The dissolution of City of Vancouver Advisory Boards.

The decision to dissolve vital Advisory Boards misunderstands their essential function: they are not political liabilities; they are indispensable assets to responsible city governance.

These boards perform three critical, non-negotiable roles that Council cannot replicate alone:

* Maintaining the 2SLGBTQ+ Advisory Committee is essential because it provides specialized, apolitical expertise that cannot be replicated elsewhere in the City’s decision-making structure. The committee offers informed oversight that helps safeguard policy development from shifting political pressures, ensuring decisions are grounded in evidence rather than partisanship. Its members contribute deep, community-rooted knowledge and long-term strategic insight; expertise that is critical for addressing the complex issues facing 2SLGBTQ+ residents. Disbanding the committee would remove a vital source of guidance that helps the City make thoughtful, informed, and accountable decisions.

* Lived Experience and Inclusion: Advisory groups are the only formal mechanism that embeds the lived experiences of often-marginalized residents directly into the policy-making pipeline. The LGBTQ+ and Accessibility Boards provide crucial, first-hand feedback, not just generalized public opinion, on policy impact, which is essential for ensuring city services are truly equitable and inclusive.

* Efficiency and Accountability: By vetting complex issues, compiling expert advice, and conducting necessary community liaison work, these boards function as a filter and force multiplier for Council and City Staff. Dissolving them does not eliminate the work; it simply forces under-resourced staff and politically focused Council members to take on specialized, technical, and social planning tasks they are ill-equipped to handle, leading to poorer decisions and reduced accountability to the public.

To remove these diverse, dedicated, volunteer-led bodies is to trade short-term convenience for long-term policy blindness and a dramatic rollback of democratic accessibility in Vancouver. Their continuation is fundamental to a smart, equitable, and well-governed city.

It’s disappointing to all of us who serve on these boards that they be discarded in such an arbitrary manner for what appear to be particularly cynical political reasons.

Rob Hadley