Kevin Falcon is so evil he is the devil incarnate for sure...
TransLink 'makeover' a sham
By Allen Garr
The Big Lie told about the current TransLink board is that it is "dysfunctional." The dozen local politicians appointed to the board by the GVRD become so entangled in their own parochial interests they are paralyzed.
This point has been effectively repeated by the provincial government in general and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon in particular with the able assistance of the Vancouver Board of Trade.
A series of public opinion polls conducted by TransLink starting near the end of the 2001 bus strike showed the organization growing in public approval from a low of 33 per cent to a high of 67 per cent. Since the provincial assault began, that has dropped to the high 50s.
What irked Falcon and the rest was the lengthy, and at times, tortuous debate over the RAV Line (now the Canada Line) and specifically whether it should proceed as a "P3," a public-private partnership.
TransLink Board member NPA Coun. Peter Ladner wasn't on the board for that debate. But he notes the size of the RAV project and its impact on other transit projects was sufficient reason to warrant a lengthy discussion. "To confuse disagreement with dysfunction is a mistake," he says.
The board also produced a three-year operating plan and a 10-year outlook. And it did approve a RAV plan that included a P3. What is more, in spite of so-called parochial interests, the RAV project, which will most directly benefit Vancouver and Richmond, was supported by mayors from the northeast of the region even though their own priority for a rapid transit line-the Evergreen Line-was delayed as a result.
None of that matters. Falcon set the table to yank significant control of transportation policy away from local officials. He is expected to introduce legislation to implement a series of recommendations issued in a report last week. There will be changes to funding, governance and the geographic area covered by the transportation authority. All Vancouver councillors agree we will be worse off as a result.
TransLink funding has always been precarious thanks, again, to Victoria. The first problem arose with the vehicle levy, a tax the province agreed to implement. But once it was passed by TransLink and the GVRD, former NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh reneged. That decision threw TransLink into a state of financial uncertainty. It took years to recover. TransLink director NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton says the board still "mourns" the loss of that levy.
But the B.C. Liberals have been no better. Their refusal to give TransLink an extra penny of their gas tax revenue left the board with no real choices except more property taxes and the unpopular parking stall tax.
Under Falcon's plan, bus fares, property taxes and the gas tax will all rise. But it won't cost the provincial treasury a nickel.
The governance of the operation will be even less accountable and more remote from regional voters than it is now. It will also cost more for extra layers of bureaucracy.
The TransLink board will be replaced by 11 "professionals" appointed by the province. Some 31 regional mayors will sit on a council that meets a few times a year to approve a 10-year strategic plan developed by the board.
The mayors will also hire a commissioner on a six-year term. The commissioner will set bus fares but will be independent of the board, the mayors and the provincial government. He will judge citizen satisfaction through polling and take no specific complaints about service.
And that's not all. The area covered by the transportation authority will be expanded beyond the GVRD to include Pemberton and Hope. That will likely shift the focus of the debate from transit improvements to asphalt. Those outlying communities of car drivers will be demanding better and bigger roads for their commutes.
published on 03/14/2007