Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim will request at council’s next meeting in September that the value of the severance to be paid out to recently departed city manager Paul Mochrie be made public.
In July, Sim announced via a media release that he and Mochrie “mutually agreed that it was the right time for a leadership change” at the City of Vancouver. The city has refused to disclose details of Mochrie’s severance.
On Thursday, the mayor’s office sent an email to BIV announcing that Sim wants Mochrie’s severance released to the public. He will formally make a request at the Sept. 16 council meeting.
“In the past, when a city manager was terminated, severance amounts were released right away as part of that process,” Sim said in the email. “In Paul Mochrie’s case, we reached a mutual cessation of duties, which follows a different process and doesn’t automatically release those details.”
Added Sim: “That said, I believe Vancouverites have a right to know. This September, I’ll be asking council to make Paul’s severance public at the first council meeting so we can be fully transparent and accountable to the people we serve.”
'Common law settlement privilege'
The mayor’s intention to release details of Mochrie’s severance comes a day after the city explained in an email to BIV that “common law settlement privilege” applies in this case and does not require release of the information.
“This is an established exception to disclosure under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act,” the city said. “Whether common law settlement privilege applies is dependent on individual circumstances.”
The city referred BIV to an order of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner from March 2024 involving another city employee. A person had made a request via the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the total amount of compensation paid to a former employee during a specified date range.
“The adjudicator found that settlement privilege applied to the information in dispute and that there was no overriding public interest that justified finding an exception to the privilege,” the ruling said.
Mochrie's contract
Mochrie earned $387,110 in 2024, according to the city’s Statement of Financial Information report. The contract he negotiated with the city when he became city manager suggests he would be entitled to at least 18 months' salary in severance, which would be roughly $600,000.
However, there are clauses in the contract that suggest he could continue to receive a salary and benefits over 18 months, in lieu of a lump sum.
“The city may terminate Mr. Mochrie's employment without cause, and without further obligation, by providing Mr. Mochrie with working notice of termination or, in the city's sole discretion, payment in lieu of notice, or a combination thereof, in an amount equal to 18 months,” said the contract provided to BIV from the city.
But if Mochrie were to find "alternate full-time, indefinite term employment" within that period, "the salary continuance payments, extended health and dental benefit coverage and pension contributions will cease," the contract said.
If that were to happen, then Mochrie will receive, at his election, either:
• a lump sum payment equal to 50 per cent of the remaining salary continuance payments and pension contributions that would be payable over the remainder of the 18 months, or;
• if the average monthly earnings and employer contribution to retirement benefits he will receive in his alternate employment is less than the value of his salary and pension contribution as of the termination date, a lump sum "top up" payment equal to the difference for the balance of the 18 months.
'Unanswered questions'
City councillors Pete Fry, Sean Orr, Lucy Maloney and Sarah Kirby-Yung all want to see details of Mochrie’s severance released to the public. Each councillor responded to BIV via email to provide their thoughts on the city refusing to disclose Mochrie’s severance.
Fry, Orr and Maloney also have questions about how quickly Mochrie’s replacement, Donny van Dyk, was hired. Van Dyk was serving as Delta’s city manager and his hiring was announced less than two weeks after Mochrie’s departure.
Fry: “On this and in general I have advocated for more transparency and accountability especially around how we are spending taxpayers’ money. Specific to this case, I think releasing the value of the city manager’s severance should come with a fulsome disclosure of any additional context germane to Mochrie’s departure and the new city manager’s hire. Like the public, I still have a lot of unanswered questions, too.”
Orr: “In this case, since there's a precedent, I don't see why we can't. In fact, I think withholding it damages trust between council and those we are meant to serve. The public deserves to know the full process, including how Mochrie’s replacement was chosen. Eight days to find a replacement is shockingly fast. I personally found out on [the X social media platform] and I don't think that's good enough.”
Maloney: “First, Mr. van Dyk was appointed just eight days after the end of Paul Mochrie's tenure, breaking with the tradition of undertaking a thorough and transparent process. Then, we discover that Mr. van Dyk apparently has an active conservative political background. Now, the city is hiding information about the cost of transition that was previously freely disclosed.”
Added Maloney: “This does not build trust — it breaks it. The mayor and ABC majority have set Mr. Van Dyk up having to overcome significant hurdles in proving he is an appropriate holder of his non-partisan role as city manager.”
Kirby-Yung: "I believe the city should release the information and support doing so, including any necessary steps to make that happen. Transparency is an important component of good governance."
No interviews
BIV requested an interview with Mochrie on the day of his announced departure, but was instead emailed a statement that said:
“It has been a privilege to spend the past 14 years at the City of Vancouver, although I am excited to move on. There is an extremely capable leadership team in place and the organization is very well positioned to support council in delivering results for residents and businesses.”
BIV also requested an interview with van Dyk but was told by the city communications department that he wouldn’t be available until he begins his job in September.
Asked about the quick turnaround in replacing Mochrie, the city said in an email:
“Council was committed to acting swiftly to appoint an experienced new city manager, given significant work ahead toward delivering the 2026 budget, a new capital plan, and with just over one year until the 2026 municipal election.”
The topic of severance has been in the news this week with BIV and other media reporting that former Fraser Health CEO Dr. Victoria Lee will receive more than $600,000 in severance after being fired in February.
That information was made available on Fraser Health’s website.
In 2016, the City of Vancouver released the names and severance amounts of then-departing city manager Penny Ballem and 10 other employees to the Vancouver Courier. Ballem was to receive a total of $556,595 in severance.
Sadhu Johnston replaced Ballem, but resigned five years later in 2020. He did not receive a severance. Mochrie replaced Johnston in April 2021 under the-then Kennedy Stewart administration.
