This record covers Tom Digby, the sitting Vancouver Park Board commissioner and board chair who is running for re-election with the Green Party of Vancouver at ballot number 222. It sets out the record confirmed by news reporting, the promises made on the Green Party and campaign pages, and the public dispute over tree removal in Stanley Park.
No public appearance by this candidate was confirmed in the sources checked on September 22, 2026. The voting dates below apply to every voter. An empty day is a gap in the research, not proof that nothing is happening.
Checked September 22, 2026 · All event times are Vancouver local time. Recheck the organizer before travelling.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Tom Digby
Tom Digby appears on the City of Vancouver's final 2026 candidate list for Park Board, with ballot number 222. The City records the affiliation as Green Party of Vancouver.
The official roster for the current term lists Tom Digby as a Vancouver Park Board commissioner. That is a separate office from the one on this 2026 ballot entry.
The page says Digby chairs the Vancouver Park Board and is seeking nomination to run again as a commissioner. The page says Digby works as a lawyer in global intellectual property law.
Digby was elected to the Vancouver Park Board on October 15, 2022 with 39,243 votes, finishing seventh of seven winners and taking the only seat not won by ABC Vancouver.
Digby appears at ballot number 222 as the Green Party of Vancouver candidate for Park Board commissioner in the election held on October 17, 2026.
The Green Party of Vancouver named Digby a nominated Park Board candidate on June 8, 2026, describing the candidate as the current Park Board chair seeking re-election.
The Green Party page says Digby is an intellectual property lawyer and a scientist with an M.Sc. in biochemistry, and a former tree planter.
The Green Party page says Digby served two terms on the Vancouver City Planning Commission from 2001 to 2004 and chaired the Vancouver Greens in 2002.
Reporting on the Stanley Park tree removal plan records Digby as a Green Party commissioner who described hemlocks in the park as a "doomed" species that should be replaced with other tree types.
voche.me assembled this profile from the official candidate list and the campaign material linked under Sources. The campaign has not been contacted, and no candidate-supplied content appears on this page.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
14 commitments shown · Checked Sep 22
2026 · GovernanceCampaign pledge
Keep the elected Park Board
Digby campaigns on keeping the elected Park Board in place and says the board survived the effort to abolish it during the last term.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The campaign page lists preserving the 136 year old elected Park Board as a first term result. On July 13, 2026 ABC Vancouver said it would no longer pursue dissolving the Park Board and would run candidates instead. The sources do not record how each commissioner voted on the board's response to the abolition move.
What still needs checking
Which specific board votes on the abolition question Digby cast, and what happens to the provincial legislation question after October 17, 2026.
Digby says the Park Board should receive $1.35 billion for parks and recreation facilities in the 2027 to 2030 capital plan.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
On April 8, 2026 Global News reported the Park Board approved a request to city hall that started at $1.35 billion and was amended to $1.43 billion, including $300 million for the seawall and waterfront, $250 million for pools and $400 million for community centres. That report names Brennan Bastyovanszky as the mover and Scott Jensen as the author of the amendments, and identifies Digby as chair. It does not record each commissioner's vote. City council has not been reported as having granted the money.
What still needs checking
Whether city council funds the request in the 2027 to 2030 capital plan, and at what amount.
Digby wants the city to update its tree canopy and urban forest commitments, run public conversations about trees, and bring back programs such as the $10 spring tree sale and Tree Keepers.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The Green Party release says the "Vancouver, Let's Talk Trees" motion passed at the Park Board meeting on May 6, 2024 and asked for updated canopy commitments by the end of 2025. No independent source confirming the outcome of those commitments was found.
What still needs checking
Whether the canopy and urban forest strategy was updated by the end of 2025 and what the current canopy figure is.
Restrict motorized personal watercraft near Vancouver's shoreline
Digby wants jet skis and similar craft prohibited or restricted in Burrard Inlet and near Vancouver beaches and waterfront parks.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The Green Party release dated May 27, 2026 says Digby brought a motion, set for a June 1, 2026 hearing, directing the Park Board to advocate for stronger rules and to look at signage, public education, boat launch limits, policy changes and permits. The release says a Sea-Doo struck a grey whale near Stanley Park on May 4. No independent source on the motion's result was found.
What still needs checking
Whether the June 1, 2026 motion passed and what the Park Board has done since.
