Metro Vancouver area councillors urge more B.C. oversight of municipal spending

Four Metro Vancouver area councillors have launched a petition asking the British Columbia government for closer oversight of municipal spending in the province, amid a police investigation into alleged misuse of a city hall gift card program.

Richmond's Kash Heed, Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas from New Westminster and Burnaby's Richard Lee say in an open letter to Premier David Eby that the province needs to either reinstate a specific office to oversee municipalspending or expand the auditor general's mandate to cover it.

The councillors cite media reports that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on gift cards in Richmond, B.C., with little oversight, as well as multiple instances of "questionable expenditures" at the Metro Vancouver Regional District.

Richmond RCMP says its serious crime section has opened an investigation into the gift card case reported by Global News, which says Richmond spent more than $400,000 on the cards in three years.

The premier's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

The councillors have also launched an online petition on the issue, asking for public comment on what they would like to see from the province in terms of municipal spendingoversight.

"Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident," the letter says about the Richmond gift card case. 

"Over the past year, Metro Vancouver has also faced public scrutiny over questionable expenditures, including lavish business-class travel, unnecessary sponsorships, and other spending that appears disconnected from the priorities oflocal taxpayers."

The letter also criticizes cost overruns and delays at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant as another example ofthe need for provincial oversight of municipal spending.

"These examples reflect a broader systemic issue: the absence of consistent, independent financial oversight at the municipal and regional levels," the letter says.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck