This page contains key documents for new and existing members of the VFPC. Please Familiarize yourselves with these documents. If you find something is out of date or missing, let the Co-Chairs know. 

Keeping in Touch and Meeting Attendance

• Meeting schedule
• Past meeting minutes
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Meeting attendance:
  • According to our COV Terms of Reference, VFPC members may miss no more than four consecutive meetings without obtaining leave of absence from the Policy Council. Membership will be terminated following the fourth such absence.
  • If you must miss a meeting, please send your regrets in advance of the meeting date to the secretary and the co-chairs
  • According to our Terms of Reference, quorum at our meetings is 11. In the interests of achieving quorum and making a full contribution to the VFPC, we encourage members to attend all meetings.

Key Policy Documents

• Overarching City Policies with Links to Food Systems 
  • Vancouver Food Charter (2007)
  • Vancouver Food Strategy (2013)
  • Healthy City Strategy (began in 2014), specifically the following section with direct links to food systems:
    • Feeding Ourselves Well 
  • Greenest City Action Plan (began in 2009), specifically the following sections with direct links to food systems:
    • Local Food
    • Clean Water
    • Zero Waste
  • Parks Board Local Food Action Plan (2013)

• For the most current City of Vancouver information on food policy please refer to the City’s Food and Sustainable Food Systems webpage. Here you will find links to the Vancouver Food Strategy and related information in addition to key policies and resources on urban agriculture (community gardening, urban farming, bee keeping, backyard hens), street food vending, food markets/farmers markets, food safety, and more.

• Other policies and policy areas
  • Rezoning policy for sustainable large developments (contains specifications of food assets that must be included)
  • Zoning and Development Bylaw
  • Policies and resources related to animals, trees and gardens  

Key Documents on VFPC Process and Governance

• Civic Agencies: the VFPC is one of many “civic agencies”. Information about all civic agencies is posted here. Basic information about our Terms of Reference, meeting frequency, and attendance requirements is posted on this subpage of the civic agencies website
  • Guidelines for Civic Agencies: this document explains the rules on matters such as civic agency roles and responsibilities, code of conduct, meeting procedures, media protocol, and communicating with Mayor and Council

• Operational procedures and scope: as VFPC members we are bound to operate according to the procedures set out in the following documents:
  • Our Terms of Reference
  • COV Procedure Bylaw
  • COV Code of Conduct
  • Meeting Procedures: The Vancouver Charter and Procedure Bylaw are the primary reference documents for meeting procedures. Where the Vancouver Charter or Procedure Bylaw does not answer a question about procedure, the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order is to apply

• Policy on recruitment and filling vacancies
  • Recruitment and appointment to the VFPC is carried out by the City of Vancouver. For information on the recruitment and appointment process, please refer to p.13 of the Guidelines for Civic Agencies.
  • Note that when a vacancy opens up mid-term, we first look to those who applied in the previous round of recruitment to see if a suitable candidate can be drawn from that pool.

• VCPC Member’s conflict of interest as it relates to City employees and contractors
  • As per the City of Vancouver eligibility requirements for committees, members of the VFPC may not be employed by the City of Vancouver (including Parks, City, Library, School Board, Fire, Police, etc.)
  • Contractors to the City of Vancouver are eligible to serve as members of the VFPC should take note of Section 4 of the City’s Code of Conduct and section 145.2 of the Vancouver Charter, which details conflict of interest requirements.
    • A conflict of interest occurs when a person or group is involved in different activities, one of which could possibly compromise the motivation for an act in another. Members must declare a Conflict of Interest when there is a direct or indirect pecuniary interest (financial interest) in the matter or another interest in the matter (typically a personal relationship) that constitutes a conflict of interest.
    • During a meeting, a member who declares a conflict of interest must leave the room and not re-enter until the agenda item has been completed. The Chair must ensure the member is not present for any part of the meeting during which the matter is under consideration. The Clerk must record the member’s declaration relating to Conflict of Interest, the reasons given for it, the time of the member’s departure from the meeting room and, if applicable, the time of the member’s return. This is detailed in the Vancouver Charter, section 145.2.
    • If a member of the VFPC is or becomes a contractor to the City they are asked to notify the Co-Chairs and Staff Liaisons of the duration of the contract and focus of it’s work so that this can be anticipated when meeting agendas are developed.

About Food Policy and Local Government

• Municipal Food Policy Entrepreneurs: A preliminary analysis of how Canadian cities and regional districts are involved in food system change
  This reports on a cross-Canada survey of 64 local and regional municipalities working to improve the food system using a mix of municipal policies, programs and civil-society interventions. It contains information about how food policy is approached at the local level and an assessment of successes and challenges facing these groups.
• Your Guide to Municipal Institutions in Canada
  This publication aims to present the special characteristics of Canadian municipal institutions and to describe the similarities between the various types of municipal government, such as cities, districts, towns or townships. Beyond the wide variety of traditions, institutions and realities that are unique to each Canadian province, common features may be identified in their structures, processes and standards, as well as in their political and administrative practices.
• Local Government in British Columbia, Fourth Edition
  This e-book presents a description of the organization and operation of local governments in the province, ranging from improvement districts serving small groups of residents, through municipalities and school districts of various sizes, to complex regional administrations such as the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) now referred to as Metro Vancouver. The purpose of this book is to enable the citizens of British Columbia to understand the councils, boards, and trusteeships that govern the provision of local services, and to assist elected and appointed officials in their efforts to serve the public more effectively.