouver needs representatives whose mandate is clear, whose responsibility is direct, and whose decisions can be judged by voters at the ballot box.

Greater democratic accountability will not undo the mistakes of the past, but it can help ensure that future projects receive the scrutiny, transparency, and oversight taxpayers deserve.