Metro Vancouver board makes changes after damning governance report [Video]

Following a report by Deloitte, which deemed the Metro Vancouver Regional District’s governance structure “large and unwieldy,” some money-saving decisions were made at Friday’s board meeting.

The board says it will eliminate meeting fees while travelling on Metro Vancouver business and eliminate double stipends for meetings exceeding four hours.

“I think it was important to deal with that today,” Metro Vancouver Chair Mike Hurley said. “Could I put a number on what that savings will be? In my experience, it wouldn’t be very much.”

Metro Vancouver says it will also create a governance committee and strengthen the organization’s internal audit function.

“I still do think there’s need for major systemic changes, and I think you pointed to many of those, and hopefully that will be part of the overall governance review as we move forward,” Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said.

After the board meeting, Deloitte report author Shayne Gregg told reporters his company had “done a lot of governance reviews …