Ladner on the Referendum: Seriously, why not?

Peter Ladner does a guest column in Metro:
There has been a lot of misguided commentary about the proposed referendum on transit funding. The premier had a populist brain burst during the election when she blurted out the promise of a November 2014 referendum on new sources of money to keep buses and SkyTrains running and expand to new routes.
Of course: Ask the people directly! Let the people decide on which new taxes they want! Look how well it worked with the HST!
Rather than oppose this referendum, as the smarty-pants mayors, councillors and so-called forward thinkers are all doing, they should learn from the premier. Every time some piece of essential, complex infrastructure has to be funded, go to the people with a simple yes or no question. Why didn’t someone think of this before?
So I propose we really put this idea into action.

What’s good for the bus is good for the airport. It’s time to freeze ALL spending on new infrastructure until a November 2014 referendum. Here are some new questions to add to the ballot. Remember, yes or no answers only.
New funding for a Massey Tunnel replacement: Do you approve of higher income taxes to pay for a new $1-billion tunnel?
New funding for B.C. Hydro: Do you approve of a 30 per cent increase in your hydro bill to generate power for liquefied natural gas plants in Kitimat?
New funding for sewage treatment: Do you approve of an increase in your Metro Vancouver bill to cover the $700-million cost of a new Lions Gate sewage-treatment plant?
New funding for airport improvement: Do you want to roll back the increases in user fees at the airport that pay for terminal improvements?
New funding for ferries: Do you approve of a fare increase so B.C. Ferries can keep paying huge salaries to their executives?
New funding for old bridges: Do you want to roll back tolls on the Golden Ears and Port Mann Bridges?
New funding for new bridges: Do you approve of tolls to pay for a new Patullo Bridge?
Finally, our MLAs can get out of the way and let people fed up with taxes make sure we don’t get any new buses or SkyTrains, highway improvements, airport improvements, ferry replacements, or new bridges, and the people on the North Shore can stew in their own waste. Work with it — the people have spoken.

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Peter uses satire to make a point.  But seriously, why aren’t all transportation projects, not just those within TransLink’s jurisdiction, going to be put on the November 2014 ballot?  Why isn’t, at minimum, the Massey Tunnel replacement? 

The Premier would likely say: because it’s in our jurisdiction, because a growing economy requires it, because it’s provincially significant infrastructure, 

And so by implication she would be saying: transit isn’t.

If the referendum therefore fails, no big deal.  Vancouver will get by – yes, with increasingly overcrowded buses (sorry about that B-Line) and existing rapid transit  (just be careful on those too-small Canada Line platforms), with deteriorating and poorly maintained vehicles, with no hope for expansion for a generation.  But it’s not as though our economy necessarily requires a good transit system.

And that’s where the debate needs to go.  Transit needs to be seen as important to the economy as tunnels and highways, as in need of expansion as the airport terminal, as necessary as water and sewer projects.

Referendum proponents need to justify why taking a high risk, given the prospect of a no vote, is justifiable, given the resulting hit to the future of Metro – and why a hit to the Metro economy isn’t important to the province.   And above all, why, if one part of our transport system is worthy of a vote, why not all?

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[As of July 15, there are 488 days to the proposed referendum date.]