The project, originally pegged at $700 million, has ballooned to $3.86 billion. North Shore households face hundreds of dollars in additional annual costs for the next three decades.
Buchanan wants the $235-million settlement applied directly to reducing residents’ bills. She is calling for a fully independent, public review free of non-disclosure agreements, with all North Shore municipalities involved from the outset in examining governance, procurement and financial oversight failures.
See her entire statement below:
“The settlement between Metro Vancouver and Acciona is an important development, but it does not resolve the fundamental concerns North Shore municipalities and residents have raised for years.
“This project began as a $700 million commitment and has now grown to $3.86 billion. The scale of that increase is extraordinary, and the financial impact on residents remains deeply concerning. North Shore households are being asked to pay hundreds of dollars more every year, for the next 30 years.
“I welcome the fact that the legal dispute has been settled and that Metro Vancouver has indicated the independent review will now move forward. But the settlement cannot be the end of the conversation. Residents still deserve answers, accountability, and a clear understanding of what they will be expected to pay.
“My expectations are clear moving forward. First, the $235 million settlement must go directly toward reducing costs for North Shore residents. Our households are the ones carrying the burden of this project’s cost overruns. This money should reduce their bills — not disappear into the project budget.
“Second, the independent review must be truly independent, public-facing, and comprehensive. All North Shore municipalities must be at the table from the start — shaping the scope, engaged in the process, and treated as full partners. The review must examine not only project delivery, but the decisions, governance, oversight, financial management, procurement, risk management, cost escalation, and accountability structures that allowed this project to move so far beyond its original budget and timeline. Its findings must be made public.
“Third, the truth cannot be buried behind non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality clauses. Residents have a right to know what went wrong, why this project went billions of dollars over budget. If confidentiality prevents the independent reviewer from accessing the full picture, the review will fail before it begins.
“Metro Vancouver must also provide the full financial information North Shore municipalities have repeatedly requested, including a detailed cost breakdown, final household impacts, operating and maintenance costs, debt levels, remediation costs for the old site, and a clear long-term financial outlook for the North Shore Sewerage Area.
“In March, Mayor Little and I took these concerns directly to Premier Eby in Victoria. We asked for a public inquiry, an arm’s-length governance review, and a fair cost-sharing formula. Those asks have not changed.
“The settlement is a step forward. But for North Shore residents, the work now is to reduce costs, get answers, fix the accountability gaps, and ensure this never happens again.”
What a sham.Buchanan was paid $50,000.00 a year while on the Metro Board with taxpayers money.She was onboard 4 or 5 years and was even vice chair. NOW she shrills about it !!
Absolutely true!! Nightmayor Buchanan is a con job extraordinaire.
She doesn’t get to collect money from being a part of the decision-making team that caused this problem in the first place and then complain as if she was never there. She should resign and so should the other board members and allow better leadership to surface before the election and let the voters decide who will lead them. We don’t need any more leaders who flip-flop when faced with a leader, leadership failure, and then look around and blame other people for their own failures. She should be unelected ASAP. There has got to be a better candidate than someone who turned 700 million into $4 billion of debt. That goes for all of the decision makers that allow this project to spiral out of control.