Metro Vancouver to vote on additional meeting pay for chair, vice-chair

Metro Vancouver board members are set to vote Friday on additional pay for the regional government's chair and vice-chair.

The proposal seeks to increase the number of standing committee meetings the chair and vice-chair can receive bonuses for attending. Right now, they are paid for a maximum of 18 meetings annually. The proposal, which is part of a bylaw amendment, calls for that number to increase to 67.

Metro Vancouver board members are paid $525 for attending meetings under four hours and double that — $1,050 — for meetings that last more than four hours.

According to the proposal, the change will cost taxpayers $51,450 annually, split between the two positions.

The meeting payments are on top of Metro Vancouve chair George Harvie's $105,000 annual salary. He also earns $174,000 per year as mayor of Delta.

Anmore Mayor John McEwen, vice-chair of Metro Vancouver, receives a salary of $46,000 from the region in addition to his mayor's salary of $53,000.

CBC News requested interviews with Harvie and McEwen. Harvie did not respond by time of publication.

John McEwen, Metro Vancouver vice-chair, says the number of standing committee meetings requiring the attendance of the board chair and board vice-chair has increased significantly. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

McEwen emailed a statement saying the bylaw was last revised in 2019 and that the amendments "align with current federal legislation and improve ease of interpretation and application."

"The number of standing committee meetings requiring board chair and board vice-chair attendance has significantly increased, with the result that the cap of 18 meetings is reached early in the year," said McEwen.

The pay hike proposal doesn't sit well with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

"It baffles the mind that these politicians are being paid a salary, and then more money to actually show up to the meetings," said CTF B.C. director Carson Binda.

Metro Vancouver is the regional government for 21 municipalities, one electoral area and one treaty First Nation. It manages utilities like drinking water, liquid and solid waste, and emergency management.

Metro Vancouver board members are paid $525 for attending meetings under four hours and double that — $1,050 — for meetings that last more than four hours. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Harvie has recently faced criticism over travel expenses. Delta city council voted to remove him as a Delta director to Metro Vancouver, which ultimately means an end to his role as the Metro Vancouver board chair on July 1.

Metro Vancouver is also grappling with cost overruns on the beleaguered North Shore Waste Water Plant project, where the price tag has ballooned from $700 million to $3.86 billion.

"We shouldn't be rewarding big failures like that with big raises," said Binda. "Across the Metro region we've seen property tax hikes this year that come out of the pockets of taxpayers. Politicians shouldn't be raising the taxes you pay while also raising their salaries."

CBC News reached out to Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, chair of the Metro Vancouver finance committee, for comment. He did not respond by publication time.