 | Friday, November 06, 2020
Reading this online? Sign up to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday. | | Why the B.C. government doesn't mind if Vancouver's mayor is unhappy | | |  | | | “We got shafted.”
If a mayor of Vancouver ever said that in council before, we can’t find a record of it.
And it speaks to the level of Kennedy Stewart’s frustration with the provincial government giving the city about $44 million less than it expected in COVID-19 relief money.
To sum up the controversy: After getting money from the federal government, B.C. had a big bowl of $540 million to help cities with recovery from lost revenues from the pandemic and to deal with the uncertainty in their budgets for next year. Rather than give municipalities X dollars for each person in the community (which would give Vancouver $60 million), the government created a formula that gives every community $169,000 up front, and then an amount per person that decreases as the population goes up.
It means a place like the Sunshine Coast town of Gibsons gets about $1.5 million, around 17 per cent of its annual revenues. Meanwhile, Vancouver gets $16.4 million, but that’s just about one per cent of its annual revenues.
So, yeah, Vancouver has a beef.
It's arguably helped by this bailout less than any other municipality in the province.
(Regional governments also might have a beef, particularly in less urban areas, given the amount of infrastructure it has to oversee, but that’s another story)
But consider that other big cities, like Surrey ($15 million), Coquitlam ($9 million) and Delta ($7 million) haven’t expressed any criticism of the government — either because they’re more comfortable dipping into reserves or they don’t see the merit in biting the hand that feeds them.
Consider that smaller municipalities, as the government noted, have much smaller revenues bases and reserves.
And consider that Kennedy Stewart already appeared to many like the boy who cried wolf when he asked for $200 million and said Vancouver could go bankrupt back in April, when ultimately the vast majority of people ended up paying their taxes.
In other words, there are 162 municipalities in British Columbia, and the government seems fine if 161 don’t feel like they “got shafted.“
For a mayor who has branded himself as someone who can get results with higher levels of government though, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. | | |  | | | 1. Vancouver | Aside from being mighty salty about the relief funds, Stewart oversaw a council that fully approved an independent auditor general’s office, made its first steps towards passing a budget, and punted on making a decision on a 2030 Olympics bid. As for exploring mobility pricing? A vote will happen in two weeks — but remember, it’s one of many to come.
Read more | | | | |  | | | 2. Masks | It’s been a few months since we’ve seen municipalities move en masse to enact or repeal COVID-19 regulations, but one that could be happening soon is the use of masks. This week Kelowna, Victoria and Powell River were among those making them mandatory in municipal facilities. Vancouver voted it down last month — but we’ll see if that holds.
Read more | | | |  | | | 3. Byelections | Mail-in ballots for the provincial election haven’t been counted yet, which means byelections in a host of communities where local politicians became MLAs (including Richmond, Langley, Nelson and Chilliwack) haven’t started yet. But Victoria’s rather interesting byelection starts in earnest today, as nominations close for the Dec. 12 vote.
Read more in the Victoria News | | | | | |  | | | 4. North Vancouver | It was smokier than usual in Vancouver this Halloween, as folks took advantage of the last year fireworks are legal before regulations approved by the city go into effect. But the debate rages in other municipalities — the District of North Vancouver voted to study the idea, with the potential of getting all three North Shore municipalities on board.
Read more in the North Shore News | | | |  | | | 5. West Vancouver | And finally, a West Vancouver councillor has formally apologized for an erection joke he made about local billionaire Chip Wilson (don’t ask), after dozens of residents expressed outrage. This is mostly a proxy war for a group that doesn’t like Craig Cameron’s views on development and transit issues, but you can never accuse West Van politics of being boring.
Read more in Vancouver is Awesome | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for us today! Check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions, you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
