Tell Park Board: Pause the VAC Project and Let the Public Speak.
City staff drove a 25‑metre replacement for the Vancouver Aquatic Centre behind closed doors, sidelining 50‑metre and expansion options and withholding key technical evidence from commissioners and the public. On March 9, Park Board will debate a motion to send this process to the Auditor General, but the project will only be fixed if commissioners pause all work and send VAC back to the drawing board with honest, evidence‑based options. Use this tool to email Park Board, Council, and senior staff demanding: stop the current 25‑metre project, wait for the Auditor General’s findings, and open the March 9 meeting and future decisions to real public input.
Email the Park Board and decision makers below
[Subject: Don't Rubber‑Stamp the VAC 25m Pool – Pause and Reopen Options]
To Vancouver Park Board Commissioners and City of Vancouver officials,
I am writing to support Commissioner Jensen's motion to refer the Vancouver Aquatic Centre (VAC) renewal to the Office of the Auditor General – and to insist that this referral be paired with an immediate pause on the current 25‑metre pool project and a genuine opportunity for the public to be heard at your March 9 meeting.
As drafted, the motion invites only a performance audit of the recommendation to replace the existing 50‑metre pool with a 25‑metre pool. In light of recently released internal emails, FOI records, and procurement documents showing that senior City staff predetermined a 25‑metre outcome, suppressed viable 50‑metre and expansion options, and then scripted the narrative presented to elected officials, a narrow “performance review” is nowhere near sufficient. Proceeding with demolition or construction activities while these serious concerns are under investigation would be an unacceptable risk to both the public interest and the credibility of the Park Board.
I therefore call on you to take the following actions:
- Immediately pause or cancel all irreversible work on the current Vancouver Aquatic Centre project – including demolition, contract lock‑ins, and key procurement milestones – until the Auditor General has completed a full review and the Board has received and debated the findings in public. This project must go back to the drawing board with all technically and financially viable options, including a renewed or expanded 50‑metre facility, placed honestly on the table.
- Make Commissioner Jensen's Auditor General motion a fully public item at the March 9 Park Board meeting, with an opportunity for live public input and written submissions. The public was denied transparent information when staff killed 50‑metre and expansion options behind closed doors, withheld key engineering and procurement evidence, and then presented commissioners with a constrained, pre‑decided 25‑metre scheme. Residents now deserve the chance not only to watch this debate but to speak directly to you about how this generational decision was made and what needs to happen next.
This is not a routine capital project dispute. It is a crisis of trust in how a $175‑million public facility was steered toward a downgraded design while elected decision‑makers and taxpayers were kept in the dark. A meaningful Auditor General review must be coupled with a halt to the current project and a reset of the planning process if its findings are to have any real effect.
Your decisions on March 9 will signal whether you are prepared to restore democratic oversight, insist on evidence‑based planning, and genuinely listen to the community you serve. I urge you to strengthen Commissioner Jensen's motion accordingly: pause the project, reopen the options, and ensure the public can finally be heard.
Sincerely,
Concerned Taxpayer and Community Member