City of Surrey taking Metro Vancouver to court over ‘Invest Vancouver’ - BERITAJA

The City of Surrey is taking Metro Vancouver to tribunal complete the creation of an agency called Invest Vancouver.

The extremity of the agency, which was launched successful 2021, was to pull finance to the region, but Surrey now says that the Regional Board of Metro Vancouver exceeded its instruction successful mounting up the taxpayer-funded organization.

“There was a petition revenge successful tribunal to opportunity that we are moving guardant and we will fto the courts decide,” Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said connected Monday.

“But we surely judge that location were missteps by Metro Vancouver successful position of Invest Vancouver and truthful that’s why we person to prosecute it done the courts.”

Legal documents revenge successful B.C. Supreme Court show that Surrey has applied for a judicial review, which claims that Metro Vancouver launched Invest Vancouver “without passing a basal establishing bylaw nether the Local Government Act. Without that bylaw, the purported constitution of Invest Vancouver is ultra vires and of nary effect.”

In different words, it is invalid.

“Surrey has a existent marque and truthful Invest Surrey is important to america and Invest Vancouver conscionable does not fit,” Locke said.

“The residents of Surrey do not want to salary for economical improvement successful different communities.”

Metro Vancouver told BERITAJA a bylaw wasn’t needed and that Invest Vancouver was developed done a transparent governance process.

BERITAJA has reported extensively connected Invest Vancouver, notably the group’s travel. In 2024, unit took 17 trips, pinch costs including edifice rooms astatine up to $1,000 a night.

Two weeks ago, Invest Vancouver president Jacquie Griffiths posted about a travel to Tokyo connected her LinkedIn page.

A New Westminster metropolis councillor and mayoral campaigner told BERITAJA he thinks it’s clip for Metro Vancouver to unopen the agency down, “along pinch a number of different initiatives.”

Surrey’s ineligible filing notes, “The 2025 fund for Invest Vancouver was $4.75 million”.

And, “Since 2019, Surrey has contributed a full of complete $2.6 cardinal to Invest Vancouver.”

“We would person preferred to do it successful a much equitable and reasonable way, but apparently Metro Vancouver didn’t want to do this,” Locke said.

The provincial authorities told BERITAJA that it was unaware of the ineligible action.