2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite - Result In - 62% NO

[DonLever]

Looks like YES campaign is using the $6 Million of the taxpayers money.

Another reason to vote no. I did not give give them the authorization to use my money this way. I rather have the NO side have the money.

From CKNW:

We are finally getting a peek at how much money Metro Mayors are using to push for a Yes vote in the transit plebiscite.

Social media lit up Monday night with claims Langley Township Mayor Jack Froese had told the audience of a telephone town hall that Translink has transferred $1.2 million to the Yes campaign.

Today, Froese says thats not true in an interview with CKNW, but in doing so, he revealed the correct figure.

We have up to $6 million that has been authorized to spend on the campaign.

The media have repeatedly asked the mayors how much theyre spending on their campaign, but theyve said they would only reveal that after the vote results are in.

Froese says this is not new money.

I dont want to say this as a spin but there is money that Translink has in there budget already for advertising and promotions during the normal course of the day. I believe some of that was diverted to this. It is not like we are digging for more money. It is a lot of money there is no question but it is a campaign and it is an important campaign. It is important for our future that we are successful.

The No side, led by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, has said its fueled by a $27,000 campaign.

The ballots for the transit tax vote started going out in the mail yesterday. The public has until May 29 to mail their vote back in.

[elvis15]

Well the Liberals tried implementing the HST. You know happened. The public was so angry they started a recall campaign. The HST was a solid plan but the public hated it too. This tax is even lower than the HST but people still dislike it.

As was stated on the first page, the HST no vote wasn't against the tax per se, but against how it was brought in with no public discussion and effectively hidden so the government wouldn't look bad. I guess we should forgive them since they already look bad enough considering all their failed 'projects' they keep finding money for while nickel and diming other areas that desperately need the money.

So, if they could find a away to finance and implement these changes with transparent public involvement (other than waiting and asking them to please vote yes on an issue most won't likely properly understand and instead vote no because of legitimate fears of government waste) then it'd probably be all clear.

But on the plan and vote itself:

While I agree that we need the infrastructure improvements, I don't have a lot of faith that Translink or the government have any competency to actually spend the extra money wisely as I already mentioned. Sure, maybe some of it goes to good projects - and I'll probably vote yes based on that alone - but I find it very hard to agree to give them more money just so they can find new ways to waste it. People have been burned not just once but plenty of times by many different governments and it's not getting better, only worse as we find out more about just how smart they've been all these years at doing it.

Maybe they could convert the Compass system to polling stations to see just how many people support the extra taxes...

[elvis15]

So, we should just raise more taxes to a broken system? I don't get your objective either.

I'm not laying all the blame to Translink, it's the whole thing as a whole from Provincial levels to all the way down.

Voting NO will send a message that people are tired of the wheels spinning without any real progress. Hopefully Translink will know that their mandate is on a short leash and they will have to make some real changes soon. Once they have changed all they can, people will be targeting the BC government next.

If they haven't realized this by now then a No vote isn't going to change anything. They'll chalk it up to people not wanted to pay more taxes just like the government has done anything meaningful to change their practices after the HST was repealed.

I'd like to say it feels good to take that moral stand, but I lose more and more faith in the government and it corporations every day.

[Chalky]

For the last few days I've really tried to understand the reasons to vote Yes. I agree there needs to be huge infrastructure improvements. I can accept that Translink will not be perfect in this, and grudgingly I can accept the BC Provincial Liberals have DROPPED THE F'N BALL in reacting to a need for infrastructure improvements...leaving the Mayors holding a large burning paper bag of dog crap. Where I still get stuck is how a value add tax was chosen in the first place, and how it will be collected. I do not want to hear about how it's being made law that the funds will be diverted. No "Yes" proponent 've soken with can answer this to my satisfaction. Do they know yet? It's easy to make the calculation as to what the value of the collected tax increase should net Translink, but what is the venue to quarantine and divert those funds? I want to know before I make my decision. In my opinion, we will paying the tax increase followed by paying for the balance owing on the infrastructure out of Provincial or Municipal tax dollars. There is no precedent for this, and despite Jimmy Pattison agreeing to audit the spending vs. the revenue, I'm not convinced. To me that is just a Wolf in Sheep's clothing. In all likelihood this will end up costing more than if the Prov Libs just bucked up and did their jobs in the first place. One thing is certain, I will not vote BC Liberal for a long time if they indeed leave the Mayors holding the bag. I'm appalled at Christy Clark's apathy towards transit users.

