CKNW Editorial
for August 17, 2000

The news that Dallas has just had a huge money by-law passed for their public transit system should tell us a couple of things. First, they rather like the notion of democracy below the line and second, they know, because the people are used to democracy, that placing a proper plan before the public will get public action. Perhaps the best example of democracy in work was in San Francisco where three times the voters turned down public funding for a new ball park. After this happened, the Giants had to seek private funding and the new Bell Stadium is the result. Instead of another huge, bloated cavern the people of the Bay area got a ball park that only holds a little over 40,000 which as a full house is a very nice baseball crowd.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District ought to go back to basics with their transit plans they are, through Translink, trying to foist piece by piece on the long suffering taxpayer.

The issue is pretty basic. Why should people living on the north and west shores, the people of Richmond, Delta, South Surrey and Langley pay for people to get to Vancouver proper from other cities and municipalities when there are no firm plans in place for decent transit for themselves? It is surely no wonder that several municipalities are threatening to withdraw from the GVRD.

It’s not that there haven’t been public hearings – there have been scads of them. There have not, however, been hearings that resulted in two or three options, assessing the funding required for each, followed by a referendum. That's what democracy is all about.

George Puil and his pal Mayor Owen think that democracy only comes every three years and that after that they can do as they please. Unhappily, under the law as it’s written they’re right. But what they are finding is that the public are way ahead of the law as she is writ. And I suspect that two years and a bit from now there’s going to be some substantial changes in the political makeup of a number of city halls including Vancouver’s.

I have no doubt that if there was a plan on the table that showed just when public transit was coming to each municipality and what the overall cost was going to be, the public would support it in a referendum.

Politicians are scared stiff of referenda. A good part of that fear is because they are sure that the people will always turn them down. The public might vote “no” from time to time and that might make it very awkward for politicians but that’s democracy.

Perhaps a bigger part of the reluctance to hold referenda is plain old fashioned arrogance. George Puil, the head of translink reports to the GVRD of which he is the chairman. As Chairman of the GVRD he reports to the Vancouver City Council of which he is senior councilman, a member of the majority party and a long time crony of the mayor’s. This is democracy? This is reminiscent of the Moscow system before the Iron Curtain fell.

George Puil should be known as Mad King George because of his egocentric view that he is right and the people are all wrong.

I say develop a plan for everyone affected or let those who are served by Skytrain pay for the transportation they get and leave the rest of us alone.

It’s argued, of course, that poor old Vancouver gets all of the traffic problems. Well, poor, old Vancouver also gets the huge revenues that accrue from a million people coming there to work or shop or both every day.

Show me a plan that, within a reasonable period of time brings me into the picture and I’ll support it. Leave me at the other end of a falling down, three lane horror story of a bridge and you can take your Skytrain and  … I don’t think I ought to finish that sentence.