Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley is the new chair of the Metro Vancouver regional district following a vote Friday by its board of directors.
Hurley defeated lone competitor Lisa Dominato, a Vancouver city councillor, in a weighted vote in which results were not immediately disclosed.
Hurley spoke of the need for greater transparency at the regional district. He said his first order of business would be to establish an “independent external review” of the North Shore sewage plant, which was disclosed earlier this year to be $2.8 billion over its last budget estimate of $1.1 billion.
Hurley added Metro will hire external lawyers to frame the terms of the review.
Hurley replaces Delta Mayor George Harvie. Delta city council removed Harvie as Delta’s representative on Metro Vancouver, which also removes him as chair.
Hurley said he has his council's support and as such will be paid $105,000 for the position on top of his $189,863 mayor salary.
Hurley also said the board needs to examine overall governance.
On Friday, the board also voted to ask staff to review its travel policies.
Over the past two years, select directors have flown to international conferences in business class while staying at four- and four-and-a-half star hotels at destinations such as Singapore, Brisbane, Dublin and Amsterdam.
In total, Metro’s board spent $227,442 on out-of-town conferences in 2023 alone. In 2019, the board spent $139,042 on junkets and conferences.
Metro Vancouver's board is comprised of 41 directors from local jurisdictions around the region.
