Sadie DeCoste is too young to vote in the upcoming transportation referendum, so she’s counting on her elders to think of her generation.
DeCoste, a member of the environmental club at New Westminster Secondary School, joined a cross-section of local organizations at city hall Monday morning to launch the Vote Yes New West Coalition, which is urging citizens to vote Yes in the upcoming transit referendum. DeCoste said youth use public transit daily, taking buses to and from school and riding the SkyTrain to part-time jobs and friends’ houses.
“Public transit is the most feasible means of getting from one place to another,” she said. “We are the generation that will face the impacts of climate change, the human rights issue of our time.”
In order to combat climate change, DeCoste said society needs to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and the region needs to provide viable alternatives to driving. Although youth will be inheriting today’s transportation infrastructure, she noted the majority of them are not able to vote in the mail-in referendum.
“That is why we are asking you, the adults, to keep our future in mind as you go to vote on the transit referendum,” she told a crowd gathered at Monday’s press conference. “We value a region that is livable and connected. We value a future in which we are less reliant on fossil fuels. We believe that an improvement in public transportation is essential for our sustainable future, and as such, we urge you to vote Yes.”
Beginning March 16, Metro Vancouver residents will be receiving mail-in ballots and will have until May 29 to vote on the Mayors’ Council’s plan. The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation is seeking for a 0.5 per cent increase to the provincial sales tax to generate funding to expand the regional transit and transportation system.
Members of city council, the board of education, the local MLA, and local labour, business, cycling, environmental and health officials attended the launch of the Vote Yes New West coalition, which is committed to supporting a Yes vote in Metro Vancouver’s upcoming transit referendum and promoting in the benefits of better transit and transportation for New Westminster.
Nathan Woods, president of Unifor Local 111, spoke on behalf of B.C. Federation of Labour and New Westminster and District Labour Council – which support a Yes vote. Woods said bus drivers witness people waiting at stops and being left behind because the buses are full, as well as the traffic congestion on roads throughout the region.
The proposed increase in the provincial sales tax would be used to fund a wide range of transportation and transit initiatives, including a new Pattullo Bridge, upgrades to the major road network, increased capacity of Expo and Millennium SkyTrain lines, increased bus service, additional HandyDart services, and cycling and pedestrian improvements.
Lisa Mu, a medical health officer with the Fraser Health Authority, said transportation is a key determinant of health, as it provides people with ability to access services, connects families and friends and impacts air quality. With many deaths being attributed to air pollution each year, she hopes people will choose a transportation future that improves the health and wellbeing of people in the region and vote Yes.
“With a Yes vote, we can create communities of belonging, where the diversity of all people is welcome. People on the margins of our communities - those living with disabilities, with mental illness, with substance use issues, those looking for work or living without a home – will never be contributing members of our communities without a fulsome public transportation system, “ said Lynda Edmonds, executive director of Fraserside Community Services Society. “A yes vote is a decisive action that creates communities where everyone can belong.”
Mayor Jonathan Cote said the region expects to grow by one million people in the next 25 years so the city needs to address transportation.
“With all of those residents coming to our region, at the same rate of car ownership we currently have, we’d be able to line all those cars all the way from New Westminster to the middle of Canada,” he said. “Try and picture those cars in our current road network and you begin to understand the challenges we are going to face, not only with mobility in our region but also with the local economy if we are not able to address transportation.”
New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy said a “historic coalition” has come together to encourage New Westminster voters to vote Yes in the plebiscite because it’s good for New Westminster’s health, economy, transportation and environment.
Trustee Casey Cook, vice chair of the New Westminster board of education, said the board passed a motion in support of a Yes vote in the referendum, as children should be able to move to and from school on transit that is safe and reliable, safe routes to school are needed and children deserve to play in schoolyards that have clean air.
“Our schools are an integral part of the New Westminster community,” he said. “Air pollution, congestion and lack of mobility negatively impact us all.”
Jean Hincks, chair elect of New Westminster Chamber of Commerce, said the improvements proposed in the mayors’ plan are “pivotal” for a strong local economy.
“Our community has a lot on the line with this vote,” she said. “A Yes vote means less congestion, a stronger economy and a healthier community for us all.”
Kathy MacKerricher, president of Tourism New Westminster, said the city is rapidly emerging as an ideal destination for leisure and corporate travellers, but the region needs improvements in transit infrastructure in the region to match the expected growth.
“It is essential for visitors and those employed within our industry to have the ability to move around without the traffic congestion issues that we are faced with today,” she said.
While the coalition is promoting a Yes vote in the referendum, the No Transit Campaign wants Metro Vancouver residents to reject the TransLink sales tax, to encourage elected officials to fix TransLink’s “broken and unaccountable” corporate culture, to have the Mayors’ Council prioritize its wishlist and to have TransLink earmark 0.5 per cent of their future revenue growth to transportation. During the 2014 provincial election, Christy Clark promised that a referendum would be held about new revenue sources for Metro Vancouver’s transportation improvements. As a result, the Mayors’ Council developed a 30-year vision and an investment plan for dealing with transit, biking and road upgrades.
“Although many of the things in the mayors’ plan aren’t directly related to New Westminster, I think New Westminster has a really high stake in this referendum,” Cote told The Record. “If we are unable to solve the region’s transportation problems, I am not convinced we are ever going to be able to address the congestion issues and transportation issues we face in New Westminster.”
