B.C. Pavilion Corp.'s (PavCo) chairman and one of its directors quietly stepped down to assume their new roles as BC Liberal MLA.
Peter Fassbender (Surrey-Fleetwood) and Suzanne Anton (Vancouver-Fraserview) were elected May 14. Fassbender told Business in Vancouver that they submitted their official resignations on May 29. There was no formal announcement by PavCo and their departures were only apparent to those who noticed their names missing from the roster of board members on the PavCo website.
Fassbender, who is also the mayor of Langley, was appointed November 16, 2012, as chair by his friend and Deputy Premier Rich Coleman. Anton was appointed August 15, 2012.
Despite broad conflict-of-interest guidelines for provincial board appointees, Fassbender declined to step down during the election campaign because he claimed he did not want to disrupt PavCo's board momentum. He said the last board meeting he attended was before the election, which officially began April 16. He said he consulted with the Board Resourcing and Development Office about his decision.
"When I signed on as a board chair I was not an MLA, I did not hold a government-elected position in the province, I was an elected mayor; thats outside those requirements," Fassbender said. "The day I was elected and confirmed as an MLA-elect, my decision was to follow the guidelines and that was to step down."
Asked for the main achievement while chairing the PavCo board, Fassbender said it was the focus on marketing BC Place stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre and finding synergies that did not previously exist. Fassbender said BC Place has to be marketed as a facility that is "more than just a stadium for sporting events."
PavCo has forecast losses of $87 million through 2015-16 and attendance for the Vancouver Whitecaps and BC Lions games has not met forecasts since the September 30, 2011, reopening after a $514 million renovation.
Fassbender said, "We need to find creative ways to bring up the numbers to look at how more people can be encouraged to come to the games, so we're looking at a variety of different initiatives to make the experience much more satisfying and also to find ways to take that dollar threshold, whatever that might be, and see if that can be broadened."
Some of the stadium's marquee events benefitted from controversial public subsidies, such as the 2011 Grey Cup ($1.88 million), 2014 Grey Cup ($2.7 million) and the Times of India Film Awards ($9.5 million).
"The spinoff benefits of bringing those kind of things here are immense, so it isnt just revenue generated in the facility," he said.
Fassbender declined to comment on either the May 21 firing of BC Place general manager Howard Crosley or the size of his severance payment. Crosley's position was eliminated when Vancouver Convention Centre's general manager Ken Cretney was made PavCo's chief operating officer.
"We are focused on moving PavCo and both facilities ahead in a positive way," he said. "You're going to see the fruits of that in the days, months and years to come."
Challenges on the horizon include the scheduled October 21 beginning of a 100-day BC Supreme Court trial over cost overruns between contractors Canam and Freyssinet. PavCo is a defendant in the $6.5 million Freyssinet action. Canam is seeking $39 million. The parties have scheduled a June 22 trial management conference to plan for the complex and lengthy trial.
"All of that is in the hands of lawyers and it needs to run its course," Fassbender said. "We are on very solid ground as far as PavCo is concerned.
"Beyond that, I'm not going to comment."
Fassbender did not deny he is a candidate for a post in Premier Christy Clark's cabinet. He will be attending Friday's announcement in Vancouver with other MLAs. The formal swearing-in is Monday at Government House in Victoria.
Look out for a profile of Fassbender in an upcoming issue of BIV.
