VANCOUVER, B.C. –  The Green Party of Vancouver is calling for a more efficient and service-oriented city hall in their 2022 election platform. 

When elected next term, Green Councillors will push for key changes in the City's operations and procedures, including switching to zero-based budgeting, guaranteed permit and license times, and a menu of options to fast-track permits for services such as public events, patios and street activations.

“Zero-based budgeting is a practical approach to improve transparency and focus the work at city hall on public priorities,” said Adriane Carr, incumbent Green City Councillor. “It will be a transition but I believe that the City could save a lot of money and achieve more for the people of Vancouver if every city department had to justify the dollars they spend.

“The City of Vancouver’s current budget process involves departments adding extra money to the previous year's budget to address new priorities. That can lead to ballooning budgets as well as ever-increasing staff workloads. Zero-based budgeting requires decisions on whether some work or previous priorities can be dropped.  It will enable city hall to be more nimble and responsive to emerging issues as well as prudent with budgets and staff’s time."

Green Councillors will also implement guaranteed permit and license times.

“The one complaint we hear over and over again from residents and businesses alike is that it takes too long to get what they need from city hall,” said incumbent City Councillor Pete Fry.

“Residents, businesses and builders need fixed timelines in order to be able to budget. Greens believe that the city, like any other service, should be able to provide that and it’s the responsible thing to do for the people who live and work in our city.”

Greens will also direct staff to create a menu of repeatable options for services such as public events, patios, street activations and others.

“There are many services, permits, and licenses at city hall that are easily repeatable such as public events, ”said incumbent City Councillor Michael Wiebe. “Many public spaces can only be configured in a limited number of ways for large and small events. 

“Greens want to implement clear and simple planning templates for events, to reduce duplication and departmental siloing, with one-stop shop service and deliverables. The city can have options ready to go so event organizers don’t have to start from scratch.”

Greens will champion a practical and streamlined approach to delivering services that prioritizes customer satisfaction, leverages new tools and policies, and reduces red tape. We will deliver a well-organized public service that runs efficiently and transparently, and prioritizes customer service and satisfaction in all activities.

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More information:

2022 Green City Services Platform - PDF