A District of North Vancouver councillor wants the province to conduct a public inquiry into how costs for the new North Shore wastewater treatment plant spiralled out of control.
In March, Metro Vancouver revealed the costs of the plant had ballooned from $700 million to just under $4 billion.
The price increase will mean a minimum bump of $80 per utility bill for those living on the outskirts of the region next year — and North Shore residents will pay $590 more a year.
District of North Vancouver Coun. Catherine Pope tells 1130 NewsRadio that taxpayers haven’t received any sort of actual explanation as to what went wrong at Metro Vancouver and how costs could have gone up by such a massive amount.
“I feel the only way to get to the bottom of this is through a very robust, thorough, and extensive investigation of Metro Vancouver,” said Pope.
Metro Vancouver has launched a third-party audit, but Pope says it’s not truly independent, given that the district will still set the terms of reference.
“It’s not going to get to the bottom of key decisions that were made or weren’t made in this process,” she said.
She’s hoping Premier David Eby takes notice of her motion, though she says it is not the fault of the provincial government. Pope says she believes the residents affected deserve answers and accountability.
“If Metro Vancouver lets us down again with this independent performance audit, then I think the only option at that point will be a public inquiry,” she said.
Meanwhile, Pope says other criticisms about alleged overspending at Metro Vancouver are simply a distraction from the massive cost overrun at the wastewater treatment plant.