Price Tags will be asking every MLA in Metro Vancouver these questions:
- How will you advise your constituents to vote on the Transportation & Transit Referendum?
- What is the priority in the Mayors package (if any) for your riding?
- How do you plan to participate in the referendum campaign?
- Any other comments?
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Sam Sullivan, Liberal MLA for Vancouver-False Creek:
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(1) I will be recommending enthusiastically a yes vote to my constituents.
(2) There will not be a lot of direct benefits to my riding. I am recommending this because we are a part of the region and when it is healthy we are healthy.
(3) I plan to speak in favour of a yes vote.
(4) The reality is that the majority of all trips made in the downtown are not made by car or transit or bicycle but by foot which is the cheapest form of transportation. Because we have high density, the transit we have is used heavily and more than pays for itself.
Downtown transit riders already subsidize the automobile infrastructure and the low-density, low-use transit areas. Also because of the high number of transactions that take place in the downtown, the sales tax will have a bigger impact here than most areas. However the well-being of the downtown is intricately related to the well-being of the rest of the region.
A no vote would substantially reduce the quality of life of people in the region and would take a long time to recover from.
I am grateful to all of the Mayors and other elected representatives who have spent a lot of time and energy working together to come up with a plan that will meet the needs of the future. More than anyone, they know what is at stake and we should respect that.
