Vancouver Aquatic Centre’s 25-metre rebuild becomes First Nation land-claim issue, Park Board chair says

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre cannot be rebuilt as a 50-metre pool because of unresolved land claim issues involving the city’s First Nations, Park Board chair Tom Digby says. Digby is running for re-election as a Vancouver Green Party park board commissioner. He was chair when the decision was made to demolish the aging facility.

The Park Board has previously said the facility’s footprint would have to expand to rebuild a 50-metre pool that meets modern safety and competition rules. Digby told Global News on Wednesday that the province owns the land and will not allow the expansion, mainly because land claims with First Nations have not been settled on the sensitive foreshore.

Chief Wayne Sparrow of the Musqueam Indian Band confirmed that a request was made to expand the Vancouver Aquatic Centre’s footprint. He said the province sent a letter to MST Development Corporation, a partnership of the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation.

Sparrow said the province wanted them to lease the land to the City of Vancouver. He said they wanted to sit down and discuss it because the land is Crown land and there have been many issues involving the Cowichan Case and third-party land. According to Sparrow, the province proposed leasing the land to the city for as little as $1. “If they lease it for a dollar, what’s our accommodation, 3 cents?” he said, adding that he keeps stressing the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate them. The province and MST Development Corporation have not met so far, but Sparrow said a meeting could still happen. “We are always open to conversations; it’s Crown land and whatever the government decides they want to do about it, they have to come and talk to us,” he said.

The comments come after the community group Protecting Our Vancouver Aquatic Centre (POVAC) was granted an interim injunction in the B.C. Court of Appeal to immediately pause all demolition work until after the municipal election. The group’s director, Jon Girard, who is a TEAM park board candidate, called the decision a win for democracy. He said the group could not be more pleased with the outcome and that, at minimum, the facility needs to remain a 50-metre pool if it is renovated or rebuilt.

The work has been paused until at least Nov. 3, the day after the first scheduled Park Board meeting.