Metro Vancouver residents, especially on the North Shore, have watched the wastewater treatment plant project move through years of delays and escalating costs. Timelines have shifted, budgets have grown, and the explanations have not kept pace with the scale of the concerns. Local councils are now left answering for decisions they did not make, on a project they do not control, under a governance structure that was never designed for this level of complexity.
At this point, the issue is not simply what went wrong, but whether the public can trust Metro Vancouver to examine the situation itself.
That is why an independent review or inquiry under section 765 of the Local Government Act is now essential. Section 765 is a specific and rarely used provision that allows a member municipality to submit a complaint about a regional district directly to the Inspector of Municipalities. It does not require going through the Premier, the Minister, or Metro Vancouver itself. The Inspector sets the scope, criteria, and process. Importantly, any inquiry conducted under section 765 must be open to the public, which further strengthens transparency and confidence in the outcome. An Inspector led process may also access information that would not typically be available to the public, helping ensure a more complete understanding of the circumstances. That independence is the point. It is the only way to produce findings that residents, councils, and the province can rely on.
Metro Vancouver’s governance model was built for regional coordination, not for conducting its own independent assessments of major capital projects. The board is composed of local elected officials who must simultaneously represent their communities and oversee the very organization they would be reviewing. That dual role limits the ability to provide impartial scrutiny.
The North Shore plant illustrates the challenge. Cost increases have created long term financial implications for households. Councils are being asked to respond to concerns about decisions they did not make, based on information they did not receive, for risks they did not approve. Residents are right to ask how this occurred, whether the right controls were in place, and whether lessons have been learned. Those questions deserve answers that come from outside the organization.
Calls for the Auditor General to step in have so far gone unanswered. That silence underscores the value of a section 765 review: it is a clear, existing mechanism that does not depend on Metro Vancouver’s agreement and does not require the province to create a new oversight process. It is already in the legislation, and it is designed for exactly this type of situation.
A Metro led review cannot provide the independence required. An Inspector led review can.
A review under section 765 provides three things Metro Vancouver cannot provide on its own: independence, because the Inspector sets the terms of reference; authority, because the Inspector can compel information and examine compliance with legislation and best practices; and public confidence, because the findings come from an external statutory officer rather than the same governance structure that oversaw the project.
This is not about assigning blame. It is about establishing clarity and rebuilding trust.
Local governments are closest to the residents who are paying for these cost increases. They are the ones hearing from households facing higher utility charges and from businesses concerned about long term affordability. They are also the ones who must approve future Metro Vancouver budgets without confidence that the underlying assumptions are sound. By calling for a truly independent review, councils are not undermining Metro Vancouver. They are fulfilling their responsibility to residents by seeking clarity, transparency, and assurance from an external authority. A credible, external review would help clarify what occurred, determine whether processes were adequate, and ensure that future capital projects benefit from the lessons learned.
Metro Vancouver plays a critical role in delivering regional services. But when a project of this scale raises significant questions, the public deserves more than internal assurances. They deserve an independent examination of whether public funds have been managed effectively, efficiently, and in the public interest.
On Monday I am bringing forward a motion to New West Council calling for this review, and I encourage other Metro Vancouver politicians to do the same. A section 765 review is the tool the province created for exactly this situation. It is time to use it.
