Last month, UBC professor emeritus in Landscape Architecture Patrick Condon warned in an online article that a private member’s bill, M216, could entirely rewrite how municipal development decisions are made.

“The Quiet Revolution in BC Planning: Why Bill M216 Should Alarm Every Municipality,” alerts us to new powers the Province is seeking to take from municipal jurisdictions that don’t build as quickly or as densely as Premier David Eby is seeking.

M216 (the Professional Reliance Act), tabled by Nanaimo-Lantzville NDP MLA George Anderson, is expected to pass in the Legislature as early as this Monday, Nov. 17. It would give the Province power to “override local government sovereignty in a way that was clearly driven by the development lobby,” says Sasha Izard, author and advocate for transparency in BC governance and the development industry’s relations with Victoria. See Izard’s own analysis of M216.

For example, a developer could appeal to the Province if he or she is dissatisfied with a municipal planning decision (potentially over local objections.” A clause in the Bill even allows the Province to designate a new “local government” for the purposes of administering development approvals, Condon explains, should an elected council prove too slow or resistant. “That is an extraordinary power, one that dissolves the basic premise of municipal self-determination.” This overreach is reminiscent and part of a slate of Bills (44, 46, and 47, and BC 2024 13, and 15) already approved by the Province, and previous examples of the Eby government extending its arm into municipal planning authority.

Both the city of Vernon and the UBCM (Union of BC Municipalities) have spoken out against the provincial bills. See story here.

There is still time to give your input on the Bills. You can email David Eby at his Kitsilano constituency office, or in Victoria, or call 250-387-1715.