Daniel Fontaine hopes to move on Metro Vancouver accountability charter

Two years ago, Daniel Fontaine, then a New Westminster city councillor, helped draft a Metro Vancouver accountability charter that was intended to “guide reform of the scandal-plagued regional planning authority.”

In the wake of the Oct. 17 municipal elections, which saw 14 new mayors elected across the region, Fontaine, himself a mayor-elect, says it’s time to move on the charter.

“There’s a five-point action plan that actually forms what I would call the blueprint for a lot of the reforms that I’m going to be pushing for,” said Fontaine.

Two other incoming mayors — West Vancouver’s Kirk LaPointe and White Rock’s Chris Shields — have also signed the charter.

The charter calls for mayors not to be paid anything extra for their work on Metro’s board and committees, and for a full and transparent review of the cost overruns at the North Shore wastewater treatment plant.

It wants to create a smaller mayor’s council to oversee Metro, have an auditor general for Metro and its municipalities, and have an independent “critical services review” to “ensure regional services operate more efficiently and transparently.”

Asked what’s the problem with Metro, Fontaine said it has too many directors, at 41, and has suffered scope-creep over the past 20 to 25 years.

“I’ve talked about (making Metro) more of a professional board, bringing it back more to a utility model,” he said. “It’s currently into housing, it’s into parks, it’s got its own investment arm, sending staff across the world to international junkets, etc.”

Fontaine plans to bring the charter to Metro if and when New West city council votes for him to become part of the Metro board.

He isn’t in favour of killing Metro, however.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’m a very strong advocate for Metro. I think there’s some areas like wastewater, sewer water, garbage, all those kind of core utilities, it is simply inconceivable to think that we would have 21 separate, different utilities in this Metro region managing that.

“It just wouldn’t work. Sewer pipes, water pipes, they cross boundaries. So Metro Vancouver, as an entity, as a concept, I 100 per cent support. I think it just needs a review. It’s what, 50-plus years old? It’s got a few cobwebs.”

For LaPointe, Metro “is not a properly functioning regional government. It either needs to be smaller, (with a) smaller mandate, or directly elected, and certainly needs oversight, with expertise for the big projects.

“And a lot more transparency about how it operates.”

Coquitlam mayor-elect Craig Hodge hasn’t signed the charter but said he “supports the principle of reforming Metro, reducing the board size and all of the things that are in there.”

Hodge has spent two terms on the Metro board, and said some of the reforms the charter asks for are already being looked at.

“It’s clear from speaking with residents and from what I’ve heard in the media that there is a desire to reform Metro Vancouver,” said Hodge. “I believe that Metro Vancouver needs a complete overhaul. We need to get back to core services. We need to get back to basics. I think that the general public has lost confidence in Metro Vancouver, and it’s important we restore that confidence.”