Vancouver Aquarium Tuesday said it is disappointed with the park board’s move to appeal the Supreme Court ruling striking down the bylaw banning cetaceans.
On Friday, Vancouver Park Board announced plans to appeal the ruling that prohibited the board from applying its May 2017 bylaw amendment to the aquarium’s operations in Stanley Park. The aquarium responded Tuesday afternoon saying the organization is “disappointed with the Vancouver Park Board’s unwillingness to accept the sound reasoning and commercial realism of the Honourable Mr. Justice Mayer’s decision in the B.C. Supreme Court.”
In the Feb. 9 ruling, Justice Andrew Mayer ruled in favour of the aquarium stating that the park board does not have the power to enact the bylaw amendment as it conflicts with the licence agreement with Ocean Wise Conservation Association, which operates the aquarium.
The board has a long-term agreement with the aquarium to operate in Stanley Park. The current licence agreement expires in 2029.
“This 20-year licence agreement has been foundational to the Vancouver Aquarium’s long-term planning and conservation initiatives, including its initiative to develop an expanded Canada’s Artic exhibit,” the aquarium’s statement reads.
Board chair Stuart Mackinnon said the court ruling “poses a real and substantial challenge to the legal power and authority of our elected Board.”
The aquarium said it will challenge the park board’s appeal.
“The Park Board and City of Vancouver’s insistence in pursuing this matter has already incurred substantial legal expense to both the Vancouver Aquarium and the citizens of Vancouver… The Park Board’s recent notice of appeal will require additional litigation funds to contest Justice Mayer’s decision on the appeal court, resulting in continued distraction to the Aquarium’s operations and impact to its conservation priorities. Moreover, the Park Board’s appeal will have ongoing implications for Vancouver taxpayers.”
Last spring Vancouver Park Board voted to ban the importation of new cetaceans to city parks as well as prohibiting performances. In June, the aquarium launched legal proceedings in an effort to overturn the ban arguing that the park board does not have the statutory power to enact the bylaw amendment, that the language of the bylaw is unacceptably vague and the ban would make the remaining phases of the aquarium’s approved $100-million revitalization and expansion project obsolete.
@JessicaEKerr
jkerr@vancourier.com