[elvis15]

Perhaps you should check your facts because Big Business is part of the YES side. The Vancouver Board of Trade and the BC Chamber of Commerce are part of tthe coaltion pushing for a yes vote. If it is all about maximizing profits why are they on the yes side.

Anyways it would not be $20 less profit for the big businesses since they will just pass the cost onto the working man. So its the working man who has less money in their pocket at the end.

But then why are they on the Yes side? Is it because they have under the table handshake agreements that stand to gain them money? Is it just that they would have a chance to bid and earn on these projects in a more legal way? Or is it just that they'd benefit from the improved infrastructure as much as the rest of the public?

[inane]

You'd have to ask the province for the greasy details, but a condition of the vote is that it it's set aside in a fund no one else can touch.

Province also just confirmed today they are ready with their one third of the funding and are confident in getting the federal third.

[elvis15]

I vote Pirate Parrrrty for everyone!

[inane]

Talk about dysfunctional. Just today the province announces 2.5 billion for new bridges, cycling paths and transit in other cities--no vote required. Wtf is going on with these clowns in Victoria.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

Talk about dysfunctional. Just today the province announces 2.5 billion for new bridges, cycling paths and transit in other cities--no vote required. Wtf is going on with these clowns in Victoria.

a reason to increase the taxes. The transit thing is hopes to make it more appealing by telling us they will use that money to improve roads, trains, transit etc etc etc.

but yes, an easy no for me. Just can easily just allocate 0.5 % of the taxes they are getting and use that to improve the roads or their plans. easy.

[inane]

a reason to increase the taxes. The transit thing is hopes to make it more appealing by telling us they will use that money to improve roads, trains, transit etc etc etc.

but yes, an easy no for me. Just can easily just allocate 0.5 % of the taxes they are getting and use that to improve the roads or their plans. easy.

Shame you aren't educating yourself.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

Shame you aren't educating yourself.

wtf is the meaning of this? how old are you?

[vancouvercanucks2010]

wtf is the meaning of this? how old are you?

Just ignore him. He knows he is on the losing side, so naturally he resort to personal insults.

[inane]

Just ignore him. He knows he is on the losing side, so naturally he resort to personal insults.

We're all on the losing side.

Not a personal insult, just painful to watch you guys argue from a place if ignorance. Not ignorance as in you're stupid, but as in lacking information. There are perfectly valid reasons to vote no, but some of the ones I've seen here are just ridiculous.

[vancouvercanucks2010]

We're all on the losing side.

Not a personal insult, just painful to watch you guys argue from a place if ignorance. Not ignorance as in you're stupid, but as in lacking information. There are perfectly valid reasons to vote no, but some of the ones I've seen here are just ridiculous.

I disagree, we should look for ways to eliminate GST/PST, not increase them.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

We're all on the losing side.

Not a personal insult, just painful to watch you guys argue from a place if ignorance. Not ignorance as in you're stupid, but as in lacking information. There are perfectly valid reasons to vote no, but some of the ones I've seen here are just ridiculous.

to some people it is a personal insult.

I have the brochure in front of my face right now.

You want me to educate myself

ok

one of the plans.