Digby wants Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park restored to an intertidal estuary connected to Coal Harbour and English Bay.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The campaign page says Digby led and won the vote to revitalize Lost Lagoon. This claim comes from the campaign. No independent source, board minute or budget for the work was opened.
What still needs checking
The date and text of the Park Board decision on Lost Lagoon, and whether any funding or design work has started.
Digby campaigns on support for bike routes in parks, including the Stanley Park bike lane and the Beach Avenue bike lane.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The campaign page says Digby persuaded commissioners to restore the Stanley Park bike lane in September 2025, and that the lane had been removed in 2023 in a decision the Integrity Commissioner later found breached the code of conduct. The campaign page also claims an "A" rating from HUB Cycling. Both claims come from the campaign. No Integrity Commissioner report and no HUB Cycling rating page were opened.
What still needs checking
The Integrity Commissioner report itself, the September 2025 board vote record, and the HUB Cycling scorecard.
Digby says park budgets and operations should be judged on financial, social and environmental grounds together, and wants carbon reduction, waste reduction and climate resilient facilities.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
This comes from the Green Party candidate page. The same page in 2022 said responding to the climate emergency was the main way Digby viewed Park Board issues, and set a target of at least 30 percent tree canopy in every neighbourhood.
What still needs checking
Which specific climate targets Digby would put to the board in the 2026 to 2030 term.
Digby names reconciliation with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations as urgent Park Board work and says the land was taken without proper treaty negotiation.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The statement is on the Green Party candidate page. It describes a view rather than a named program, and no board decision is cited on that page.
What still needs checking
Which Park Board reconciliation decisions Digby has moved or supported, with dates.
Each entry below names its source. Campaign material is the candidate's own account. Nothing here is presented as a verified outcome unless the entry says so.
Approved
"Vancouver, Let's Talk Trees" motion
The Park Board passed a Digby motion asking for work with the mayor, city council and school board to update tree canopy and urban forest commitments by the end of 2025, to hold public conversations about trees, and to bring back the $10 spring tree sale and the Tree Keepers program.
Scope, limits and sources
The account of the motion and its passage comes from a Green Party of Vancouver release dated May 7, 2024. No city or board record was opened.
The Park Board approved a request asking city hall for a large investment in parks and recreation over four years. Global News reported the request started at $1.35 billion and was amended to $1.43 billion, with $300 million for the seawall and waterfront, $250 million for aquatic facilities and $400 million for community centre renewal.
Scope, limits and sources
Global News names Brennan Bastyovanszky as the mover and Scott Jensen as the author of the amendments, and identifies Digby as Park Board chair who spoke to Global News Morning about the proposal. The report does not record individual votes, so the decision is not attributed to Digby alone. City council funding is a separate decision.
Digby brought a Park Board motion to advocate for a ban or strong limits on jet skis and similar craft in Burrard Inlet and near Vancouver beaches, and to look at signage, education, boat launch limits, policy changes and permits.
Scope, limits and sources
The Green Party release says the motion was set to be heard on June 1, 2026. No source confirming the result was opened.
The Park Board approved the final phase of tree removal in Stanley Park. Digby supported a 40 metre buffer from busy areas, inside which dead trees would come down and outside which they could stay standing.
Scope, limits and sources
Digby told Vancity Lookout there is value in dead trees left standing and on the ground, and said an amendment for public discussion of the forestry plan got no support from colleagues. Tree removal was reported as due to resume in mid October 2025, subject to the court case.
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Interview
Comments on the final phase of Stanley Park tree removal
Digby explained the 40 metre buffer decision to Vancity Lookout, said dead trees have ecological value, said anyone challenging the plan in court had time to act, and said no colleague on the board wanted a public discussion of the forestry plan.
In a Green Party release, Digby described Burrard Inlet as a living habitat and asked for a ban or strong limits on motorized personal watercraft after a Sea-Doo struck a grey whale near Stanley Park on May 4, 2026.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
Policy dispute
Petition asking Digby to resign over Stanley Park tree removal
Michael Robert Caditz, who is now an Independent Parks Party candidate for Park Board, started a Change.org petition on November 4, 2024 asking Digby to resign. The petition says more than 7,000 trees were cut in the winter of 2023 to 2024, says Digby claimed defoliated conifers were a wildfire and falling risk without enough scientific support, and says Digby set aside testimony from scientists at Park Board meetings on October 7 and 8, 2024. The petition had 931 verified signatures against a goal of 1,000 when the page was read.
