New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone argues Surrey doesn’t have a case to withdraw from Metro Vancouver’s 2050 regional growth strategy.
The province appears unlikely to let the City of Surrey’s pull out of Metro Vancouver’s regional growth strategy, if that’s even possible.
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“When we are going through tough times, we need all levels of government working together,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon said in emailed response to Postmedia questions on Surrey’s dispute with Metro.
Kahlon didn’t directly answer the question whether the province would allow Surrey’s request, as the final arbiter of municipal issues under the Local Government Act. Ministry staff, in a separate statement, said the ministry is “exploring the legalities” of Surrey’s motion.
The hope is that all parties in the regional growth strategy “work together to better understand concerns and work through possible remedies before considering withdrawal,” according to the statement.
Kahlon, however, did note Surrey signed on to Metro Vancouver’s latest version of the plan in 2022.
“We know Surrey has significant and unique challenges, but doing the right thing to deliver services for people means engaging with your partners to find a way forward,” Kahlon said.
The mayor of Surrey’s neighbour across the Fraser River, however, says his read is that Surrey is asking for something that it can’t have under the Local Government Act.
And New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone said the way Surrey is posing the question isn’t the right way to deal with the grievances Metro’s second-most-populous municipality has with the regional district.
“It’s not something a local government can do,” he said. “We are required by the Local Government Act to abide by a regional growth strategy that is approved by the regional government.”
“And withdrawing from it is a strange concept,” Johnstone added.
Surrey’s broadside at Metro comes at a time when there are increasingly more strident questions about rising costs and the effectiveness of governance at the regional district. It’s board of directors is made up of 41 mayors and councillors from Metro’s 21 member municipalities and the Tsawwassen First Nation.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke cited “unfair costs and expectations” imposed by the Metro 2050 plan that “do not reflect the unique needs of our growing city or Surrey Council’s vision for our city,” as reasons for her council’s unanimous decision.
Locke was not made available for an interview Thursday, but discussion at city council’s Monday meeting revolved around the need for Metro Vancouver to stick to its “core services” of water, sewer and solid waste management.
Johnstone, however, said he is unclear about Surrey’s grievances, and argued that withdrawing from the growth strategy wouldn’t address them.
Johnstone said he interpreted Surrey’s suggestions that Metro Vancouver is straying into functions beyond it’s mandate and should stick to core services as “nonsensical,” because all the regional district’s tasks have been delegated to it by the Local Government Act.
“We’re a regional government, not a utility company, and that seems to be a bit of misinformation that’s being circulated around, what the duty of Metro Vancouver is,” Johnstone said.
Regional planning, air quality, maintaining regional parks and Metro’s affordable housing functions are all responsibilities delegated to the regional district by the province, Johnstone said.
“It’s an important level of government that needs to operate,” Johnstone added.
However, it is also a level of government in need of review considering the rising costs of the functions it is carrying out, according to a Maple Ridge councillor and Metro director, Ahmed Yousef.
“We’re all creatures of the province, municipal governments, that is,” Yousef said. “If these are the missions (the province) want us to carry out, the objectives you want us to deliver, then finance it and support us.”
Yousef said concerns about the size of Metro’s bureaucracy and rising costs came to the fore with the bombshell of the $2.86 billion cost overrun at the North Shore wastewater treatment plant.
“If that is not a canary in the mine, then I’m not sure what is,” Yousef said.