Did you know that Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung has a custom supercross motorcycle helmet worth $300?
It was one of the “gifts” Kirby-Yung disclosed in 2024 after receiving the helmet in August from Jessi Armstrong, founder and owner of JTA Consulting in Orange County, Calif.
Kirby-Yung wrote in her disclosure form that the personal benefit was received “as an incident of the protocol of social obligations that normally accompany the responsibilities of office.”
At the time, she served as deputy mayor at a news conference in Vancouver to announce the World Supercross Grand Prixevent, which was held at BC Place Stadium in October.
"The helmet is currently on display in my office to showcase to visitors to city hal,l and after a period will be turned over to the city clerk's office," Kirby-Yung said in an email Friday.
Anyone with access to the internet can now go to the City of Vancouver’s website and learn what kind of “gifts” Kirby-Yung, other councillors and Mayor Ken Sim received during their duties in 2024.
City staff decided late last year to post the disclosures online and include them in the biography section of each politician’s profile. Previously, the information was only accessible by visiting the city clerk’s office, where a binder is kept with the information.
“To ensure transparency, gift disclosures for mayor and council will be proactively released quarterly moving forward,” said the city in an email to BIV. “If there are no items displayed in the drop-down [menu], that means the members had none to disclose.”
Only councillors Brian Montague and Adriane Carr did not file disclosure forms in 2024.
Integrity commissioner
Sim and the councillors are obligated under the Vancouver Charter and Code of Conduct to disclose any gifts worth more than $50. At the same time, a council member must not accept a gift or personal benefit that is connected directly or indirectly with the performance of their duties, with narrow exceptions.
The key exception is that council members may accept a gift or personal benefit as “an incident of the protocol of social obligations that normally accompany the responsibilities of office.”
Which is the language Kirby-Yung used in describing her acceptance of the helmet.
There is no watchdog — other than journalists — to ensure each council member chooses to disclose a gift or personal benefit. The city clerk nor the integrity commissioner monitors what is a personal and ethical responsibility of each council member.
Reporting conducted by BIV on previous councils showed inconsistencies on what gifts were reported, with some politicians attending the same developer-funded boat cruise to watch fireworks as a councillor who chose not to disclose the freebie.
'Our education mandate'
In April 2024, integrity commissioner Lisa Southern sent a memo to city manager Paul Mochrie on council members’ obligations regarding disclosure of gifts. Southern provided a series of question-and-answer scenarios to help the mayor and councillors better understand what should be disclosed.
“We are providing the document for circulation as part of our education mandate and because the subject matter arose as part of the feedback we received from the latest round of one-on-ones,” Southern wrote in the memo.
In one scenario, the question posed was whether concert tickets worth $250 received from a close personal friend would have to be disclosed.
The answer: “No. If the tickets were gifted to you purely in a personal capacity by a close personal friend, they are not ‘connected directly or indirectly with the performance’ of your duties. However, if that friend also has business before the city (e.g., if they are an active participant in a rezoning application), it may change the answer. Factors like the timing of the rezoning application and when you received the gift may become relevant in assessing whether the gift is connected with the performance of your duties.”
In another scenario, the question posed was whether a politician could get someone else to fill out the disclosure forms, simply because they were too busy.
Answer: “No. While staff may provide you with reminders to submit disclosure statements, the completion of such statements is ultimately your responsibility.”
Beyonce, Guns N' Roses
In May 2024, Glacier Media reviewed disclosure forms filed at the time from the mayor and councillors. A review of the disclosures showed free tickets to concerts was the primary reason Sim filled out most of the forms.
Beyonce, Guns N’ Roses, Boyz II Men, Billy Idol, Ed Sheeran and Blue Rodeo were among the concerts. The mayor's office told BIV in May that Sim purchased his own tickets for the Rolling Stones concert July 5 and planned to attend.
At the same time, a pair of Stones tickets worth $1,800 that Sim received from PavCo — the Crown corporation that operates BC Place Stadium — were given to his chief of staff, Trevor Ford "to attend on [the mayor's] behalf," according to a disclosure form signed by the mayor Sept. 12.
More details on the concert tickets can now be viewed on Sim’s profile page on the city’s website.
BIV’s reporting in May 2024 also included some of the gifts disclosed by councillors.
Here’s a sampling:
• Mike Klassen, Christine Boyle, Peter Meiszner and Rebecca Bligh accepted tickets to Cirque de Soleil’s “Kooza,” courtesy of Concord Pacific. Coun. Pete Fry also attended, courtesy of Cirque de Soleil’s Crystal Kwon. Tickets were $300 each.
• Klassen, Boyle, Fry, Bligh and Lenny Zhou attended the Jan. 27 Vancouver Canucks Lunar New Year game, courtesy of the Canucks. Tickets were $175 each, with some councillors accepting two tickets. Sim dropped the puck at that game.
• Klassen, Boyle, Bligh and Meiszner accepted tickets for the Honda Celebration of Light from either Jessica Prior, Michael McKnight or Yuri Fulmer. Two tickets were worth $382.50. Bligh’s tickets for the “Concord Pacific Grandstand and Patio” were valued at $680 for the pair.
• Meiszner accepted a pair of tickets worth $420 to the production of “Hairspray” from Vancouver Civic Theatres.
• Coun. Lisa Dominato accepted a pair of tickets worth $1,300 from Concord Pacific to attend “Feast of Fortune and Seeking Your Insights” dinner gala hosted by St. Paul’s Foundation Feb. 24, 2024.
Some councillors have disclosed more gifts since BIV posted the article, including Dominato, who accepted a ticket from Concord Pacific to watch the Vancouver Canucks play the Arizona Coyotes April 10.
Dominato, Zhou, Bligh and Klassen accepted tickets from Sport Hosting Vancouver to watch the Whitecaps take on Wrexham July 27 at BC Place Stadium. Klassen also accepted $300 tickets to Cirque du Soleil’s Echo performance Oct. 10 from Front and Centre Communications.
Note: This story has been updated since first posted to include a comment from Kirby-Yung.
X/@Howellings
