Latest news with #BradWest
Global News
22-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Report finds ‘unwieldy' Metro Vancouver board needs major overhaul
The Metro Vancouver Regional District's 41-member board is being called 'large and unwieldy.' That characterization was made by accounting firm Deloitte, following an audit of the beleaguered organization. Deloitte makes 41 recommendations for reform. 'There are some things in there that are quick things we can get done right away, and we plan on doing that right away,' Board Chair and Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said. The audit was ordered amid a series of problems, including a $3.5 billion hike in the anticipated cost to finish the Northshore Wastewater Treatment Plant. 1:58 Multiple reviews of Metro Vancouver underway And there were numerous budgetary concerns, including extensive travel and board member stipends of $1,094 for attending meetings that exceed four hours. Story continues below advertisement Addressing those payments is among Deloitte's recommendations. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The board should consider eliminating the double meeting stipend for meetings over four hours and seek to create efficiencies in the meeting agenda and schedule to manage within this timeframe,' it states. 'The double meeting fee, that should be eliminated right away, that's identified in the report, and I expect action on that,' Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West said. The report also calls for an overhaul of the way the regional district's governance is structured. 'A new Board and Committee structure is required to provide more effective governance and oversight, to introduce a balance of professional experience and enhance decision-making and risk management,' it states. The report also concludes that 'there are opportunities to continue to reduce the size, composition and meeting frequency of Board Standing Committees without negatively impacting the governance of the organization.' 'As a province, we will do what needs to be done to help expedite the process,' B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said. 1:58 Metro Vancouver taking big step towards governance review West said he expects the province to follow through on that commitment. Story continues below advertisement 'The size of the board is because of provincial legislation, so it will take the provincial government stepping in to allow the board to be right-sized and reduce the number of people who are there,' he said. The 363-page report will be presented to Metro Vancouver's Board on Friday. 'I knew I was going to be an agent for change, and that's what I'm doing,' Hurley said. 'We've made many, many changes in the last number of months.' And more change is sure to come at Metro Vancouver, as the regional district works toward being more accountable to taxpayers.
CBC
15-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver has 41 directors. After a governance review, will that change?
Social Sharing After a year of upheaval and reviews, Metro Vancouver directors are awaiting a report that could tweak a few parts of the biggest regional government in B.C. — or could kickstart massive reforms in the way the area from Lions Bay to Langley is overseen. "I've heard the word amalgamation," said Metro Vancouver Vce-Chair John McEwen, referring to the concept of merging some or all of the patchwork of 21 municipalities that comprise the Metro Vancouver Regional District. "I don't know how to change the governing model so that everybody still has a say. Right now, we allow a say from the mayor of Vancouver or Surrey, but also the mayor of Anmore or Port Moody." Metro Vancouver initiated an independent review of its governance by Deloitte Canada following months of media reports about the oversight, cost overruns and remuneration of its directors and senior staff. That report is expected by the end of the month. Directors have pledged to have an open mind on whatever recommendations are made. But regardless, Metro Vancouver faces a question similar to municipalities across British Columbia — whether people can disagree agreeably and move forward, or suffer potential consequences. "When you have a council that is rowing in the same direction, you can achieve some very positive things," said Brad West, the mayor of Port Coquitlam and one of the 41 board members of the Metro Vancouver board. "If you have a council that is at war with each other, and everything is political? You know what usually happens is voters say you're all gone." 'There's not the same degree of nimbleness' In advance of the governance report, CBC News interviewed four directors at the centre of debates over Metro Vancouver over the past year: West, the high-profile mayor who put forward a number of reforms to Metro Vancouver in February. Delta Coun. Dylan Kruger, who helped remove Delta Mayor George Harvie as Metro Vancouver chair a year ago. Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, who replaced Harvie as board chair. Anmore Mayor John McEwen, who has served as vice-chair before and after Harvie's replacement. In addition, CBC News spoke on background with another eight past and present directors across the region. Together, they paint a picture of an organization that has struggled to respond in the aftermath of the negative attention. Different municipalities took different strategies in dealing with the fallout, with the two biggest — Vancouver and Surrey — effectively boycotting different parts of the regional government. The subsequent politicization created plenty of split votes and a lack of clear direction. "It is really challenging to have 41 people around the table," said Kruger, who has pushed for Metro Vancouver to focus more clearly on the 80 per cent of its budget dedicated to water and waste. "We have to adjust our expectations. It is a different creature than a council table. And if we put the same expectations of a council table on it, I think we're going to be naturally disappointed by the