BC Liberals to Appoint Private Board of Translink Directors

[j3rk]

Opposition calls Bill 43 'insidious'



More than 100 protesters gathered outside Canada Place yesterday to demand the provincial government cancel plans to replace TransLink.s current board of elected officials with an appointed private-sector board.


By ANDREW FIFIELD for Metro Vancouver
TransLink will be free to raise property taxes with no accountability to the public if proposed legislation passes this month, a crowd of more than 100 protesters outside Canada Place was told yesterday.

Bill 43, introduced by Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, aims to replace the current TransLink board of elected officials with a new one made up of government- appointed directors.

NDP MLA Maurine Karagianis accused the government of burying the bill in order to invoke closure on debate.

"Falcon has already appointed the board, which is illegal because the legislation isn't in place," she said. "They want to push this through to legitimize their privatization plans"
"This may be the government's most insidious piece of legislation since 2001".

Vision Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal said the bill's passage would undermine democracy because the new board will not be held responsible to voters.

"This bill takes your voice out of your mouth," she told the crowd. "It strips it from you and hides it behind closed doors."

Falcon has said that the new structure would enhance accountability because mayors could vote on the board's recommendations.

[j3rk]

btw. it's my brother in the nix0n mask <3 Soo proud

[j3rk]

handing over BC Transit over to translink was one of the worst things that ever happened in this city. no one really gives a shit. my brother is actually one of the biggest supports of translink i know, having helped improve transit services for students at the school he attends with their board...but i still don't like them. they're raising the bus prices again in the new year to $2.50 for 1 zone. $5 from surrey to downtown. Fucking silly. Anyone remember when the bus was $1.25 and 75c for kids?

We're supposed an environmental city, but it's all hype. BC as a whole maybe. but not Vancouver (except for the high density housing downtown)

[esoter1c]

Originally Posted by j3rk

handing over BC Transit over to translink was one of the worst things that ever happened in this city. no one really gives a shit. my brother is actually one of the biggest supports of translink i know, having helped improve transit services for students at the school he attends with their board...but i still don't like them. they're raising the bus prices again in the new year to $2.50 for 1 zone. $5 from surrey to downtown. Fucking silly. Anyone remember when the bus was $1.25 and 75c for kids?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that shit.

Time to riot.

[j3rk]

Originally Posted by esoter1c

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that shit.

Time to riot.

Now we're getting somewhere.

[j3rk]

I've refuse to pay my bus fares on the Bus Riders Union goes on strike. I don't really like that group, but i love hopping on the bus and refusing to show my bus pass to the same bus driver who's seen me get on and show it for the past year.

[j3rk]

BRU + Larry Cambell made for some of the most fun politics on Vancouver public television.

=( I wish i still had channel 4.

[miss.myra]

translink is bullshit, it does little/no good for us even when it's run by an elected board of directors.


What good is having an 'elected' board of directors that is just a bunch of mayors and city council members who at the end of the day are only interested in promoting the special interests of their city (oh, and Sam Sullivan is a DOUCHEBAG) . I mean, how much is the mayor of Maple Ridge really going to care about the poorly planned situation that is Broadway station? IMO, we need to get people in there that are truly neutral and truly concerned with the issues translink faces and not just concerned with what is happening in their own city.

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by j3rk

handing over BC Transit over to translink was one of the worst things that ever happened in this city. no one really gives a shit. my brother is actually one of the biggest supports of translink i know, having helped improve transit services for students at the school he attends with their board...but i still don't like them. they're raising the bus prices again in the new year to $2.50 for 1 zone. $5 from surrey to downtown. Fucking silly. Anyone remember when the bus was $1.25 and 75c for kids?

We're supposed an environmental city, but it's all hype. BC as a whole maybe. but not Vancouver (except for the high density housing downtown)

totally agreed!

bring back BC Transit!

[jenai]

Isn't the each of the Translink guys supposed to be PUBLICLY accountable since our tax money actually supports it?

Yes, everyone should practise anarchist actions against Translink by discussing it loudly on every bus, and every (Mission <> Vancouver) train and Skytrain car

[decypher]

Originally Posted by j3rk

handing over BC Transit over to translink was one of the worst things that ever happened in this city. no one really gives a shit. my brother is actually one of the biggest supports of translink i know, having helped improve transit services for students at the school he attends with their board...

Yeh they just had a referendum for the U-Pass at SFU. Basically it was, yes to an increase or no U-Pass at all.

[SEAN!]

they might actually be able to run something better then a group that is basically running a multibillion dollar school district that is divided into multiple fieftems.

theres no reason for a mayor in burnaby to head a group of indirectly elected individulas who are ruminating over a road in langley. who ever governs translink should have a regional view of the impactsd and should actually know how to read a balance sheet instead of being an overglorified school trustee.

and these 'corporate' types actually know how to build somehting that works without being caught up politics. atleast the accountants and business people actualy know how to get the most benefit without fucking everyone over.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

translink is bullshit, it does little/no good for us even when it's run by an elected board of directors.


What good is having an 'elected' board of directors that is just a bunch of mayors and city council members who at the end of the day are only interested in promoting the special interests of their city (oh, and Sam Sullivan is a DOUCHEBAG) . I mean, how much is the mayor of Maple Ridge really going to care about the poorly planned situation that is Broadway station? IMO, we need to get people in there that are truly neutral and truly concerned with the issues translink faces and not just concerned with what is happening in their own city.

FUCK YOU!!! Im gonna trample over your ideas because im mayor of a middlingl city of no consequence who only got elected by 13% of the population, im not going to let you do something that benefits over two million people because its against my principles of being an unrealistic dickhead.