Candidate or party response
No published reply from Digby to this petition was found. In a July 2025 interview Digby said there is ecological value in dead trees left standing and on the ground, and said an amendment for public discussion of the forestry plan drew no support from other commissioners.
Verified status and limits
Digby did not resign. Digby was reported as Park Board chair in April 2026 and is a Green Party candidate at ballot number 222 in the October 17, 2026 election. A petition is a public demand and carries no legal effect.
Court challenge to the Stanley Park tree removal project
The Stanley Park Preservation Society asked the B.C. Supreme Court to stop the $18 million tree removal project that the Park Board and city council had approved while Digby was a commissioner. Justice Maegen Giltrow refused the injunction, finding a negligence claim was the wrong legal route, while saying the petitioners raised credible and legitimate questions about a process that ran behind closed doors for more than a year. A judicial review was filed in February 2025. The case is about board and council decisions, and the reporting does not record how each commissioner voted.
Candidate or party response
Digby told Vancity Lookout in July 2025 that the plan was clear and anyone wanting to challenge it in court had time to act if they moved quickly, and said other commissioners would not discuss the forestry plan in public.
Verified status and limits
The injunction was refused on October 5, 2024. A judicial review was filed on or before February 10, 2025 and was adjourned until after the Park Board's July 21, 2025 meeting. No ruling on the judicial review was found in any source opened up to September 22, 2026.
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Daily Hive
Full list of Vancouver's new city council, Park Board and School Board
Reported the 2022 Park Board result, with Digby seventh at 39,243 votes and the only winner from outside ABC Vancouver.
Court bid to halt Stanley Park logging fails, but judge criticizes city hall, park board
Justice Maegen Giltrow refused an injunction against the $18 million tree removal project, while criticizing more than a year of closed door decision making by city hall and the Park Board and calling the identity of the decision maker unclear.
Stanley Park Preservation Society heads back to court in a bid to stop logging
Reported a B.C. Supreme Court petition asking the court to rule that the Park Board and city council went beyond their authority and to cancel contracts with B.A. Blackwell and Associates Ltd. The report records Digby's view that hemlocks are a "doomed" species to be replaced with other trees, and the city's position that hemlock looper moths killed about 160,000 trees.
Final phase of Stanley Park logging approved, and a legal challenge kicks back into gear
Reported the Park Board's approval of the final phase, Digby's support for the 40 metre buffer, and the state of the judicial review brought by the Stanley Park Preservation Society.
Vancouver Park Board approves plan to ask city for massive investment
Reported the Park Board's $1.43 billion request to city hall for parks and recreation over four years, and identified Digby as the chair who discussed the plan on Global News Morning.
Sources checked September 22, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
The City of Vancouver website refuses automated requests, so no official Park Board minute, vote record or councillor page could be opened. That means several campaign claims are recorded only as claims: the Integrity Commissioner finding about the 2023 removal of the Stanley Park bike lane, the September 2025 vote restoring it, the cancellation of the $320 green bin fee, the living wage requirement for Park Board contractors, the Lost Lagoon estuary decision, and the "A" rating from HUB Cycling. No HUB Cycling scorecard page was opened. No source was found showing how Digby voted on the Stanley Park tree removal approvals or on the response to the abolition move, so no vote is attributed. No ruling on the Stanley Park Preservation Society judicial review was found. No 2026 all candidates event listing naming Digby as attending was found. The Green Party's own pages are the source for the biography details, the City Planning Commission terms and the 2002 party chair role, and none of those were confirmed independently.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on September 22, 2026: Current campaign material; biographical claims require corroboration.
Campaign page read on September 22, 2026. 4 stated positions and 2 background facts recorded here, each checked against a quotation from that page.
Checks still to do: Verify each claimed vote, outcome and expenditure with minutes and staff reports.
The ballot name, office, ballot number and party label come from the City's final candidate list. Everything described as campaign material is the campaign's own account and has not been confirmed by an independent source.
03 / Background
Experience & community
Current term
Vancouver Park Board commissioner
The official roster lists Tom Digby in this office during the term that ends with the 2026 election. Individual votes and decisions have not been reviewed for this profile.
The Green Party page says Digby served two terms on the city planning commission. A 2022 candidate profile says Digby volunteered four years on that body.
