Vancouver’s mayor makes a bold step to eliminate the park board — at the risk of dividing his party

Justin McElroy · CBC News

· Posted: Dec 06, 2023 6:14 PM EST | Last Updated: December 7

Since it was created in 1888, the Vancouver Park Board has been a source of discussion and division.

But the decision by Mayor Ken Sim to try and eliminate it could make its final chapter its most dramatic.

“We are going to take the long overdue step that will ensure our parks and recreation facilities will serve our communities to their fullest potential,” said Sim, in a press conference Wednesday morning.

After a day of leaks and speculation, he formally announced a council motion to ask the province to change the Vancouver Charter, requesting they remove the requirement for Vancouver to have an independently elected parks board.

WATCH | Mayor defends plan to remove independent board in charge of city parks: 

Ken Sim said residents will support his move to shift responsibility for Vancouver’s 240-plus parks from the park board to city council.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation has separate oversight for the city’s more-than 200 parks and dozens of community centres. 

The motion also asks the province to ensure that green spaces cannot be developed in the future without a unanimous vote of council and subsequent referendum.

“This change is about managing these spaces more effectively, not about compromising them.”

WATCH | Sim says city parks are being mismanaged under current governance system: 

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says city parks are being mismanaged and communication between city council and the park board is lacking.

With a comfortable majority on council, passing the motion won’t be a challenge.

And as Sim argued in his press conference, the idea of getting rid of the park board has had a lot of support in formal and informal polls over the years. 

However, there are a number of ways from a policy perspective that the plan could go sideways — and a number of ways that a potential political win for Sim could turn into a political headache. 

Split in the ABC Caucus

The most immediate question is what relationship Sim and the rest of his ABC Vancouver party will have with the three park board commissioners that were elected with them last October, but who weren’t on the stage with Sim when he made his announcement.

“The separation for mayor and council has allowed the city over time to have the most unique and incredible public access to nature, like beaches, forests and parks,” said park board commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky.

He pointedly introduced himself as “the independent chair” at a press conference happening from Queen Elizabeth Park at the same time as Sim’s announcement.  

“Make no mistake about it, abolishing the Park Board is an erosion of democracy and the centralization of power,” he said. 

WATCH | Park Board chair urges councillors to defy mayor’s plan to axe elected body: 

Brennan Bastyovanszky, a member of the mayor’s ABC Vancouver party, said at a news conference in Queen Elizabeth Park that the city would be worse off if governance of parks was brought under city council’s control.

Bastyovanszky and fellow ABC commissioners Laura Christensen and Scott Jensen had been embroiled in a low-simmering conflict with the other three ABC commissioners for several months prior to Sim’s announcement.

They were only informed by Sim that he was hoping to eliminate the park board after the story began leaking to the media. 

The three claim they’ve been booted from the ABC caucus, which the party denies. Whatever the case may be, there’s a clear division now, and Bastyovanszky said the ABC dissidents consider themselves independent and will vote more often with Green Party commissioner Tom Digby.

That would give them a 4-3 majority and deprive Sim of park board control. At least, for as long as the park board continues to exist.

“The city deserves better than to have an important decision like this to be done behind closed doors trying to fast-track it through the provincial cabinet,” said Bastyovanszky.

What will the province do?

Indeed, the biggest unanswered question is whether the provincial government will approve Sim’s motion if passed — and if they will give him everything he wants.

“This is a decision for Vancouver City Council. We will take the necessary steps to implement the decision of their elected city council,” read the short statement from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, when asked for comment on the move. 

That would seem to indicate they’ll approve Sim’s request, perhaps a positive consequence of his consistent efforts to have a good relationship with the province.

At the same time, Sim said he was hopeful things could be changed in six months. Yet the province might decide that park board commissioners elected by the public for a four-year term deserve to serve out their tenure. Or, they could put further requirements on Vancouver’s transition, similar to what has transpired in Surrey. 

Whatever their decision, it won’t come for a number of months, which will leave plenty of time for Sim to answer questions about the pros and cons of centralizing park board operations under the control of mayor and council — which has already produced one head-scratching moment. 

“I’m a lean-certified black belt, I understand workflow,” said Sim in response to a question about how much the city would save in costs — a reference that went over the head of anyone not well-versed in the Six Sigma business philosophy, or the long-running gag in the NBC Sitcom 30 Rock.

It showcased the mayors’ confidence in his management acumen, and his confidence that getting rid of the park board will benefit Vancouver in the long-term. 

In the short-term though?  

There are almost as many questions as there are parks in the city.