This week, the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) defeated a resolution I brought forward calling on the Province to investigate the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (NSWWTP) and establish oversight for other megaprojects across the province.
The goal was simple: to better protect taxpayers from the kind of cost overruns that have plagued the NSWWTP, which is not expected to be finished until 2030, at an eye-watering $4 billion. The resolution requested that the Province establish an independent body or auditor oversight for large public infrastructure projects, ensuring financial transparency and accountability.
Until that happens, taxpayers will continue to be left holding the bag when things go badly. North Vancouver residents currently face an additional utility bill of $590 every year for the next 30 years, just to keep their toilets flushing. Let that sink in.
UBCM, which represents municipalities across B.C., had an opportunity to stand up for taxpayers across the Province. Instead, its politicians, who mostly represent smaller rural regions, chose to look the other way.
Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver’s Board of Directors — comprised of 41 elected officials, including North Shore mayors and one city councillor — recently shut down an independent review of the project, citing ongoing litigation between Metro Vancouver and the former contractor, Acciona.
Conveniently for them, the review has been put on hold until after next year’s municipal elections. Here’s what doesn’t add up: The $3 billion overrun happened AFTER Acciona was fired in 2021.
Back then, the project was still hovering around $1 billion, and work had stalled. Fast forward to 2024, and Metro quietly announces that the project is now $3 billion over budget. That means $2 billion in additional costs occurred after the contractor, Metro, is now suing, was removed from the project.
That’s why it is a false argument to claim taxpayers must wait until after litigation is settled to learn the truth about what went wrong.
So, what happened between 2021 and 2024, when costs exploded? We still don’t know. And with no independent review, no provincial oversight, and no answers from Metro Vancouver, taxpayers are being left in the dark — holding the bag for a $4 billion mess. We need real transparency, real accountability, and real consequences if public money is mismanaged. Until that happens, expect more massive cost overruns like this one — and more silence from the very people elected to prevent them.
Coun. Catherine Pople is a District of North Vancouver councillor.
