There’s a chill in the air in Vancouver these days, and it’s not just from the fall weather. The relationship between the city and BC NDP government has reached unusually frosty levels.

The latest temperature drop came Monday when Housing Minister Christine Boyle abruptly announced she was scrapping legislation to let Mayor Ken Sim eliminate the city’s park board.

“The city has more work to do clarifying their intended direction,” Boyle proclaimed late in the day on social media.

Vancouver officials were furious.

The city had already waited more than two years for Premier David Eby to agree to crack open the Vancouver Charter. Eby kept dismissing the issue of eliminating the province’s only municipal park board as unimportant.

Boyle then threw a curveball into the final bill, requiring a referendum on the park board’s future before Sim’s ABC majority party could act. After the mayor complained publicly, Boyle went further, yanking back the entire bill and pinning the blame on Vancouver.

“The province failed to consult with local First Nations and the City of Vancouver ahead of the introduction of this legislation in its current form,” Sim replied to the minister on social media.

“Our position has been clear all along. It’s the responsibility........

© BIV