27-05-2025
Former B.C. premier says Metro Vancouver should be merged to ‘6 to 8 municipalities'
As the Metro Vancouver Regional District faces ongoing scrutiny in the wake of a scathing report on its governance structure, one of the elder statesmen of British Columbia politics is throwing out a radical solution.
'I think we should go down to six to eight municipalities from 22-plus that we have now,' said Mike Harcourt.
Harcourt served as B.C. premier from 1991 to 1996, and as mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986, experience he believes gives him insight into the regional government's current woes.
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He said with the Lower Mainland's population closing in on 3 million, it's time to rethink the way the region is managed.
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'(We should have) a regional police force, and I think we should look at the fact that some mayors are earning more than the prime minister and the premier are,' he said.
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'So there's a lot of issues like that, and it's time to have a fresh look at it.'
Harcourt envisioned a series of geographically driven amalgamations. The City and District of North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Bowen Island and Lions Bay should be one municipality, he argued, as should Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Anmore. Surrey and White Rock should recombine, and the two Langleys should be a single municipality, he argued.
Those six to eight mayors would represent their municipalities on a re-envisioned Metro Vancouver regional council, he suggested, along with representatives that are directly elected by voters.
But Harcourt's blue-sky thinking doesn't appear destined to go anywhere fast.
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Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon described the proposal as a 'lofty idea,' but stressed that any amalgamation talk would 'have to be led by local governments.'
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He pointed to the case of Victoria and Saanich, which held a citizens' assembly that recommended a merger, a prospect that will be put to voters in the near future.
'I think that's the best course of action to go forward,' Kahlon said.
Winning buy-in from the affected municipalities might be a hard sell.
Amalgamation talk is nothing new to the two North Vancouvers, and always generates strong opinions. A referendum on a merger failed in 1968 despite overwhelming support in the District, and a District proposal to study the idea in 2018 was received coolly by the City — which cited concerns about preserving its lower tax rate and surpluses.
The City of Langley, likewise, rejected a citizen-led proposal to merge with the Township in 2012; more recently, it was the Township pushing to further split the communities as it triggered a breakup of the two municipalities' shared policing agreement.
Those and similar roadblocks in other municipalities, however, haven't stopped Harcourt from suggesting a fresh look at the regional map.
'I am not vehemently saying do it immediately,' he said.
'But I think its a good time to look at what would make good governance for that kind of growth.'
