The Yes badge Cheryl Lewis has pinned to her coat is a dead giveaway on how she’ll vote in the upcoming plebiscite on a proposed tax to help pay for transit and transportation upgrades in the region.
Almost an hour into her morning commute from her home in New Westminster, Lewis joined a long queue of transit riders Friday at the Commercial and Broadway transit hub waiting to board a B-Line bus to take her to her job at the provincial health authority near Broadway and Cambie.
“This is going to be good for the climate, this is going to be good for air quality, this is going to be good for transportation and good for lower-income people who can’t afford cars,” she said in explaining why she will vote Yes in the plebiscite, which launches March 16 with ballots being mailed to Metro Vancouver residents.
Lewis couldn’t be a better representative for the Yes side in the debate over whether supporting a 0.5 per cent increase to the existing seven per cent sales tax is the best funding tool to help pay for a $7.5 billion plan devised by the region’s mayors.
She stopped using her car a year ago, likes the exercise she gets in walking to and from transit stations and — just to amp up her strong belief in a Yes vote — she’s got plans for some artwork in her front yard to support the campaign.
“We’re going to draw the planet, say it’s important and to vote Yes,” said Lewis from her place in line at the station, where Mayor Gregor Robertson, some of his city councillors and medical health officer Dr. John Carsley handed out pro-Yes pamphlets to transit users.
Lewis was among a half-dozen commuters the Courier spoke to Friday morning who said they will vote Yes in the plebiscite. Supporters say they like the plan’s call for more buses, better service and a subway proposed to run from the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus.
“I don’t mind paying more, if it’s going to add good service and get me there on time,” said Jithin Philip, a health care worker who commutes daily from Delta to his job at Vancouver General Hospital.
Brian Shankaruk and his 18-year-old daughter, Roan, live three blocks from the Commercial and Broadway transit station. After a short walk, they board a B-Line bus, with Roan taking about an hour —including walking and waiting —to get to the University of B.C. Her father’s commute is shorter, since he works near Cambie and Broadway.
“It’s all good stuff,” Brian said of the mayors’ plan. “We’re going to talk about it some more. We’re just hoping it’s done well and there’s no waste. I’m probably a Yes, more than a No.”
Further down the line, a commuter who would only give his name as Wayne, gave Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs an earful on why he will vote No in the plebiscite. He said he doesn’t trust the money will be spent on the projects in the plan.
“My wife and I could handle the books better than they could,” he told Meggs, referring to TransLink’s questionable spending on such projects as the Compass Card system, which still isn’t operating. “And why don’t the bicycle people pay taxes? They cause accidents, too, do they not? You should see how some of them ride their bikes.”
Meggs: “So that’s why you’re voting No?”
Wayne: “Mostly it’s because of the way people at TransLink spend the money. It’s wasteful.”
Robertson’s visit to the transit hub came the day after he announced that billionaire businessman Jimmy Pattison will oversee a committee to ensure funds raised under a proposed tax would be spent on the projects identified in the mayors’ plan.
Though the committee doubles up on what has already been promised by the provincial government, which has committed to annual audits on the money collected under the tax, Robertson said it’s about having an independent third party validate that the tax funds go directly to the projects.
“I’m optimistic people will see this as another important step on accountability and ensuring that we get closer to a Yes vote,” the mayor told reporters after visiting with commuters.
In an interview with the Courier Thursday, Pattison said “I haven’t been asked to sway people’s votes. I’ve just been asked would I get involved in an accountability committee, if the Yes Side wins. And I said yes I would.”
Even if the Yes side wins, the plan still relies on substantial funding from the provincial and federal governments to pay for $7.5 billion in projects and upgrades to be phased in over 10 years.
All provincial Transportation Minister Todd Stone has committed to is “funding one third of major new rapid transit projects and the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge, provided that they fit within the provincial capital plan and strong business cases can be made for the investments.”
Meanwhile, Lewis said she plans to canvas on behalf of the Yes side but noted she’s worried about people rejecting the plebiscite without reading the plan or using the vote as an opportunity to cast a ballot against TransLink or the provincial government.
“People are really not trusting of this,” she said before boarding a bus. “I’m really worried at how controversial this is. I’m worried about how people are so negative about it.”
twitter.com/Howellings
