B.C. Premier David Eby says his government is “committed” to dissolving the Vancouver Park Board, but not until after the fall election.
Eliminating the elected body has become a key priority for Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, but doing so requires the provincial government to amend the Vancouver Charter.
On Friday, Eby said the province had been working closely with the city on technical aspects of the proposal, but wasn’t able to make the changes this spring.
“There were some issues that we were not able to resolve in the timeline that was required to bring forward the changes this legislative session,” Eby said at an unrelated event.
“So our commitment to Vancouver is we are going to continue to work with them so that we’re in a position for the next legislative sitting, which will be post-election.”
The province has previously said the city would need to produce a transition plan that accounted for First Nations consultation, along with the status of park land and of park board employees.
On Monday, the three First Nations with territory in Vancouver threw their support behind eliminating the park board, provided the city and province committed to making further changes to the Vancouver Charter to bring it in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Sim was not available for an interview, but in a statement said he was “pleased” with the premier’s commitment and thanked First Nations for their support.
“This announcement welcomes a new era of parks and recreation in Vancouver and provides certainty to the City, our valued staff, and Vancouverites as a whole,” he wrote.
“While we are disappointed that this transition will not be taking place this current legislative session, the Premier’s commitment affords us additional time to collaborate with staff to ensure a smooth transition.”
Sim announced his plan to abolish the board in late 2023, reversing a pledge during the 2022 election to fix the elected body, rather than to try and dissolve it.
At a Dec. 6 press conference explaining the about-face, Sim said the current system was “broken and no amount of tweaking will fix it.”
Sim has also promised significant cost savings from moving parks under city council jurisdiction, but last month city staff conceded they still could not provide any concrete numbers.
A majority of elected commissioners on the park board oppose its elimination and have voted to retain legal counsel to explore a legal challenge of the mayor’s plan.