City of Vancouver

Introduction


The debate about Vancouver's system for electing its City Council dates back to the early years of this century. The city has used both at-large and ward systems at various times in its history. Since 1935, the Mayor and members of Council have been elected in at-large votes. There have been three referenda on the subject since 1973.

In November 1996, Vancouver residents will again have the chance to express themselves on the question in a referendum held at the same time as the general municipal election. This was decided by Council in its meeting of November 14, 1995. In the same meeting, Council added a condition stating that a change of system will require at least 60 percent of voters to be in favour of the ward system. A motion that the referendum question be based on "either a full ward system or at-large system, not a partial ward system" was deferred to a later date. (The text of these motions appears in Appendix 1 of this report.)


Information for public discussion

Council also asked the City Clerk to research the systems of governance currently used in other North American cities and to report on those cities' experiences with their particular systems. The Mayor also asked that recent studies on local governance be collected, along with factual information on the history of Vancouver's local governance.

This information has now been collected and assembled into Volumes I and II of this report. They have been designed both for the use of Council and for wider circulation among citizens in order to provide a solid basis for public discussion. The main volume of this report is divided into five chapters:

  1. Vancouver government structure since 1886 provides a brief history of municipal government in Vancouver as it relates to wards and at large elections.

  2. How Vancouver is governed today provides a brief introduction to Vancouver's municipal government and administration.

  3. City government: some basics describes the tasks and powers of municipal government, how it differs from the provincial and federal levels, and what people expect from local government. The chapter also discusses why city government structure matters, looking at a number of important questions currently being discussed in many North American cities. They include: ensuring equitable representation; the "fit" of city council structure with other functions (school boards, parks, etc.); voter participation levels; accountability of representatives; ability of government to cope with growth and other forms of change; and cost and efficiency of government.

  4. Systems for electing government describes the ways that the major cities of North America are organized. These include: the at-large system; the ward or district system; and mixed systems with some combination of at-large and ward voting.

  5. Results of the survey presents the results of a survey conducted by the Office of the City Clerk earlier this year. The survey received information from 39 cities in Canada and the United States. Information presented includes: system used; how ward boundaries are determined and revised; the age and origin of current systems; how mayors are elected; population and voter turnout data; cost of municipal governance; and comments and insights of the respondents regarding their municipal system.

Each chapter contains references to books or documents which readers may wish to consult for further information. Many of these materials will be placed on reserve at the Vancouver Public Library in the months before the referendum.

Results of the survey in spreadsheet format and a complete bibliography of sources used in this report are found at the end of this volume.

Volume II of this report contains documents providing background information from Vancouver and from a number of cities which generously supplied material as part of their participation in the survey. Persons wishing to obtain a copy of Volume II should do so by contacting the City Clerks Office at 873-7276.

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Last Updated: June, 1996
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