BURST![VANCOUVER, BC - December 5, 2023 - Vancouver Parks Board office in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, December 5, 2023.
(Arlen Redekop / Postmedia staff photo) (Story by Dan Fumano) [PNG Merlin Archive]](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/vancouversun/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/png1205-vancparksboard_280906760.jpg "VANCOUVER, BC - December 5, 2023 - Vancouver Parks Board office in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, December 5, 2023.
(Arlen Redekop / Postmedia staff photo) (Story by Dan Fumano) [PNG Merlin Archive]")
The fate of Vancouver’s elected park board will be up to the city’s voters.
B.C. Municipal Affairs Minister Christine Boyle, who was previously a Vancouver city councillor, introduced legislation Thursday to amend the Vancouver Charter.
It’s the NDP government’s response to a request from Vancouver’s ABC-majority council to dissolve the park board, an elected body unique among Canada’s big cities.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has been pushing to eliminate the elected board since December 2023, barely a year into his four-year term. That month, his ABC council colleagues voted to ask the province amend the Vancouver Charter to bring parks and recreation under the control of city council, as in most other cities.
Boyle’s bill, however, requires that council get permission from city voters through a referendum question. If voters support the park board’s dissolution, then Vancouver city council will have the power to dissolve the board and park commissioners will cease to hold office.
Sim’s 2023 announcement that he wanted to abolish the elected body surprised the public, and, apparently, some members of his own party. Three park board commissioners elected with ABC defected from the party the day of Sim’s 2023 announcement, and now sit as independents.
Thursday morning, Sim said he was glad the province is moving on council’s request to abolish the board, but “I would have preferred that we didn’t lose two years.”
“But we have our answer now, and we’re going to drive forward, because the residents of Vancouver deserve parks that are world class and deserve to have them delivered in a cost-effective manner,” Sim said.
Sim and fellow ABC members have argued that abolishing the board would save money and improve operations.
Sim initially expected the province to act on council’s request by the spring of 2024, which did not happen. Since then, Sim has publicly expressed frustration with the province’s delays.
More to come …
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