'Shameful': ABC Vancouver unexpectedly nixes final meeting before months-long pre-election 'quiet period'

Dan Fumano: ABC councillors said they needed to cancel a scheduled July council meeting to handle a very busy agenda. But it's not clear why they can't conduct council business by meeting some time in the next three months, as other city councils do

In Vancouver’s first city council meeting after a five-week World Cup hiatus, the reigning ABC Vancouver party unexpectedly cancelled the last meeting scheduled before a 12-week break that starts in August and continues through the Oct. 17 municipal election. In a surprise move Tuesday morning, ABC Vancouver Coun. Brian Montague proposed replacing the council meeting scheduled for July 29 with a reserve day to complete any unfinished business from the packed agendas between now and then.

The change prompted outrage from the four councillors from other parties, who called it an “egregious,” politically motivated manoeuvre to deprive them of their only remaining chance to introduce new motions before the October election. This is because Vancouver is planning a so-called “quiet” pre-election period, with no regular council meetings in September and early October, even while other nearby cities like Surrey and Richmond carry on business as usual in the weeks before election day. Montague and other ABC members said the change was required to handle a very busy July agenda, which includes 93 staff reports, 15 council member motions, several rezonings, and major decisions, including the villages plan and the four-year capital plan.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Montague said in an email: “Every councillor has the right to bring forward motions, but when council is facing one of the busiest agendas in recent memory, I believe it’s important to prioritize time-sensitive city business that is already underway and directly impacts residents, applicants and city operations.” But other councillors countered there’s no reason council couldn’t just reconvene in early August to complete unfinished business, if need be. It’s also not clear why, if the city has so much business to complete, council cannot just meet in September.

Vancouver has no regular council meetings scheduled between the now-cancelled July 29 meeting and Oct. 27, which is 10 days after the election. Municipal councils typically take a break over August. But other B.C. cities do not suspend council meetings for several weeks leading up to elections.

Vancouver did not always follow this practice, either. Vancouver’s previous council, under then-mayor Kennedy Stewart, also observed a quiet period with no council meetings in the fall before the 2022 election, which was won by ABC and Mayor Ken Sim. But archived council minutes show previous Vancouver councils often had busy meeting agendas in the autumn weeks leading up to civic elections in 2018 and stretching back to the last century.

This “quiet period” before an election is not required by any statute, the city confirmed in an emailed statement, but it is “an operational convention” for the city and park board. The quiet period includes scaling back “public service communications, engagement activities, and related public-facing activities,” as well as limiting council meetings, for two months before election day, the city said. The new scheduling change also comes after Vancouver council suspended regular public meetings for five weeks while the city hosted seven World Cup matches, while other host cities, including Toronto, carried on meeting and conducting council business as usual.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Montague suggested council could might have trouble getting enough attendance if meetings need to carry over into August. Speaking after the meeting, Green Coun. Pete Fry pushed back against this claim, saying modern technology allows councillors to participate in meetings remotely, unlike past years, so there’s less of an excuse.

Councillors can dial into a meeting from their vacations, or wherever they happen to be. “It’s an annoyance, sure. Many of us would rather be doing other things, like golfing in the Okanagan or what have you,” Fry said.

“But this is our job.” Fry and all the other non-ABC councillors said they had prepared motions they’d planned to introduce at the July 29 meeting. Montague and fellow ABC Coun.

Sarah Kirby-Yung said they, too, had motions they’d wanted to introduce in July, but will not do so now, because they believed it was more important to finish the business at hand before introducing new matters. OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney called ABC’s decision “really shameful.”

“It looks like the majority are choosing to stop members of council, opposition members, from bringing forward work that’s taken weeks in collaboration with community,” Maloney said. Vote Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh called the schedule change “a massive curveball,” and likely “an unprecedented move.”

“I am vehemently opposed to this, I think it breaks all the rules of good governance,” Bligh said. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” “We just took weeks off for FIFA,” Bligh said after the meeting.

“I didn’t ask for that. Who asked for that? ...

Why weren’t we doing our jobs in June?” Bligh had prepared a motion she planned to introduce at the cancelled July 29 meeting, directing city staff to submit an application before the September deadline for the federal Build Canada Homes program. But after that meeting was eliminated and ABC rejected Bligh’s attempt to introduce the motion as new business near the end of Tuesday’s meeting, she said it is now unclear whether council will have a chance to consider it in time.

“I am concerned that, if ABC prevents the opportunity to consider the motion in time, Vancouver could miss the September application deadline and lose the chance to access federal funding intended to accelerate the delivery of non-market housing,” Bligh said after Tuesday’s meeting. “This is exactly the kind of opportunity council should be debating on its merits, and I hope it is brought forward before it’s too late.”