"As with the boards of regional districts, there is no requirement to poll councils for their opinions. In fact, at Metro, it is drilled into directors that they represent the region, not just their municipalities and must be unfettered in their decisions at the board table."
COUN. PETER FRINTON, OCT. 12, 2011
IF Metro Vancouver wishes to make "unfettered" decisions at its boardroom tables, perhaps the time has come for the board to be directly elected by the people.
Some years ago, shortly after former-mayor Don Bell had been re-elected in the District of North Vancouver, the matter of regional district appointments was being discussed by his council.
At one point, Bell was asked how he planned to square his obligations to district residents with the requirements of his regional positions. His answer was that he would have to "take off his district hat" when sitting at the regional table.
The concept rankled with me then and still does.
Local Government Act/Community Charter legislation requires councils to "foster the economic, social and environmental wellbeing" of their communities - not at the expense of, but surely ahead of the interests of others in the region.
Without question, coordination and some degree of regionally shared services is necessary if we are to benefit from economies of scale; but when it comes to taxation, the people have an inalienable right to direct representation.
So after reading the observation by Bowen Island councillor Peter Frinton, I am more convinced than ever that members of regional boards should be elected by, and accountable to, the people - much as we elect school trustees.
The rationale that led to the incorporation of the GVRD may well have been sound. However, today's Burnaby-based monolith bears little resemblance to the 1967 umbrella for the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District and the Greater Vancouver Water District.
In 2007, the Campbell government refused to change the Letters Patent of the GVRD to the Metro Vancouver "brand" name, in part because it believed the move would confuse the "regional district" designation common throughout B.C.
Since then, however, the province has done nothing to halt Metro's mandate-creep, nor the region's determination to force component municipalities into line with its ballooning ambitions; quite the opposite.
That determination was inadvertently confirmed on Oct. 17 by West Vancouver councillor Shannon Walker, during council discussion of a motion to amend the Regional Growth Strategy with respect to the Upper Lands area of the municipality: "We have to work within the confines of Metro Vancouver," she began. Then, as a naughty aside, she smiled ". . . be it good or bad."
At best, the approach is fraught with risk.
To cede control over municipal lands to the region, on today's premise that, this time, the region's proposal is in line with council's own vision, offers no guarantee that the two bodies will always agree as to appropriate use of the area.
Why does this matter to other North Shore residents?
It matters because, 24 days from now, we need to have discovered which candidates will best represent our interests, not just around the council table, but also at Metro headquarters. In fact, I would go further.
As with all regional boards, including those charged with the responsibility for transportation, health and education, the presence of the GVRD serves the provincial government very well.
In many ways, the organization acts as a compliant, largely unelected buffer between the province and local councils/ communities who prefer to do things their way.
As we have seen with the gas tax proposal and with a myriad of proposed new recycling fees, deposits and eco-charges for a long list of additional solid-waste items, regional boards have been more than willing to do the "dirty work" for the province on raising taxes.
Why are councils not more proactive in defence of municipal taxpayers and their own authority as elected officials? Is it because the legislation places them in an unavoidable conflict of interest - a conflict that plays out on many levels, both pecuniary and practical?
Municipal councils are an essential level of government in their own right and we need to know which candidates will respect them as such. Before Nov. 19, voters need to know where council-bound candidates stand on regional issues because, at an ever-increasing rate, it is GVRD/Metro that is applying the squeeze on taxpayers' wallets - often as the unacknowledged puppet of the province.
The current system cannot be changed in time for this election; the best we can do is elect candidates who, as they sit on regional boards, will represent their municipalities and not just the region.
While there is no harm in candidates having political ambitions, the last thing tax-weary citizens need is to have council and regional decisions being made on the basis of how they might further those ambitions.
