Calls for B.C. premier to reverse Metro Vancouver’s pause on wastewater review

The decision to pause a review of a costly and controversial Metro Vancouver project pending the outcome of a court case is under fire from local politicians.

A group of councillors from several municipalities is calling on B.C. Premier David Eby to reverse a decision by the Metro Vancouver Board to pause an independent review of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The beleaguered project has ballooned in cost from an original estimate of $700 million to $3.86 billion – and the estimated completion date has been delayed by a decade, from 2020 to 2030.

“The taxpayers of Metro Vancouver and Surrey absolutely need to get to the bottom of this to know why their taxes are going up so much, and we haven’t had a clear explanation,” said Surrey Coun. Linda Annis, who signed her name to the letter urging the premier to step in.

Kash Heed of Richmond, Richard T. Lee of Burnaby and Daniel Fontaine of New Westminster are the other councillors calling for the review to proceed.

On Friday, Metro Vancouver cited ongoing litigation as the reason for suspending the independent review, which it launched in June of 2024.

“After careful consideration, the board has decided the public interest is best served by resolving the legal dispute with the previous contractor before undertaking the review,” Metro Vancouver Board Chair Mike Hurley said in a news release.

Metro Vancouver has filed suit against Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP – and the company has filed a counterclaim against the political body.

Barring any new developments or settlements, the litigation is scheduled to go to trial in March of 2027.

Annis wants the review to proceed in the meantime.

“I think it’s critical we get on with it now. And I was very disappointed to hear this was done as a closed vote,” she said about the decision being undertaken at a closed-door meeting.

“The directors need to disclose how they voted on this. The directors are not elected by taxpayers. They are appointed by their respective municipalities. There isn’t transparency, and it’s the taxpayer’s money that’s being spent through all of this.”

According to a Metro Vancouver spokesperson, the vote was held during a closed-door meeting “because it involved legal proceedings on the project.”

That is also the reason many other meetings about the wastewater treatment plant are held behind closed doors, according to the regional district.

“Some information related to the project has been shared in closed meetings due to ongoing litigation that could result in the recovery of hundreds of millions of public dollars in damages from the previous contractor,” an statement provided to CTV News said.

“However, substantial information related to the cost increase and project progress has been in the public domain.”

At an unrelated news conference Monday, CTV News asked Eby about the councillors’ request for him to take action and order the review to continue.

“We’re reviewing the decision of Metro Vancouver to delay doing a full review,” the premier said.

He added that he is aware of the ongoing litigation.

“There are two obviously crucial values for taxpayers at home here. One is to know that Metro Vancouver has the tools and capacity to deal with big infrastructure projects and do it responsibly in a way that minimizes costs for people at home,” Eby said.

“The other is that Metro Vancouver, if they were wronged by the contracting company, that they’re able to recover in court, and offset some of the losses that taxpayers and all of us are facing as a result.”

Metro Vancouver did not make any of the directors available for an interview following a request from CTV News, providing an emailed statement instead.