That’s the number of days left until the referendum on transit funding, if it is to be held at next municipal election.
Less than a year, then, and where are we?
- No wording.
- No agreement on the projects to be funded.
- No consensus on the preferred choice of funding mechanism (dare we say ‘tax’).
- No leadership group. No leader.
- No campaign strategy, no campaign funding.
- No alternative.
And very little hope it will pass.
Additional funding would be nice, but is this benefitting the Liberal party ? Perhaps too many voters in MetroVancouver vote NDP, so with more funding and additional $s even more folks vote NDP ?
Maybe it’s good that the referendum is looking so hopeless. Maybe it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see it as legitimate.
I do not doubt the many benefits of additional subways, especially to UBC !
I think though we have to show MORE economic benefits of a $3B to $5B investment besides “livability”. I think we have to advance better ECONOMIC arguments such as an ROI on the $s invested through more research, higher property taxes, more investment, more JOBS, higher GDP !!
Left leaning politicians / socialists always have great ideas how others fund their own better life.
The issue is taxation and the degree of how much government is “enough”. BC has pretty high taxes compared to other parts of Canada. The NDP ruined this province in the 90′s. Animosity to that runs deep. I think the BC Liberals need to see more ECONOMIC arguments, and better MetroVan governance. It seems to me that 26 municipalities, many with left-leaning councilors or mayors, is too many. How about: 1 ?
Maybe that is the core issue of why the BC Liberals balk at the required funding ? They don’t trust the local politicians ?
what are you talking about, socialists/left leaning politicians having great ideas of how to fund their own better life? I bet most politicians of any stripe don’t take transit, so how is this benefiting them? And as a socialist myself, a Broadway subway would have very little personal benefit as I rarely go west of Main (how typical). I still support it, for the greater good, and I’m still willing and happy to help pay for that subway.
So let’s get past this myth about socialists and left-leaning people, especially transit users, selfishly demanding other people’s money to support their lifestyle – that’s what drivers do, not transit supporters.
Nicely said, Tessa. As an eastside dwelling socialist I’m happy to pay more tax to fund better transit for everyone – Broadway corridor, out to the ‘burbs, or wherever. And you’re quite right about driver’s selfish demands too.
Good background information on this transit quagmire by Maria Harris (Director Electoral Area A) here: http://www.mariaharris.ca/Issues_Transit_2.shtml
Out of curiosity, could we have a split referendum?
That is, could the north of the Fraser vote on projects that will go north of the Fraser and the south of the Fraser vote on projects south of the Fraser? That way, if the vote passes in one jurisdiction, the projects in that jurisdiction go ahead, and if they don’t pass in the other jurisdiction, the projects in that jurisdiction don’t go ahead.
It could even be weighted a bit, so that if the South of the Fraser votes for the new taxes, they will get not only the money from taxes collected SoF, but maybe also a small percentage of NoF taxes, too, to compensate for the lower current service levels and the lower farebox recovery. That way, SoF would be essentially losing money by voting no. Goodbye unfairness arguments from suburban drivers.
Either way, I expect a city like Vancouver could really get behind a yes campaign if it meant a Broadway subway or fewer pass-ups, and could go it alone if SoF voters balked at the cost.
I doubt this sort of idea would pass the gatekeepers in the province, however.