Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas brought forward a motion earlier this week to New West City Council asking that a process get started to undertake a governance review at Metro Vancouver. The goal of the motion was to establish a possible ballot question that would be part of the municipal elections in 2026. One of the potential outcomes is that Metro Vancouver directors would be elected rather than appointed to this governing body which currently oversees a budget of $2.6B per year.
“We brought this motion forward as there has been no major governance review of Metro Vancouver for as far back as they eye can see,” says Fontaine. “Given the size, scope and scale of Metro Vancouver activities in 2023, it just makes sense to ask the public if they feel we need a better governance structure which may include directly electing people to the Board of Metro Vancouver.”
The motion was amended and did pass unanimously at Council. The amendment added an extra layer of consultation with the Mayor’s Committee at Metro Vancouver. It also called for a letter to be sent to the Minister of Municipal Affairs asking that they considering undertaking a public consultation leading up to the 2026 municipal elections.
“This is just the start of a process and it will obviously need buy-in from both the Minister and Metro Vancouver,” says Fontaine. “But I’m hopeful that they also share my interest in wanting to reform the Metro Vancouver governance structure and help to make it more accountable to the people who pay the bills.”
Click on the image below to listen to an interview on the Jas Johal Show on this topic.
