Opinion Editorial from John Horgan Leader of NDP
People want to spend their time with their friends and family, not sitting stuck in traffic for hours every day.
That’s why I welcome the announcement from the federal government that Ottawa is ready to come to the table to fund transit. Unfortunately, Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals are still refusing to be full partners in building transit. I have committed to funding 40 per cent of the cost of transit construction to unlock federal funding and get people moving. Christy Clark has refused to do the same.
New Democrats are ready to get busy building transit and creating jobs. Right away. While Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals keep stalling people in traffic, I’m ready to get shovels in the ground.
It just doesn’t make sense to delay. Not when we can create more than 40,000 new jobs, reduce traffic congestion and help people save time and money getting around the city.
I want to see people have more time to spend with their kids, with their friends, and watching the game, rather than being stuck in gridlock for hours every day. People have better things to do than idle in exhaust fumes while Christy Clark takes a private jet to work.
People don’t have time to wait. Costs rise for all of us every minute we do nothing. Traffic congestion costs us an average of one billion dollars every year in environmental costs, lost time, lost productivity, and goods being stuck in gridlock instead of getting to market. That will only rise over time.
Whether you drive or take transit, we need this infrastructure built – not more talk. We need to make it easier for people to get around and free up space on our streets by moving people more efficiently. We need buses and trains for Surrey and the Tri-Cities. We need to get goods moving. And we can create jobs while doing it.
Christy Clark can’t just keep telling the Metro mayors and commuters to “suck it up” as her minister Peter Fassbender did last fall. She can’t keep wasting people’s time with gimmicky referendums.
I’m all in on a partnership with Ottawa and the Metro region mayors to get this done for people.
It’s the right thing to do for our economy, for commuters, and for the fight against climate change.
Christy Clark only cares about her rich friends and corporate backers. They may not need transit, but ordinary people do.
Unlike Christy Clark, I’m working for ordinary people. I want to create good family-supporting jobs building the transit infrastructure we need. I want to get people moving so they can spend more time on the things that matter – like their friends and families – and less time stuck in traffic.
People have been stuck with Christy Clark for too long. It’s time to get people moving.