25% increase in bus service

80% more night buses

30% more handy dart services.

ok.

why the hell are you raising our taxes for it? Translik makes hell of a lot of money and they can easily afford it themselves.

they can !@##$ themselves with the transit plan, and btw, how old are you?

if your old enough to be driving do you actually know that every time we buy gas, a percentage of the gas we buy goes towards transit? yea.... the people that don't even use their services are paying for transit

they can go !@#$ themselves.

personally you can vote yes, I will not resort to running insults into you.

in my oppinon they can easily afford to do all that without the cost of raising our taxes, plus I no longer trust our government because they have lied to us in the past, for example

HST

they said they had no intentions of implementing the HST if they vote them back into office, Gordon Campbell was voted back into office and then he applied the HST. Liars right? yea.

[Warhippy]

I just want to know.

How much money is coming from outside of the lower mainland for this whole overpriced mess?

Just curious as today the BC Gov announced $2.5 BILLION in spending for transit and highways yet....didn't say how much was going just to vancouver.

As someone who lives outside of the coast i'd dearly like to know how much of my money is going to this. especially after recently driving between Golden and Banff.

Ever been? it's an amazing single lane highway with potholes up to 18 inches deep and hairpin turns before it evens out. Awesome driving, really keeps you on your toes

[inane]

I just want to know.

How much money is coming from outside of the lower mainland for this whole overpriced mess?

Just curious as today the BC Gov announced $2.5 BILLION in spending for transit and highways yet....didn't say how much was going just to vancouver.

As someone who lives outside of the coast i'd dearly like to know how much of my money is going to this. especially after recently driving between Golden and Banff.

Ever been? it's an amazing single lane highway with potholes up to 18 inches deep and hairpin turns before it evens out. Awesome driving, really keeps you on your toes

2.5 billion with no vote. Of course. Google the plan, it's got details on where the projects are.

[inane]

to some people it is a personal insult.

I have the brochure in front of my face right now.

You want me to educate myself

ok

one of the plans.

25% increase in bus service

80% more night buses

30% more handy dart services.

ok.

why the hell are you raising our taxes for it? Translik makes hell of a lot of money and they can easily afford it themselves.

they can !@##$ themselves with the transit plan, and btw, how old are you?

if your old enough to be driving do you actually know that every time we buy gas, a percentage of the gas we buy goes towards transit? yea.... the people that don't even use their services are paying for transit

they can go !@#$ themselves.

personally you can vote yes, I will not resort to running insults into you.

in my oppinon they can easily afford to do all that without the cost of raising our taxes, plus I no longer trust our government because they have lied to us in the past, for example

HST

they said they had no intentions of implementing the HST if they vote them back into office, Gordon Campbell was voted back into office and then he applied the HST. Liars right? yea.

See, when you say thing like translink can afford it themselves cause they have lots of money... you're not doing any research or critical thinking.

As for the hst, yeah they lied. Which is why voting yes to a vote that's got specific projects with specific deliverables based on best practice and is regionally supported is the best of mediocre options.

[Chalky]

I just want to know.

How much money is coming from outside of the lower mainland for this whole overpriced mess?

Just curious as today the BC Gov announced $2.5 BILLION in spending for transit and highways yet....didn't say how much was going just to vancouver.

As someone who lives outside of the coast i'd dearly like to know how much of my money is going to this. especially after recently driving between Golden and Banff.

Ever been? it's an amazing single lane highway with potholes up to 18 inches deep and hairpin turns before it evens out. Awesome driving, really keeps you on your toes

It's Hwy 1 between Golden and Banff and it crosses two provinces, so I doubt BC is footing that bill. It does have areas of single lane, but certainly not the whole distance. As for Provincial infrastructure costs, the Lower Mainland subsidizes costs for the rural areas of BC, yet there are many in rural areas who are up in arms every time their taxes fund anything to do with the Lower Mainland. I predict you will be angry when you find out how much the Province is paying, it's a third from what I know. I can't confirm exactly where the money is coming from though. I'm totally going to rub it in. You're going to love your new Massey Tunnel

[Chalky]

2.5 billion with no vote. Of course. Google the plan, it's got details on where the projects are.

But not really where the money comes from.