North Vancouver District Coun. Catherine Pope is calling for a fundamental shift in how Metro Vancouver manages major infrastructure projects, arguing that non-elected experts, rather than politicians, should make critical decisions on multi-billion-dollar facilities like the troubled North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
In an interview with CKNW radio, Pope said Metro Vancouver’s board lacks the specialized expertise needed to oversee massive public infrastructure projects, contributing to a cost explosion that has seen the wastewater plant’s budget balloon from $1 billion in 2021 to $3.8 billion by 2023.
“You’ve got a board made up of civilians who are not any experts in that kind of field, and have limited, politicians like me, limited ability and limited experience with those kinds of multi-billion dollar budgets,” Pope said during the interview.
The councillor, who has been raising concerns about the project for nearly two years, is pushing for the implementation of a key recommendation from a Deloitte governance review: creating a hybrid board with a non-elected chair and members with expertise in managing major infrastructure projects.
“I think you’ve got to get some of the politics out of it, and you’ve got to get expertise onto that board that knows what they’re doing when it comes to high-cost, massive public infrastructure projects,” Pope said.
She said the new structure should resemble a Crown corporation, maintaining political oversight while adding professionals with the “bench strength and the smarts” needed to manage Metro Vancouver’s $1.5 billion annual budget and multiple large-scale projects.
Pope’s call for governance reform comes as Metro Vancouver acknowledged that a new designer has identified additional challenges at the wastewater treatment site, signalling potential further cost increases. The councillor said former engineers who worked on the project contacted her years ago to warn that the design work was flawed.
“They’ve been trying to warn that the design work was flawed since 2018,” Pope said. “And so now, Metro Van is standing up and saying, this may be challenging. It’s only being discovered now, and the price is going to go up.”
The project’s rapid cost escalation occurred with little public warning between 2021, when Metro Vancouver fired contractor Acciona, and 2023, when the new budget was announced. “There was absolutely nothing in those few years to indicate that there was a massive problem going on,” Pope said. “And to me, that is complete incompetence. Somebody wasn’t watching.”
Pope said accountability remains absent despite the massive overruns. Most of the 41 Metro Vancouver directors who oversee the plant’s budget remain in their positions, she said, and a governance review committee established to examine the situation is largely composed of existing board members.
“They have a financial vested interest in changing nothing and maintaining the status quo. And for some of them, that’s tens of thousands of dollars,” Pope said.
While widely reported that North Shore residents will pay an additional $690 annually for the next 30 years, Pope said the immediate impact has been softened through reserve funds. District taxpayers are currently facing an increase of close to $200 per year, with the municipality using $16 million in reserves this year to reduce bills.
“That will all end in a couple of years. This is not a sustainable funding model,” Pope said. She suggested the temporary subsidy, while providing relief, may be preventing broader public outrage over the project’s failures.
Pope criticized Metro Vancouver’s governance committee for spending eight months reviewing recommendations without taking action, predicting that any eventual changes will lack substance.
“Taxpayers deserve answers,” Pope said. “All of this money that’s being funnelled into Metro Vancouver and into the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plan is being funded by taxpayers, and largely taxpayers who are on the North Shore.”
The same could be said for *any* level of government and the decision makers. None have the full knowledge on the subject matter….They rely on professional staff (MetroVan has btwn 1750 to 2000) to put forth evidence based reports with recommendations.