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Uncovering Burnaby: The movement for secession in North Burnaby
Dustin Godfrey
September 08, 2022
In another universe, Hastings Street went to Vancouver.
In the 1920s, as boundaries in the Lower Mainland were still somewhat malleable, voters in wards 5 and 6 considered secession from Burnaby, potentially to join Vancouver.
The two wards encompassed the Vancouver Heights and Capitol Hill areas, respectively,
The earliest documentation the Beacon could find of such a move came in June 1923, though details are paltry there—only a few lines in the minutes of a council meeting.
In a presentation to city council, the ratepayers’ association in ward 5, which included the Heights area, discussed the potential for that ward to secede from Burnaby.
The reason for secession at that time isn’t clear, but three years later the question of secession returned in force—this time including ward 6.
“THREATEN TO QUIT BURNABY,” reads a March 6, 1926 Vancouver Daily Province headline in all caps, followed by “NEGLECT IS CLAIMED.”
The reason for secession
Howard Planche, the ward 5 councillor at the time, told the Province that there was “general dissatisfaction throughout wards 4 and 5 with the treatment accorded North Burnaby by the council.”
In particular, residents felt the municipality was not investing enough in that area of Burnaby.
“The matter has not gone further than to be a topic of much discussion, but there will be definite action shortly if the claims of ward 5 are not given careful attention,” Planche said.
“In the last four years, the southern part of the municipality has had a large number of permanent improvements, while we have received nothing.”
That, Planche said, was despite 60% of the new homes built in 1925 being erected in ward 5. He added that the ward had a lot of connections to Vancouver—most of its residents worked there, and many held a sentiment of being part of the city.
One such complaint, according to Planche in a November 1926 Province article, was that while Kingsway had been paved, half at the expense of Burnaby, a promise to similarly pave the Hastings-Barnet arterial had gone unfulfilled.
In that same article, Planche produced receipts and expenditures, claiming that ward 5 contributed the most to the municipality’s annual revenue, but received less than other wards in most expenditure areas, with the exception of schools.
Another report stated that the Ward Five Ratepayers’ Association had elected its president, Charles Maltby, on a mandate to seek secession, but Maltby himself objected to that characterization.
“Mr. Maltby states that his association has taken no action in the matter,” reads a March 17, 1926 brief in the Province.
A week later, a delegation from the two wards, including ward 4 councillor G. S. Moore and the vice-president of that ward’s ratepayers’ association, met with then-mayor Louis Taylor to discuss the matter.
The mayor told the delegation that the city wouldn’t interfere in the process, according to the Province, and it would leave the question up to the people in the district.
The delegation also noted that it had sought legal advice and was told that to secede from Burnaby, they would need a petition of 51% or more of the residents of the area, which would then be submitted to the province for consideration and potential legislation authorizing secession.
After that, there are few, if any, mentions of the issue in newspapers until November of that year.
The secession session
On Nov. 17, the issue appears to have gained some steam.
In a meeting of 200 adult residents of North Burnaby, a strong majority—106-77—voted in favour of secession from Burnaby and amalgamation with Vancouver. And the 77 who did not vote in favour instead voted for a committee to “compile secession data before deciding,” the Province reported.
But there was some opposition to the vote, including from a former councillor, John Mulgrew, who advocated instead for “better cooperation among councillors for the improvement of Burnaby.”
But Moore countered that, in his time in office, Planche had done “all he possibly could to obtain permanent improvements in North Burnaby.”
And others suggested that joining with the city would allow the district to grow faster, see hospital facilities improved, lower various rates, and improve coverage by police and fire services.
In its own report on the November meeting, the Vancouver Sun noted that a committee was struck to meet with city council in Vancouver to negotiate the terms of amalgamation.
But after that, it’s unclear what happened. The separation of North Burnaby didn’t go through (obviously), but a search of newspapers on ProQuest finds little, if any, mention of the issue.
It wasn’t the only proposed secession from the municipality—or even the first. In April 1923, residents of southwest Burnaby voted against secession.
And 46 years later, the idea would return with a feasibility study of East Burnaby seceding from the municipality to join with New Westminster.
Shifting boundaries
The 1920s were a period of shifting boundaries in the region—at least to some degree. At the same time that North Burnaby was talking about secession to join with Vancouver, the city was negotiating the terms of amalgamation with South Vancouver and Point Grey, which were their own municipalities at the time.
Articles discussing that amalgamation process, however, make no mention of the North Burnaby issue.
That being said, one article in the Province, dated Aug. 8, 1926, suggested that the amalgamation of Vancouver, Point Grey, and South Vancouver was not enough.
“The ideal we are all striving for is a Greater Vancouver that shall finally include all that natural area for the future metropolis—the entire peninsula lying west of New Westminster, between the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet,” reads the editorial.
“Anything short of that is a disregard of the marvellous geographical design nature has endowed us with.”
And only a month later, the Point Grey municipal council similarly voted to put the question to the region: “Are you in favour of union of the City of Vancouver and all municipalities of the Lower Mainland, each municipality retaining control of its own local problems under conditions to be later approved by its ratepayers?”
That question was sent to the municipalities of South Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Burquitlam, Richmond, North Vancouver district, West Vancouver, North Vancouver city, Vancouver, New Westminster, and Port Moody.
And in that same year, Greater Vancouver municipalities, including Burnaby, came together to form the regional water management board.
Nearly four decades later, in 1965, the province legislated into existence regional districts, formalizing in provincial law the cooperative body that is now called Metro Vancouver.