My remarks on the conclusion of VanPlay

[ You can watch this portion of the meeting here ]

Since first being elected in 2008, I have had the honour and pleasure to be in involved with what I consider to be the three greatest achievements of the Board of Parks and Recreation in its recent history: the renewal of the Joint Operating Agreements with its Community Centre partners; our commitment to truth-telling, reconciliation and redress; and now VanPlay, our masterplan for the next 25 years and beyond.

All of these achievements have come about through the hard work of our staff and our outside consultants. There are too many to thank individually, but I do want to make special acknowledgments to: Curt Culbertson of the Design Workshop team; Dave Hutch, our Director of Park Planning and Development; Doug Shearer, our Manager of Policy, Planning, and Environment; and especially to Katherine Howard, the project manager.

This is truly a great achievement. The final reports show what a mammoth undertaking this has been. Personally, I am most pleased to see the overarching commitment to equity.

None of this, the JOA renewal, our commitment to reconciliation, or VanPlay would have been possible without the foresight, oversight, and leadership of our General Manager, Malcolm Bromley. To you Malcolm, to everyone involved, my heartfelt thanks and admiration. 

Thank you. Well done.