Burnaby’s Dhaliwal chosen to head Metro Vancouver board
Longtime Burnaby city councillor Sav Dhaliwal is the new head of the board of directors for Metro Vancouver.
Members of the board, which is made up of 40 elected officials from 21 municipalities, Electoral Area A and Tsawwassen First Nation, met on Friday for the first time since last month’s civic elections.
The board makes decisions involving drinking water, waste-water treatment, solid waste, air quality, urban growth, regional parks and affordable housing. Its 2019 budget is more than $800 million.
The directors, more than half of whom are new to the board, elected their chair and vice-chair in a secret ballot. The positions are held for a one-year term.
Dhaliwal, who was nominated by Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, said he’d been contemplating a run for either the chair or vice-chair position.
He defeated Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie and Delta Coun. Lois Jackson.
Brodie may have lost support for his bid after speaking out strongly at a TransLink Mayors’ Council meeting on Thursday against a proposal to suspend a light rail project in Surrey and start the planning process for a SkyTrain line.
Dhaliwal has been a councillor for 16 years, served on the Metro Vancouver board as a director and has been a member of the culture and parks committees. He’s the first councillor to serve as chair of the board since Surrey’s Marvin Hunt, who held the position in 2004-05.
As chair, Dhaliwal will be responsible for leading board meetings, as well as determining the structure and membership for the regional district’s committees.
His priorities include fostering relationships with federal and provincial governments to work on big issues like affordable housing, mental health and addictions.
North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan was chosen as vice-chair.
The board chair makes $77,474 per year while the vice-chair makes $38,737. This is on top of their pay as a member of local government.