July 8, 2013

Referendum: Colour me skeptical

From News1130:

With fewer than 500 days to put it together, is it even possible for all parties to agree on a transit referendum in Metro Vancouver?
One transportation expert is very skeptical.
Even crafting the agreement is going to be a challenge, according to SFU City Program Director Gord Price. He doesn’t think it has been properly-thought through.
“Can you agree on the wording? Can you mount a campaign? Can you overcome any opposition there may be on the united front especially when the province isn’t likely to be a part of it? Is there any realistic chance of it passing?” he wonders
He figures even putting the question out is going to take a lot of time. “I think the real question is ‘Should we even try?’ Is this any exercise where there is enough possibility of winning that it is worth everybody now focusing on this intensely for the next year?”
When it comes to the campaign, he says “You’ve got to also somehow find money, and large amounts of it, because it will have to be a major media campaign to convince the public that all these things we say we want… we are prepared to pay for it when the bill is going to be in the multi-billions of dollars.”
Metro Vancouver mayors unanimously voted against a referendum last month, saying it would divide the region.
The council is also pressing the new transportation minister to abandon the promise, but there are so far no plans to do so.

I discussed the referendum with a councillor from one of the northeast municipalities who, despite his enthusiasm for transit, doubts a referendum would win.  He’s doubtful that there will be much in it for those beyond the Evergreen Line.  Indeed, if there was a strong challenge from anti-tax candidates, he might be, by the time of the municipal election, at best neutral and at worst forced to oppose it.
There’s also an interview with the new Transportation Minister Todd Stone in the Sun today.   (I had forgotten that he was an assistant to Premier Gordon Campbell; he is certainly that style of leader – and was probably influenced by Campbell in the same way that Campbell was influenced by Mayor Art Phillips when he was his assistant.)
Astonishingly, other than a question regarding tolling policy, there is no reference to the referendum.  Yet this will be a huge test for Stone’s abilities.  Can he find a way through the tangle that the Premier has created with a requirement for a vote on any new funding source for TransLink with a ‘none-of-the-above’ option?
[As of July 8, there are 495 days left – if the referendum is held on municipal election day.]

Posted in

Support

If you love this region and have a view to its future please subscribe, donate, or become a Patron.

Share on

Comments

Leave a Reply to Thomas BeyerCancel Reply

  1. I actually welcome the referendum. That is the first time aside from HST referendum that I will be making a real decision as opposed to picking among real estate developer funded muni/provincial candidates so that they can make important decisions for me. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of direct democracy. In fact, the general state of Canadian political apathy should benefit from a few of these. And as far as I know, our American neighbors have managed to fund a number of Transit projects despite referendums.and even legalize pot in a state or two. So somehow they have leapfrogged us supposedly liberal Canadians on liberal issues. Yet we are somehow afraid to give the power to the people to make real decisions? Why?

    1. …because if you give people the ability to turn down paying for something like California did then ultimately you’ll end up in the awful budget mess that California ended up in where they had to close schools, fire halls etc. because people didn’t want to pay for them.

  2. Sean – California has a Draconian 66.7% law for money items (new taxes), plus the infamous Prop 13 property tax law in the 1970’s that really triggered the process of bankrupting the state. Meanwhile, next door Arizona, with only a simple majority rule, regularly passes bond issues despite it’s legendary right-wing – anti-government – stance on most things.
    If all tax items had a simple majority law, including for roads, tunnels, bridges and sewers as well as for transit, I’d be all for such direct democracy here. However, here we see transit being singled out as an exception and I think that is the real issue that puts it’s future funding in jeopardy with such a referendum.

  3. In the City of Vancouver most capital plans pass with >60% support. How do they do that? Well the establishment wants them to be supported so they crafts the plans to appeal to as many voters as possible. They use positive terms like “public safety” and “recreational facilities” and group things together so everyone can see something worthy of supporting in each package. You may not support expanding the police force, but you don’t want the firemen to have to dig themselves out of their collapsed building in the next earthquake so you vote Yes. Like magic the city has money to hire more cops.
    Instead of Yes or No, the transit referendum will have multiple choices to split the Yes vote into pieces. By itself that greatly enhances the likelihood that No will garner the most support. This won’t be a package designed to appeal to all, but a referendum on a single item that’s used by only 25% of the population. Drivers think they already pay too much so they’re not likely to listen to anyone tell them how much they owe transit users for staying off the roads and subsidizing their travel. Add two decades of Victoria and the media blaming TransLink for all transportation ills and the result is a foregone conclusion.

  4. I see the referendum as a government shirking its responsibility to make decisions for the good of the people. I can’t see how it can be crafted to win if none of the above is an option. It may have a chance if it is taken that a funding source is given and the question is which ken do you support. I’m deeply disaapointed with the referendum decision as it could put transit back by a decade or longer.

Subscribe to Viewpoint Vancouver

Get breaking news and fresh views, direct to your inbox.

Join 7,284 other subscribers

Show your Support

Check our Patreon page for stylish coffee mugs, private city tours, and more – or, make a one-time or recurring donation. Thank you for helping shape this place we love.

Popular Articles

See All

All Articles