/ david corrigan

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by jenai

Isn't the each of the Translink guys supposed to be PUBLICLY accountable since our tax money actually supports it?

Yes, everyone should practise anarchist actions against Translink by discussing it loudly on every bus, and every (Mission <> Vancouver) train and Skytrain car

Instead of that how about we devote our energies to something that is actually going to work.

[jenai]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

Instead of that how about we devote our energies to something that is actually going to work.

What works is joining the Bus Riders Union, nothing else!

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by jenai

What works is joining the Bus Riders Union, nothing else!

what have they done?

has it been effective? or it is juct another career protestor's wet dream?

[j3rk]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

what have they done?

has it been effective? or it is juct another career protestor's wet dream?

The BRU doesn't do much. They're pretty useless. My beef with them is they try to push other social agenda's instead of only focusing on what they should be doing which is focusing on causing raucous at translink meetings and getting issues into the press.

[j3rk]

TransLink: Put our money where your mouth is!
Use the $17 million surplus to stop the 2008 fare increase.

TransLink recently announced that they have an extra $17 million in surplus in their 2007 budget. This $17 million is in addition to their existing surplus of $48 million for this year. This is a new opportunity to stop the 2008 fare increase.

The fare increase is projected to raise $18 million dollars. The Bus Riders Union is preparing pressure TransLink over the next two months to use the $17 million to cancel the fare increase.

When bus riders called on TransLink to scrap the fare increase in June 2006, board members responded that they 'didn't want to increase fares, but needed the money to buy more buses and keep up with inflation'. As a public service TransLink has the responsibility to buy more buses, reduce wait times and overcrowding, and make fares more affordable.

With this extra $17 million surplus there is no excuse for TransLink to proceed with the fare increase. Already bus riders are struggling to pay high fares, high rents, high tuition, and high childcare costs with inadequate wages and welfare rates.

TransLink's actions in the past have shown that they are more interested in creating opportunities for big business than in social and environmental justice. Bus riders need to come together to make sure that TransLink does the right thing and uses the $17 million surplus to stop the fare increase.

[j3rk]

My brother justifies the fare increases as keeping up with inflation.....but fuck, our wages/raises don't keep up with inflation....why should our bus fares.

[rustybob]

I hate people who wine about public transit. There's no perfect solution for it. But what pisses me off the most is people who whine about price, yet expect there to be better public transit for free, and with no disruption for them.

You want more/better/nicer buses? Those aren't free. You want more rapid transit? That's not free. You expect major projects to be done with zero disruption? Good luck with that.

I'll admit, I wasn't in Vancouver when BC Transit ran things. But right now, as everyone said, there's not going to be a whole lot of difference between having the mayors and council running things, and having people appointed. In fact, even if we did vote who got in, do you really think they're going to do what in the best interest of the entire GVRD? Fuck no. They're going to vote for what's best for where they live. It's the same right now. So what's the difference? Does a board of people we didn't actually put there going to be any different than people appointed?

[jenai]

there is one way to beat the prices: get declared PWD and pay 45 bucks a year for a yearly pass.

the only catch to this is you must be on welfare, and have a real disability, mental or physical.

or, 65 or over, then you can use your OAP card to get the yearly pass.

the good news is you need to collect all your farecards for the year to get the transit income tax kickback this coming tax season.

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by rustybob

I hate people who wine about public transit. There's no perfect solution for it. But what pisses me off the most is people who whine about price, yet expect there to be better public transit for free, and with no disruption for them.

You want more/better/nicer buses? Those aren't free. You want more rapid transit? That's not free. You expect major projects to be done with zero disruption? Good luck with that.

I'll admit, I wasn't in Vancouver when BC Transit ran things. But right now, as everyone said, there's not going to be a whole lot of difference between having the mayors and council running things, and having people appointed. In fact, even if we did vote who got in, do you really think they're going to do what in the best interest of the entire GVRD? Fuck no. They're going to vote for what's best for where they live. It's the same right now. So what's the difference? Does a board of people we didn't actually put there going to be any different than people appointed?

Pardon my bluntness, but what the fuck do you think funds public transit? TAX DOLLARS.

that means people can bitch ALL THEY WANT because THEY PAID FOR IT!

[rustybob]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

Pardon my bluntness, but what the fuck do you think funds public transit? TAX DOLLARS.

that means people can bitch ALL THEY WANT because THEY PAID FOR IT!

If you want to pay even more taxes for something that people will bitch about until it's as convenient as owning a car, be my guest. I don't, I pay enough taxes already.

[j3rk]

The issue with this bill is that you will essentially have a private board of un-elected officials who can raise taxes.

That issue alone is bigger than translink and the bus system.

What's next? Coca-Cola controlling the environmental recycling fees of cans of pop? Malbro controlling the taxes on cigarettes?

Translink is a for profit company, which is heavily subsidized by the taxes which they can raise with out your consent or input. You won't even be able to vote on who gets on this board who can raise your taxes.

slippery sloap.

[rustybob]

Originally Posted by Senior

I think a region wide elected board would be a good way of looking at it. that way people could run for the board who actually have an interest specifically in transportation issues and it would maintain accountability to the public. Sean makes a great point that the system as it is is completely dysfunctional. mayors are accountable to nothing other than their own city and this creates a huge NIMBY affect across the entire lower mainland.

Do you honestly think an elected board will make a difference? If someone's trying to get elected for Burnaby, do you think they're going to talk about transit expansion into the valley? Do you really think that'll get them elected in Burnaby? Not a chance. People are worried about what affects them, not what's best for the region.