The Editor,
This is an open letter to all politicians at the municipal and provincial levels, and to all the various organizations that support a Yes vote in the transportation referendum. I would love to see a response from Premier Christy Clark and the mayor of my city, Greg Moore.
I have been inundated with literature, emails and newspaper columns giving me a variety of reasons to support a Yes vote in the plebiscite. I have to admit, the reasons are mostly quite compelling and the tax cost is relatively insignificant at 34 cents a day. I would like to be able to cast my vote based on the greater good of the community as that kind of thinking is consistent with my values.
So why am I still on the fence?
It is because I live on one side of the Port Mann Bridge and, until recently, worked on the other side. For some inexplicable reason, the government's "user-pay" philosophy only applies to some users. If you commute over the Port Mann or Golden Ears bridges, you pay more than $1,500 annually in after-tax income to do so. However, if you commute over any of the other 19 bridges in the TransLink domain that were built out of general tax revenue, you pay nothing extra. How fair is that?
If every bridge were tolled at a nominal rate, commuters would use the bridge that was closest, creating efficiency and minimizing pollution, and all users would be contributing towards costs. Yet I see and hear no promise of an equitable tolling system now, or in the near future. If that were part of the proposed plan, I would have no hesitation voting Yes.
Can you imagine the public outcry if the users of new schools or new hospitals were required to pay a hefty surcharge while older schools or hospitals were fully funded through taxation? It would be political suicide to suggest such a policy.
Those who urge me to vote Yes seem to be oblivious to the fact that some of us are already being heavily gouged by the current bridge tolling scheme while simultaneously subsidizing other citizens' use of roads, bridges and transit. Enough is enough.
I am happy to pay taxes and fees that are collected and spent in a way that seems fair and accountable.
J. Wiltshire, Port Coquitlam
