A week later, Delta Mayor and Greater Vancouver Board President George Harvie canceled a trip to Amsterdam for the conference, and four other Metro Vancouver mayors were flying to the same event.
Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie and Anmore Mayor John McEawan, along with three regional staff members, left on Friday to attend the International Urban Drainage Conference.
This trip is just in time Cost overruns of $3 billion Located at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greater Vancouver.
With the cost of the ballooning budget being borne by taxpayers, New Westminster City Councilman Daniel Fontaine believes it’s inappropriate for the region’s leaders to travel overseas on planes.
“The timing is just terrible,” Fontaine said.
“I think when Mayor Harvey canceled the Amsterdam trip, the public assumed that would be the last we’d hear about a politician traveling to Europe.”
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Fontaine said it is difficult to get political leaders to take such trips because they have no expertise on the issues at hand.
But he said even city staff who need to know best practices in areas such as levees and drainage should consider whether that information can be collected in a less expensive way.
He said these efforts are particularly important for governing bodies that have declared a climate emergency.
“If Metro Vancouver is not governed well, people are going to lose confidence in them,” Fontaine said.
Fontaine is one of four municipal leaders; Calls on the province to launch a governance review Metro Vancouver, which wants to see the region's superintendent elected rather than appointed.
On Friday, Eby said the provincial government has concerns about the procurement process for the North Shore plant and other capital projects.
“Metro Vancouver must maintain the confidence of the municipalities it serves, and I share the hope of municipalities and the federal government that Metro Vancouver can take some approach to protect and, if necessary, restore that confidence,” he said.
On issues like international travel, Eby said mayors and other elected municipal leaders are ultimately responsible for the spending of their constituents.
Metro Vancouver’s own report shows that board expenses nearly doubled in 2023 from pre-pandemic levels, with about 60 per cent of that coming from just four members, three of whom were on the Amsterdam trip.
In a statement, the Regional Council of Metro Vancouver stressed that the conference was a “useful learning opportunity” for the entire region.
The full cost of the trip will not be calculated until all expense claims have been submitted at the end of the trip.
Fontaine, meanwhile, said the tour sent the wrong message.
“It seems like they’re really out of touch with the average voter, who is facing higher gas prices, inflation, higher mortgage prices, things like that,” he said.
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