result." West, whose motion ruffled some feathers with directors in several municipalities, said the sheer number of directors made it difficult to move quickly. "There's not the same degree of nimbleness that you might find in a city council in responding to issues that emerge," he said. "What you saw play out was 41 people kind of waiting for someone to do something." Many directors believed media criticism of expenses was excessive relative to Metro Vancouver's billion-dollar annual budget, or lacked comparison to other jurisdictions. "I think we certainly put a lot of materials out that weren't reported or for whatever reason … I didn't think that was fairly done," said Hurley. But at the same time, he and other directors agreed the criticisms were warranted, and a review was helpful. "I think both things can be true at the same time," said Kruger. "This is a multibillion-dollar organization that does incredibly great things every single day … but we need to get back to focusing on those fundamentals and stop getting distracted by things that just don't deliver good value for taxpayers." ' manageable' One of the reasons it's hard to compare Metro Vancouver to other regional governments is that there's nothing like it in Canada. In most big urban centres, the same mayor and council elected for the whole city are also responsible for water and sewage. There are a few exceptions where a number of municipalities oversee services, like the Montreal Agglomeration Council or the Regional Municipality of Peel, but they are dominated by one or two cities, and have around 25 directors. Metro Vancouver's 41 directors from 21 municipalities (along with a representative from the Tsawwassen First Nation and the UBC-dominated lands of Electoral Area A) is a unique creature for delivering utility services, the flip side of allowing individual areas of the Lower Mainland to retain their own local government. The question the Deloitte review will have to effectively rule on is whether it can still produce effective and concentrated oversight for utility services or if another model is needed. "It's very complex, but at the same time, if you take the time to dig in and fully understand, I think it's very manageable," said Hurley. "But we have to compromise, and we have to see everyone else's point of view. And I think it's become a challenge." If Deloitte thinks otherwise? The ultimate decision, then, would not lie with Metro Vancouver, but with the provincial government. "When it's convenient, the province really tries to divorce itself from any involvement that they have in this," said West. "All of these big issues right now around who Metro Vancouver is? At the end of the day, it's going to be the provincial government having to make a change if there's going to be a change."
CBC
28-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver motion proposes reductions in directors' compensation and fewer committees
Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West is hoping for support at Metro Vancouver's board meeting on Friday for his motion to reduce meeting compensation for directors and cut the number of committees in half. The motion comes as the regional government is under scrutiny for cost overruns and scope creep. It's part of a nearly 1,500-page meeting package that calls for the Metro Vancouver's meeting stipend to go from $547 for four-hour meetings to $273.50 while also eliminating the additional stipend for meetings longer than four hours. It also calls for a reduction in the total number of Metro Vancouver meetings for which a stipend is paid by at least 50 per cent from 2024 totals. Metro Vancouver can have more than a dozen meetings in one month. It currently has 16 committees, populated by its 41 board members, which represent 21 municipalities. West's motion also calls for a "full-scale, external core service review" of the organization to especially look for duplication or overlap with other levels of government. Since the price tag to build a new waste water treatment on the North Shore ballooned from $700 million to $3.86 million — with all 21 member municipalities having to absorb the cost — criticism of the regional government has been fierce, mostly from within its own ranks. Surrey council, which has six board members on Metro Vancouver, voted this week to withdraw from a regional growth strategy that directs the organization's decisions around utilities and the region's agricultural, conservation and recreation and industrial lands. "The City of Surrey is dedicated to ensuring that our residents have access to the services and resources they rightfully deserve, without facing an unreasonable financial strain," Surrey Coun. Pardeep Kooner said Tuesday in a statement. Surrey said it's standing up for the interests of its residents because the Metro 2050 strategy "imposes unfair costs and expectations on our community." WATCH: Beleaguered water-and-waste-treatment provider facing questions over finances: Touring the site of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant 29 days ago Duration 2:20 Metro Vancouver chair Mike Hurley, who is the mayor of Burnaby, assumed the role last summer with a promise to review Metro's governance. He has since initiated two reviews — one for governance, the other an independent review of the North Shore Waste Water Treatment plant. As for Surrey, Hurley said the regional government wants dialogue. "Surrey is an important part of our region, and we will be reaching out to them to better understand their concerns," he said in a statement. Metro Vancouver said over the past 30 years, it has never had a member seek to withdraw from a regional growth strategy. Surrey did vote to adopt the strategy in February 2023 despite some initial objections, which Metro said were resolved. The regional government said in addition to speaking with Surrey over its new objections, it would also seek guidance from the province, "which is responsible for the legislation governing regional growth strategies, to better understand how to address the situation."
