WATCH: Mayor, park board chair spar over Kits Pool reservation system

VANCOUVER — Mayor Ken Sim and Park Board Chair Tom Digby held duelling press conferences outside Kits Pool on Monday offering very different opinions of the beloved site's online reservation system.

Sim, flanked by his fellow ABC councillors and park board commissioners, called for the elimination of the Covid-era policy, while Digby and Commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky argued that things are fine as is.

"The pandemic is long gone — and swimming restrictions should be as well," Sim said. "No Covid-era restrictions, no closures, no limits on swimming time, and no complex reservation system. That's how these facilities operated before the pandemic, and that's how they should operate today."

He argued that Vancouverites "shouldn't have to plan weeks in advance or compete online for the chance to enjoy a public pool," and called on the park board to act "immediately."

"Open the damn pool," Sim concluded.

"It is not true that you must book online to come to Kits Pool," Digby countered. "You have the option to book online — and there are hundreds of people that like to book online and use that system every day."

He argued that anyone can drop-in whenever they wish.

While that is, for the most part, true, there are time restrictions, and 30-minute cleaning breaks during which the pool must be empty.

"If you’re coming from across town with a bunch of kids, you don’t wanna have to stand in a lineup," Digby continued. "That was the whole problem. That's why we implemented the online booking in the first place. People were getting heat stroke standing in the lineup!"

Also in attendance was Jody Vance, who has been among the most vocal critics of the reservation system.

"I feel that this iconic community amenity is being gate-kept from the city of Vancouver — and really British Columbia, because this, I believe is a national treasure," Vance told Sitka Media. "I feel like there's a generation of children who are missing out ... There are kids that aren't coming here because young people and teenagers don't make reservations to go to the pool."

She made it clear she believed that the facility should be open to all at any time of day — no booking necessary.