The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, commonly referred to as the Vancouver Park Board, is the elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over

public parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

, British Columbia, Canada. Established by section 485 of the '' Vancouver Charter'', the Vancouver Park Board is the only elected body of its kind in Canada."Vancouver Park Board Commissioners"
''Vancouver City Website'', Accessed September 4, 2009. It has seven elected commissioners who are charged by the ''Vancouver Charter'' with determining the policy direction of the Park Board. The board has a mandate to "provide, preserve and advocate… to benefit people, communities and the environment". Commissioners are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

every four years, with a chair and vice-chair elected by the commissioners every year.

Members

Since 2022

2018–2022

The commissioners of the Vancouver Park Board elected at the

2018 Vancouver municipal election The 2018 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 20, 2018, the same day as other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia selected their new municipal governments. Voters elected a mayor, 10 city councillors, 7 park ...

served until November 6, 2022.

2014–2018

The commissioners of the Vancouver Park Board elected during the 2014 Vancouver municipal election served until late 2018.

Independence

In June 2009, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and Vancouver city councillor Raymond Louie, both of whom were members of the Vision Vancouver party, were accused by Vancouver city councillor Suzanne Anton, a member of the opposition Non-Partisan Association party, of attempting to destroy the independence of the park board by centralizing budget oversight."Mayor Gregor Robertson blamed for park board cut"
''

Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools, ...

'', June 11, 2009. Aaron Jasper, a Vision Vancouver member of the park board, called on the city council to restore the decentralized budget control. In September 2009, Susan Mundick, the general manager of the board, announced her retirement. Penny Ballem, the city manager of Vancouver hired by Robertson, stripped Mundick of all routine transitional duties."Mundick stripped of duties"
'' 24 Hours, September 18, 2009. Ballem then stated she would help the park board choose Mundick's replacement, a selection process city hall traditionally had not been involved in."NPA councilor says park board losing independence"
''

CKNW CKNW is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, owned by Corus Entertainment. It broadcasts on an assigned frequency of AM 980 kHz, and is unusual in that it is a 50,000-watt, Class A station broadcasting on a regi ...

'', September 19, 2009. In response, Anton urged Robertson and the city council to limit Ballem's control of the park board.

Parks

The Vancouver Park Board oversees more than 200 parks, including major attractions such as

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Co ...

to local neighbourhood parks such as Falaise Park.

Notes

References

External links

Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation
{{Vancouver Municipal government of Vancouver *