As a lifeguard/instructor for nine years, our community and recreational services are integral to a community’s overall mental and physical well-being. Open accessibility to go down to a recreation centre to skate, swim, workout, play, etc., has a significant effect on our community, especially as one who would frequent our local pools daily (before COVID closed everything).

Recreational centres are the pillars to our community, creating an united sense of community wellbeing and settlement. Our parks and greenways are the gateways that spotlight the vibrancy and diversity of our community’s image.

The City’s motto and vision to create “A Healthy City for All” has taken good steps forward when it comes to our community services. This includes the Parks Master Plan (updated in 2010) to our Parks and Greenway Strategic Plan (Started in 2002) to the City’s Mobility Network Project to encourage our community to do more walking, rolling and cycling.

This vision can be elevated to ensure that our recreational and community services should always uphold our community needs first. A PDF is available on the City of North Vancouver site for more details on the “A Healthy City for All: The Role of Community Recreation.”

Current council lacks the voice that is needed to uphold our community needs first. The rebuild of Harry Jerome Re-Centre is what a lack of commitment, a lack of bold leadership and a lack of upholding our community needs looks like. From the silent ‘almost’-closure of Harry Jerome Rec-Centre which led to the uncertainty of many user groups dependent on Harry Jerome to the tearing down of the Lonsdale SkatePark without any consultation nor having a temporary one made first; it is clear that this Council needs more voices that are at the behest of what the community is looking for.

When it comes to any future plans of any future facilities, council must ensure an expansion of recreational and community amenities that all residents from North Shore can enjoy. While it is important to be concerned about the finances and the cost of such facilities; the point of these facilities, parks and centres needs to sustain, create and build upon the bonds of our community. 

When we are looking at the expansion or the continuation of our facilities, whether it be our rec-centres to our parks to our greenways, the priority and concern should always be how it serves our community’s present needs while envisioning what the future needs may be.