New Westminster calls for independent review of North Shore wastewater treatment plant project

New Westminster is the fourth city in the Lower Mainland to call on the Inspector of Municipalities to review Metro Vancouver’s governance and a controversial infrastructure project.

New Westminster is the fourth city in the Lower Mainland to call on the Inspector of Municipalities to review Metro Vancouver’s governance and a controversial infrastructure project. At its July 13 meeting, city council unanimously approved Coun. Daniel Fontaine’s motion requesting an independent review of Metro Vancouver governance and the North Shore wastewater treatment plant project.

The motion formally requests the Inspector of Municipalities to undertake an independent review or inquiry under Section 765 of the Local Government Act. Fontaine said councils in the City of North Vancouver, the District of North Vancouver and the City of Surrey have all passed similar motions. “I think the more cities that approve these motions, the more likelihood that the Inspector of Municipalities can’t ignore it,” he said.

“Four cities is not an insignificant number of cities in the Metro Vancouver area.” New Westminster’s motion also requests that the review examine whether existing Metro Vancouver governance structures, reporting practices and oversight mechanisms remain appropriate for the scale and complexity of major regional infrastructure projects. The purpose of the review is intended to provide clarity, strengthen public trust, identify lessons learned and improve accountability and governance practices for future regional infrastructure projects, states the motion.

Fontaine said the cost of constructing the North Shore wastewater treatment plant project started at $700 million and is now nearing $4 billion. He said taxpayers deserve answers about the project. “I think that will send a very strong message to the inspector to take this seriously, to undertake this review and to provide taxpayers with some clarity of what happened on this mega project, which has gone so wrong financially,” he said.

In April, Surrey city council unanimously approved a motion requesting B.C.’s Inspector of Municipalities to hold a public inquiry into concerns related to governance and accountability within Metro Vancouver regional entities. On July 6, the District and City of North Vancouver councils both unanimously approved motions to submit a formal complaint to the Inspector of Municipalities and request it undertake a public inquiry into the project. Soaring costs In 2017, Metro Vancouver approved a design-build-finance contract to ACCIONA Wastewater Solutions LP for the new wastewater treatment plant.

The project was set to cost $780 million and be complete by December 2020. Construction began in August 2018, but in October 2021, the regional district’s board of directors was taking steps to terminate the contract and secure a new contractor. On May 13, the Metro Vancouver (Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District) board and ACCIONA issued a joint statement about a settlement agreement for the North Shore wastewater treatment plant.

“Issues arose during the project which resulted in both parties filing lawsuits against the other,” said the statement. “The parties have mediated and have reached a settlement agreement wherein ACCIONA provided $235 million to the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District. The lawsuits have been resolved.”

In May, Metro Vancouver announced an independent review of the treatment plant project would proceed, as it had settled the legal proceedings with ACCIONA. It stated the independent review will have full access to Metro Vancouver’s documents related to the program’s history, finances, governance and delivery, and the review would provide recommendations and support the delivery of its major infrastructure projects. “The North Shore wastewater treatment plant program is one of the most important projects currently underway for the health and well-being of this region, and we are very aware of residents’ concerns about the project,” Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, chair of the Metro Vancouver board of directors, said in a May 13 news release.

“It is important to us at Metro Vancouver to have a thorough, independent review of this project so our residents get the transparency they deserve and Metro Vancouver can continue to strengthen delivery of our critical infrastructure projects.” Fontaine, however, is among the municipal politicians who believe Metro Vancouver’s review of the project “is not truly independent” and should be done by B.C.’s Inspector of Municipalities. “This is truly independent,” he said.

Since being elected to council in 2022, Fontaine has repeatedly raised concerns about Metro Vancouver’s governance and the wastewater treatment plant project. Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said she was willing to support the motion because it’s important that residents are satisfied with the information being provided about this project.

“I didn’t support it previously but now that Metro Vancouver has settled its $235-million lawsuit with ACCIONA, there is an independent review coming,” she said. “We can debate what independent means; arms-length from an organization with full disclosure to the public, I would describe this as independent. But I am willing to support this as well.”

According to the BC Government’s website, the Inspector of Municipalities, appointed by the lieutenant governor in council, is responsible for oversight of local government financial matters and approval of certain local government decisions to ensure consistency with provincial legislation. It stated the role is important to the success of provincial-local government relations.