•Follow: @ YXERegion # yxesummit •1 Metro Vancouver Governance and the Sustainable Region Initiative Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, Metro Vancouver Director November 20, 2013
Nov 29, 2014
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Metro Vancouver Governance and the Sustainable Region Initiative
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, Metro Vancouver Director November 20, 2013
• Follow: @YXERegion #yxesummit
Metro Vancouver • Canada’s only unamalgamated major metropolitan area - 3rd largest in
Canada • A federation comprising 22 municipalities, one electoral area, one Treaty
First Nation - vary greatly in size and character • GVRD created in 1967 but the core utilities - water and sewer - date back to
early 20th century
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2.3 million residents – half the provincial population
40% Immigrants 2,877 square kilometers
24 LOCAL GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES
735 people per sq. km
Operating: $635.6 million Capital: $265.6 million
Metro Vancouver Statistics
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• Funding Sources • Utility levies
• Property tax - parks, planning, air quality
• Self-supporting - social housing
Metro Vancouver Finance
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Board of Directors • 40 Directors on 2013 Board
§ one vote per 20,000 people in municipality, electoral area, or First Nation • Every member municipality and electoral area is represented • Committee system addresses issues by topic area
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Metro Vancouver - Governance
• First 20 years of GVRD history: relatively little interaction between regional district and public-at-large
• Regional District seen as a “coordinator” and “common instrument” of separate local governments
• 1996: Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP)
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• Service delivery • Regional scale planning, policy and regulation • Political advocacy/collaborative governance
Three Roles for Metro Vancouver
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Collaborative Governance • Political Leadership – Outreach/Advocacy • Public Outreach
§ Community Breakfasts § Sustainability Dialogues § Sustainability Summit
• Education • Networks • International engagement
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Service Delivery • Core services provided to municipalities
§ Water § Sewerage and drainage § Solid waste management
• Services provided directly to the public § Parks § Housing
• Other services § Labour relations § 9-1-1 emergency § Municipal borrowing
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Planning, Policy and Regulation
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• Three main areas of planning and regulatory responsibility
• Regional growth land use (through municipalities) and transportation (through TransLink)
• Waste management
• Air quality management
Plans, Policy and Regulations
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A Working Partnership - Principles
• One non-hierarchical system of local government • Region must add value or leave at local level • The interests of individual partners will prevail over everything
except the collective interest of the partners • Resolve issues through consensus and avoid surprises and
destructive conflict • Result should be coherent regional action which:
§ respects and reinforces the diversity, character and integrity of local municipalities
§ protects the natural environment § maintains cost effective service delivery to tax payers
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Advisory COMMITTEES
Regional STAFF
Regional COMMITTEES
Regional BOARD
MUNICIPALITIES Council
MUNICIPAL STAFF
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Sustainability Framework
• A vision for the region and organization
• A management philosophy • Overarching organizational
framework for everything we do
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• Metro Vancouver’s new Regional Growth Strategy
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• A land use plan that guides the region’s growth and development – how and where the region will accommodate the 1.2 million additional people and 600,000 jobs anticipated by 2040.
• Provides the land use framework to support the delivery of an efficient transportation network, utilities (e.g. water, solid waste and sewage), and community services
What is a regional growth strategy?
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• Conservation • Development of
environmental, economic and social assets
Sustainability Goals
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• Environmental areas
• Urban containment
• Travel and air quality
Environmental Capital
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• Urban centres • Industrial areas
• Agriculture
• Efficient, affordable transportation
Economic Capital
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• Affordable housing • Urban centres
• Mobility
Social Assets
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RGS Land Use Designations
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Metro Vancouver’s Drinking Water System
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Metro Vancouver’s Water Supply and Facilities
• Seymour Falls Dam & Reservoir
• Capilano Watershed
• Seymour-Capilano Water Filtration Plant
• Coquitlam Watershed
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Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Facilities
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Metro Vancouver’s Liquid Waste Facilities
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Metro Vancouver’s Solid Waste Disposal Facilities
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Metro Vancouver’s Solid Waste Disposal Facilities
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Parks Burnaby Lake Regional Park
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Transportation
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Labour Relations
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Regional Context Statements
• Policy tools intended to link Official Community Plans (of member municipalities) to the Regional Growth Strategy
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Some Challenges • Consensus can be hard to find and maintain • Parochial concerns can inhibit the development of regional
solutions • Reluctance of municipalities to delegate or share decision-
making on new issues at regional level • Cooperative system vulnerable to internal dissent – necessitates
constant attention to local municipal interests • Time needed to address complex, major issues can lead to
questioning of the whole system • Sometimes difficult to explain and communicate the regional
system
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Strengths of Regional Partnership • Cost effective model • Thorough, inclusive approach to decision-making • Broad constituency of support – local governments and
municipal staff, senior governments, NGOs/ENGOs, First Nations, the general public
• United front in dealing with senior governments • Vehicle to address regional sustainability issues • Political leadership – significant contribution towards
development of a sustainability-inspired governance model for the region
• Co-ordination between municipalities • Opportunity to learn about best practices
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Thank You