Vancouver mayor frustrated as park board dissolution plan stalls

Vancouver's mayor is expressing frustration that B.C.'s NDP government hasn't moved forward on abolishing the city's park board.

Vancouver’s mayor is expressing frustration that the NDP government has not moved forward on his plan to dismantle the park board.

“We just want to run our parks how every other municipality runs them, like Burnaby,” Mayor Ken Sim told reporters on Wednesday.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since Sim announced his plan to dissolve the Vancouver Park Board. Last week, the province made changes to legislation, including the Vancouver Charter. But there was no mention of the park board.

“We’re frustrated right now,” Sim said. “And, I just want to be very clear. We have done everything the province has asked of us. We have support from all three First Nations.”

With the provincial government focusing on managing U.S. and trade-related challenges, it would appear abolishing the park board is not a major priority in Victoria.

Though the premier insists the process is still under way.

“We’ve been working with them to ensure that all the ducks are in a row,” Premier David Eby said on Wednesday. “As you can see in our legislative session, despite having only 11 bills, we’ve had to put three of our own bills over to the next session, not being able to get through them due to the length of debate that’s been taking place in the legislature.”

Park board vice chair Brennan Bastyovanszky is pleased the premier has not moved quickly on the issue.

“The premier has done a good job,” Bastyovanszky told CTV News in an interview on Wednesday. “He’s made a good decision, right? The priority that the province needs to show is clear. It’s the trade war, it’s affordability, it’s housing.”

As for whether this means the elected park board will survive in the long term, questions remain – but Bastyovanszky is hopeful.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that the board will be around,” he said. “I can’t see a pathway for the mayor to get rid of it. Certainly not in the spring. I think the premier indicated that they won’t look at it even in the fall, because they have other priorities.”

Sim has argued that bringing the park board under direct council control would save the city millions of dollars each year.