The latest from Frances Bula in The Globe and Mail: Why some B.C. mayors want local elections, transit referendum on different days
Lower Mainland mayors say local elections could get hijacked this fall if the province carries through with its plan to hold a referendum the same day on how to fund transit improvements.
The region’s 21 municipalities could face a surge of mini-Rob Ford candidates who decide to run against anyone supporting new funding for TransLink, they say. …
“If it’s held during the election, there will be groups trying to make political points on both sides,” said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart. “And we need every local government official in the region focused on selling the benefits of investing in transit. [But during an election], they’re just not going to have enough time.” …
Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie also worried that the timing could wreak havoc.
“There’s definitely the potential that this question could hijack the election and local issues you’re trying to deal with,” said Mr. Moore.
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The final paragraph raises another issue of concern:
No one at this point knows exactly what is going on with timing or wording of a referendum question. Last month, the Premier said in an interview with The Globe and Mail that the referendum would be held in conjunction with next fall’s municipal elections. But Transport Minister Todd Stone later said the date had not been decided.
As with previous Ministers of Transportation, a commitment or statement is made one day, only to be contradicted or overruled by the Premier the next.
I’m hearing that the current minister, Todd Stone, is a quick learner, hard working and ‘gets it’ – but what does it matter if he does not have the confidence of the Premier to pull together the winning coalition needed to get the ‘Yes’ he claims we need?
Back again to the essential point: Does the Premier want a ‘Yes’ – or is she just winging it, and putting the future of the region at risk?
She’s winging it and putting the future of the region at risk.
Now what?
Christy Clark needs to be convinced of this as a priority for urban growth. Like many people who haven;t lived in other, more congested places, she does not see the importance of it.
She is a great campaigner. She looks great. She speaks well. As to her ability to lead a multi-billion $ economy with all its nuanced choices I have my doubts. See the liquor store committee recommendations for example. She unilaterally decided to overrule them. The power has gone to her head. Why have a committee, then ?
What the Mayor Council has proposed makes good sense to me (in a nutshell: add’l sales tax of 1/2%, more road tolls, ability to charge by engine size), so why not approve that and move on ?
Success of the referendum depends on the question asked.
If one ask “do you support tax increases, vehicle levies and road tolls to enhance public transit” most folks would vote no
if the questions is “do you support more investment into public transit” most folks would say yes.
I am a bit more cynical, I hope she is just winging it….but I think it may be a deliberate attempt to put off needed political choices for political gain.
the region and and victoria have been winging it since the vehicle levy was cancelled in the late 1990s.
I don’t think she can be convinced that transit is important, let alone essential, to the growth of Metro Vancouver. She seems to think it’s possible for the 1950’s to go on indefinitely despite clear evidence that they ended before she was even born.
Her dismissive attitude toward most everyone is typical of those who base their decisions upon information from belief systems. The more you try to reason with them the more entrenched their position becomes.