Paid to Be Absent: Why Park Board Stipends Outpace Survival Incomes

 “Paid to Be Absent: Why Park Board Stipends Outpace Survival Incomes”

When I learned that Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Marie-Claire Howard has missed a significant number of meetings yet still collects a stipend of 💰 $18,743.38 per year, I felt disbelief, frustration — and honestly, pain.

That’s more money than many of us survive on. As someone unhoused 🏚️, house-sitting just to have a roof over my head, struggling to find steady work (while my own child can’t find a job either) — the contrast is gut-wrenching.

📊 The Numbers Don’t Lie

• Park Board Commissioners: ~$18,700/year
• Chair: ~$23,400/year
• Plus expenses ✈️🍽️

Meanwhile:

• Income assistance in B.C.: $935/month = ~$11,220/year
• Disability and low-income supports don’t even cover rent, never mind food 🍞, transit 🚍, or basic dignity 💔

🔎 The Questions We Need to Ask

• Why is it okay for elected officials to be paid more than survival incomes while missing meetings ❌?
• Why do poor people get punished for every mistake, while politicians are excused for absence after absence?
• Why isn’t there an automatic system of accountability tied to participation?

✨ My Lived Reality

I don’t begrudge fair pay for public service — but service means showing up. For me, every day is survival: finding safe shelter, stretching groceries 🍲, hoping my kid finds work. The system demands I fight for every dollar, yet hands stipends to absent officials as if accountability doesn’t matter.

It feels like society is saying:
👉 “If you’re poor, you must scrape by with nothing.”
👉 “If you’re elected, you get paid even when you don’t show up.”

💡 What Needs to Change

✅ Public attendance records
✅ Stipends tied to participation
✅ Real accountability — not excuses

Because for thousands of us living in Vancouver on survival mode 🥀, this isn’t just numbers on a page. It’s about fairness ⚖️, dignity ✊, and a city that actually values the people who call it home.