[LabComm] Statement from Carole James regarding Campbell government's failure to address Lower Mainland transit priorities

[BC NDP NEWSWIRE]

"The past week has seen the death of two of the Lower Mainland’s most critical transportation priorities — the RAV line and major transit improvements in the Northeast corridor.  Responsibility for this defeat lies squarely at the feet of Premier Gordon Campbell and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon.  Their obsession with privatization at all costs created the conditions for failure.

"It’s important to remember that, despite the name-calling and personal attacks from Minister Falcon, opposition to the province’s high-risk RAV proposal crossed partisan and geographic boundaries.

"Now, faced with two rejections of his privatization plan, the Premier and the Minister have arbitrarily decided that with the rejection of their high-risk RAV proposal, the province will now double the width of Highway 1 and twin the Port Mann bridge.  While these two projects may deserve examination, they clearly are not the highest priorities expressed in the GVRD’s Livable Regions Strategy, a transportation strategy determined through extensive regional and local consultations.

"As I’ve said before, real leadership isn’t easy.  The Premier and his Transportation Minister have failed, creating a confrontational environment from which it is difficult to imagine a consensus emerging on a plan to move forward.

"Since becoming Transportation Minister, Mr. Falcon has presided over repeated failures and scandal — the sale of BC Rail, the cancellation of the sale of the Roberts Bank spur, both of which are mired in ongoing police investigations, and now the botched privatized RAV line proposal.  British Columbians can’t afford to continue down this path.  Our province’s reputation within Canada and internationally is suffering.

"That is why today I am calling on the Premier to replace Mr. Falcon with a new minister who has the skills necessary to build a new relationship with elected officials in communities throughout the Lower Mainland.  A relationship based on respect and trust, ingredients that are sorely lacking in Mr. Campbell’s approach to date.  Only by clearing the slate, reaching out and abandoning ideology can we deliver better transit and improved transportation throughout the region.

"An NDP government would work within the framework of a Lower Mainland planning blueprint that the Campbell government could easily adopt itself—the GVRD’s Livable Regions Strategy.  This blueprint puts the emphasis on reducing gridlock and pollution by increasing transit options for commuters.  It was achieved by thorough consultations throughout the Lower Mainland, and points the way forward to build a transportation and transit system for today — and for decades to come."

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