The Yes campaign may have an uphill battle to convince Metro Vancouver residents to support TransLink in the upcoming transportation referendum.
Beginning March 16, Metro Vancouver residents will begin receiving ballots in the mail and will be able to vote on whether to support a 0.5 per cent increase to the province sales tax in Metro Vancouver to generate funding to expand the regional transit and transportation system. A diverse group of local organizations recently joined forces to create the New West Vote Yes Coalition and support the “congestion tax” aimed at addressing the region’s transit and transportation services.
The No Transit Campaign, which is being led by Jordan Bateman and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, wants Metro Vancouver residents to reject the TransLink sales tax, to encourage elected officials to fix TransLink's "broken and unaccountable" corporate culture.
“I know there are serious concerns out there – I hear them every day,” said New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy, a member of the Vote Yes New West Coalition. “Frankly, we are not going to solve the problems at TransLink, we are not going to solve some of those bigger issues by voting No in this referendum.”
Critics have also sounded alarms about a number of issues, including the bureaucracy and governance model associated with TransLink.
“The reality is voting No in this referendum isn’t going to solve any of those issues,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “We need to put forward to see what we can do to address those core issues – that’s an investment in transportation.”
Shortly after being elected mayor in November, Cote said he thought the referendum was winnable.
“I strongly believe if this is a referendum on transportation investment, we will win. If it becomes a referendum on TransLink, I’ve got concerns,” he told the RecordFeb. 16.
Most recently, TransLink has come under fire for its board of directors’ decision to replace CEO Ian Jarvis and appoint Doug Allen as interim CEO. Jarvis, however, will remain with TransLink in an advisory capacity and will continue to be paid his salary (which was $422,407, including bonuses, in 2014) and Allen will be paid $35,000 per month for six months until a permanent CEO is found.
“I agree with Jonathan it’s an uphill battle because the No side has a very simple message: No,” Darcy told the Record. “Yes is actually pretty simple. Yes is about better transportation.”
Cote believes a Yes vote provides a better opportunity for making changes within the TransLink organization.
“A successful referendum, I think gives a lot of momentum for the mayors and will give us a lot more influence when we have discussions with the province,” he said. “A No vote does not give us the authority to have those discussions.”
Cote believes a good starting point for discussions about a TransLink governance model would be to bring municipalities and mayors “back into the fold” to create a more open and accountable decision-making process for TransLink.
“I don’t doubt that we need to have some conversations about the leadership at TransLink and some of the management issues,” Cote said. “Whether having that right in the middle of a transportation referendum is helpful or not, I’m not sure. Having said that, there are discussions we need to have. The issue with the double salary, certainly from an optics point of view is not helping this referendum campaign, but I think Ian Jarvis was on a contract, was going to be paid regardless. I think the thinking was, we might as well be having him work and help contribute to the organization.”
The Mayors Council, said Cote, wasn’t involved in that decision about Jarvis or Allen.
“I found out the results on Twitter,” he said. “To me, I think that part of the problem. The mayors feel excluded from some of the major decisions that are happening at TransLink. I think there is a lot of frustration among the mayors about that.”
