The following is the questionnaire and background sent to all Park Board candidates in September 2026.
Dear Candidate,
The Burrardview Community Association invites you to answer seven questions about how Vancouver parkland is allocated and managed.
The first six concern general standards. The final question concerns Burrard View Park, where our experience gave rise to the questions. A brief factual backgrounder follows.
Please answer Yes or No to each question, with up to 100 words explaining your position. You may qualify any answer. Brief responses are welcome.
Please reply to burrardviewca@gmail.com by 5:00 pm on Friday, October 2, 2026.
We are sending the same questions to every Park Board candidate. We plan to publish responses received by the deadline at burrardview.org on Saturday, October 3, the first day of advance voting. Responses will be published in full, without editing, scoring or ranking. We will identify candidates who have not responded.
The Burrardview Community Association does not endorse candidates.
Thank you for your time.
Kind regards,
Burrardview Community Association
Burrard View Park: Background to the BCA’s Questions
Burrard View Park is a neighbourhood park in East Vancouver. The flat area between its fieldhouse and playground has historically been used for informal children’s play, picnicking and other general park activities.
Food forest and flat play space
On March 30, 2022, the Park Board approved the southeast location for a food forest operated by the Vancouver Urban Food Forest Foundation, with exact siting to be determined by the General Manager following an archaeological assessment.
Before approval, the Park Board’s public consultation material stated that, apart from a small wrap-around section beside the fieldhouse, “the majority of the flat area between the fieldhouse and the playground would be preserved.”
A December 2025 Park Board briefing described a proposed garden licence area of approximately 772 m².
In August 2026, Park Board staff estimated the cultural features at approximately 900 m², excluding storage. At the BCA’s September 22 AGM, staff acknowledged that the garden as installed is larger than originally proposed and advised that its present boundaries are approximately marked by the installed logs.
The BCA has requested the records showing the final authorized boundaries and any later changes.
Ceremonial fire
Eagles Inspirit Protecting Indigenous Fathers Society received Neighbourhood Matching Fund support for a Sacred Fire Project at Burrard View Park. The released application describes a permanent fire pit at Burrard View Park.
The permanent ceremonial fire facility was not brought to the elected Park Board for approval. The December 2025 Park Board briefing states that the project agreement was signed by the General Manager in 2024, with installation completed in spring 2025. The BCA is seeking the records establishing who approved the permanent facility and its location, when and under what authority.
Residents have raised questions about smoke, advance notice, proximity to nearby homes and the playground, and the conditions applying to recurring fires, including how they are handled during periods of elevated fire risk or applicable fire restrictions.
Residents have also reported unauthorized fires by others in the park, raising a broader question about how fire activity at the site is monitored and enforced.
The food forest, ceremonial fire and associated storage together affect the flat area residents were previously told would largely remain available.
Fieldhouse and public access
The Park Board’s Fieldhouse Activation Program provides organizations with fieldhouse space for community-engaged activities and public participation.
At the September 22 AGM, staff advised that the current Burrard View residency expires on December 15, 2028, and that an open application process is anticipated in 2027. The current residency has already been renewed once internally.
Staff also advised that their understanding was that the fieldhouse is used mainly as office and storage space, and they did not have information available at the meeting about the amount of community programming currently occurring.
The BCA has requested information about the residency’s public-programming requirements, actual community use and the process that will apply when the current term ends.
Maintenance, safety and public resources
Residents have raised concerns about long, dry grass and weeds within and around the food forest area, particularly during dry periods and given the proximity of the ceremonial fire. Residents have also raised safety concerns about tools, including chainsaws, being left unattended in the park.
The BCA has asked what maintenance, storage and fire-safety standards apply, who is responsible for meeting them, and how compliance is monitored and enforced.
A proposed concrete pad for deliveries and storage was also discussed at the AGM. The BCA has asked that its location, dimensions, intended uses and relationship to the authorized garden area be clarified before it proceeds.
The BCA considers that significant public resources committed to the food forest, ceremonial fire and fieldhouse arrangements, including funding, infrastructure, staff services and other material support, should be publicly disclosed.
The BCA’s position
The BCA supports Indigenous cultural presence in Vancouver parks and recognizes the public value of food-growing, cultural and community programming.
Our concerns are about process, siting, the cumulative use of public space, transparency, maintenance, public access, safety and effects on nearby homes and other park users.
The same principles should apply consistently to organizations using public parkland.
We are therefore asking candidates about the standards they believe should apply generally, and whether the existing arrangements at Burrard View Park should receive transparent public review by the next elected Park Board.
Questions for Park Board Candidates
Please answer Yes or No and provide up to 100 words explaining each answer. You may qualify your response.
1. Consultation and combined effects
Before a significant area of parkland is allocated to an organization or converted to a different use, should the Park Board meaningfully consult affected residents, assess the combined effects of related projects and publish how public feedback influenced its decision?
Yes / No / Comment
2. Elected Board decisions
Should proposals for permanent park facilities, or material departures from what the elected Board approved or residents were told, return to the elected Board for a public decision rather than be approved solely by staff?
Yes / No / Comment
3. Written agreements and site plans
Before significant or ongoing use of parkland begins, should the authorized area, permitted uses, public-access rules, maintenance and fire-safety obligations, monitoring requirements and restoration requirements be set out in a publicly available agreement and site plan?
Yes / No / Comment
4. Review at end of term
Should ongoing allocations of parkland or park buildings, including fieldhouse residencies, be publicly reviewed at the end of each term, before they are renewed, extended or allowed to continue, with compliance and public benefit assessed and the space re-offered through an open process with published criteria where appropriate?
Yes / No / Comment
5. Notice to neighbours
Should nearby residents receive reasonable advance notice of recurring park activities likely to cause smoke, noise or other effects beyond the park?
Yes / No / Comment
6. Assessment of effects on nearby homes and park users
Before approving or renewing recurring activities that may affect nearby homes or other park users, should the Park Board obtain and publish a qualified assessment of those effects, including smoke and air quality where relevant?
Yes / No / Comment
7. Burrard View Park
If elected, would you support a motion directing staff to report publicly to the Park Board, within six months, on the food forest, ceremonial fire and fieldhouse arrangements at Burrard View Park?
The report would cover the original approvals and later changes, the areas authorized versus actually occupied, public resources committed, and options to reduce the footprint, relocate uses or restore space for general public use. The underlying records would be published with it, and the food forest, ceremonial fire and associated storage areas independently measured.
The elected Board would then publicly consider whether the existing arrangements should continue unchanged, be modified, or not be renewed at the end of any applicable fixed term.
Yes / No / Comment
Source documents and links
March 2022 Park Board report
March 30, 2022 Park Board decision
Board Committee minutes
https://parkboardmeetings.vancouver.ca/2022/20220328/MINUTES_PB-20220328-Committee.pdf
Burrard View Community Garden, Shape Your City FAQ
https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/burrard-view-garden/widgets/102606/faqs
December 23, 2025 briefing to Commissioners
https://parkboardmeetings.vancouver.ca/files/MEMO-BurrardViewCommunityProject-20251223.pdf
Neighbourhood Matching Fund
https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/neighbourhood-matching-fund.aspx
Sacred Fire Project records
https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/2025-360-release.pdf
Fieldhouse programs in parks
https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/fieldhouse-programs.aspx
How fieldhouse residencies work
https://vancouver.ca/people-programs/how-fieldhouse-residences-work.aspx
Burrardview Community Association