Nearly a year ago, in reaction to Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s initial announcement proposing to abolish the Vancouver Park Board, the Government of British Columbia laid out the requirements for considering legislation changes to the Vancouver Charter relating to removing the elected body of commissioners overseeing parks and recreation.
This centred on creating a transition plan that performed First Nations consultation and considered parkland ownership and the future of the existing Park Board workers.
During the City of Vancouver’s press conference this morning outlining the progress made to date on planning for the transition, ABC city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung said Premier David Eby “had sent the City away to do some homework, and that homework is now complete.”
The transition plan outlines the initial steps for transferring parks and recreation operations to City staff and governance and oversight responsibilities to the Mayor and Vancouver City Council.
When it comes to consulting with all three local First Nations, the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations jointly announced their support in March 2024 for Sim’s plan, provided that the Vancouver Charter be also amended to align with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the requirements of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Leaders of the Musqueam and Squamish First Nations participated in today’s press conference to share their rationale for supporting the Mayor’s plan.
“Our [Squamish Nation] Council didn’t have a hard position one way or the other, on an elected park board or not,” said Squamish Nation Council Chairperson Khelsilem today during the press conference.
Khelsilem shared that his First Nation’s support centred on the desire to have the Vancouver Charter completely reviewed and updated to align with UNDRIP principles.
“Our council took a position that if this is something the city wanted to explore, then we were open to exploring that and working with the City to explore that with the condition that any changes to provincial legislation to affect this also have to align with the principles of UNDRIP, which is required by provincial law,” continued Khelsilem.
Musqueam First Nation Chief Wayne Sparrow added, “So everything that that we do on our side, we want to make it better for our community and better for the city, and fully engage with the mayor and his staff to accomplish that. I can’t stress that enough the city on reconciliation to hear our concerns. When we get into those details and we sit back at the table with the mayor, we will go back and consult our community and I know that the mayor and his staff will listen to those concerns.”
Sim also noted that former Vancouver mayors Mike Harcourt, Gordon Campbell, and Larry Campbell endorse the abolition of the Park Board and the subsequent transition.
“Other mayors have wanted to do this for 40 years, and they didn’t because they didn’t have the political support at the time or the political will. We are literally putting ourselves on the line with getting a bunch of heat on this because we care about the parks,” said Sim on the political capital, time, and resources expended over the past year for the controversial effort.
When it comes to the provincial government’s requirement to consider parkland ownership factors, the City notes that it has clarified that all land and assets managed by the Park Board are technically owned by the City, although there are currently jurisdictional differences for numerous assets.
Under the Mayor and City Council’s future oversight, if there were ever to be a change in use of parklands, the City is proposing to require removing the permanent park designations through the threshold of a mandatory unanimous vote of support from all 10 city councillors and the Mayor, with the possibility of a further step of putting the decision to a referendum, such as adding it as a question in the civic election ballot. City staff assert these checks and balances are higher than the current requirement of a minimum two-third vote of support in both the Park Board and City Council.
Furthermore, as part of the initial steps of the transition, the City would move to designate 17 parcels of park spaces as “permanent parks,” with the combined total area being 89 acres — equivalent to 68% of the size of Queen Elizabeth Park. This includes parcels of longtime established, but not technically permanent, park spaces such as David Lam Park, Harbour Green Park, Jericho Beach Park, China Creek North Park, areas of Stanley Park near Lost Lagoon, and the recently built Rainbow Park.
And regarding the future of Park Board workers, the goal is to prevent any Park Board staff layoffs as a result of the transition.
The City already manages the union contracts for Park Board staff, which currently number about 3,000.
The City will work with unions to move Park Board staff to the City’s new parks and recreation department and other departments. Over the past few years, the City has repeatedly shared that there are many vacancies across its departments.
Some scenarios could even see City staff moved to the parks and recreation department, as the City already oversees a substantial portion of parks and recreation facilities. In other scenarios, the Park Board staff position could be recreated in other areas of the City that make the most sense, and where there is duplication, the staff will be assigned to other work that is aligned with their knowledge, skills, and interests.
This amounts to a recalibration of the municipal government, which will take into the four factors of “organization efficiency and de-duplication, policy coherence, organizational effectiveness, and public and partner experience.”
City staff expect these initial changes could result in about $7 million in annual cost savings.
This includes the cost savings for capital projects, when one entity is responsible for oversight and permitting. For example, when a utilities project necessitates the consultation and approvals of both the Park Board and the City, as was the case for past projects in David Lam Park, it adds to delays, which drives up the cost of construction from inflation — especially when delays are years long. In some instances, the delays due to multi-jurisdictional discussions have added millions of dollars in costs to projects.
With all that said, City staff have also noted that they are not able to advance any further on the planning work, as Park Board commissioners have banned Park Board staff from engaging with the City on the abolition and transition.
As for providing the tools for the Mayor and City Council to take on the current responsibilities of Park Board commissioners, which is a part-time job, City staff are recommending enacting new by-laws for the governance and oversight of the parks and recreation system, creating a City Council sub-committee for parks and creation that only serves to advise (no delegated authority; final decisions made by City Council as a whole), and creating a new “Parks and Recreation Partner Relations Office” to maintain the Park Board’s existing relationships with community organizations and provide engagement opportunities.
It was also suggested that some types of decisions made by Park Board commissioners could be delegated to City staff, such as commercial and event permits on parklands. Similar permitting on City jurisdiction is the responsibility of City staff, not the Mayor and City Council.
Ultimately, the ball is now in the court of Premier David Eby, who indicated in March 2024 that he would support and move on the requested changes to the Vancouver Charter after the provincial election. However, in more recent weeks during the election campaign period, he made comments suggesting he may now be lukewarm to the idea.
In a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized today, Ravi Kahlon, the BC Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, said he is reviewing the City’s proposed transition strategy.
“We have received the City of Vancouver’s transition report, and we are reviewing it. We have been that clear our top priority will be to deliver on the priorities of British Columbians. That includes the costs of daily life, strengthening healthcare, and building safe communities in a strong economy,” said Kahlon.
When asked by media today whether the question of the Park Board’s future could be put to a referendum, such as incorporating it as a question in the by-election in early 2025 to fill the Vancouver city councillor seat being vacated by Christine Boyle, Sim suggested he was not supportive of such a move.