Frankly Speaking

Photos (top to bottom) - BC Liberal leader Christy Clark, NDP leader John Horgan, Green leader Andrew Weaver The B.C. election campaign officially starts tomorrow. With fixed election dates being known four years in advance, the unofficial campaign is much longer than the official one. The three parties with chances to elect MLAs have been campaigning in various fashions all this year. Much of the campaigning was done during the spring legislative session, particularly with the budget and the reaction to it. It has also involved advertising from the government, the political parties and numerous special interest groups. The interest in the campaign shown by the public, up until now, has been very muted. Many people are unaware there is an election coming. When informed about the May 9 election (I have witnessed this personally), the response is “when is the next one?” and “I’m too busy to pay attention, get on the voters’ list or do anything else.” As Martyn Brown ...

Frank Bucholtz photo A SkyTrain rolls into the Lafarge Lake-Douglas station at the end of the Evergreen Line on Friday, Dec. 2, opening day for the extension of the rapid transit system. Friday was a day that many Tri-City residents thought would never come. The 11 kilometre extension of SkyTrain into Coquitlam and Port Moody, the Evergreen Line project, was officially opened by Premier Christy Clark and local mayors. Passengers started boarding the trains at 12 noon. The Evergreen Line has been a long time coming. First promised even before the Millennium Line opened in 2002, it was put on the shelf many times. Its history is instructive of the challenges involved in building rapid transit in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, and of the many twists and turns which inevitably occur when a project does finally get the green light. Way back in 1980, the provincial government decided on SkyTrain as the long-awaited rapid transit technology that would be used in the Lower Mainland. I cov...

Kinder Morgan photo Twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline will have a profound effect on Surrey, the National Energy Board was told last week. The City of Surrey stated its position on the proposal to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline at National Energy Board hearings last week. It is not in favour or opposed to the pipeline proposal – it simply doesn’t want the project to cost local taxpayers more money. In addition, the city has concerns about portions of the proposed new route. It also would like to see the new pipeline route accommodate both the twinned pipeline and the original line, thus taking the line built in 1953 through portions of north Surrey out of commission. Surrey’s position in many ways dovetails with the general attitude of many B.C. residents, and the provincial government. The enthusiasm for the pipeline project is lukewarm at best, and specific benefits are demanded in return for support. At the same time, many other B.C. residents, including mem...

Two significant infrastructure improvements opened in the past two weeks, and unlike the usual changes to transportation corridors, these ones directly benefit pedestrians and cyclists. Cyclists and pedestrians can now use a multi-use pathway over the new Port Mann Bridge. It opened on Wednesday, July 1. This pathway was promised way back when the BC Liberal government, under then-premier Gordon Campbell and then-transportation minister Kevin Falcon, announced plans for the new bridge and Highway 1 improvements, under what was called the Gateway program. That announcement was made in January 2005, prior to the provincial election. The three-metre wide barrier-separated path connects to United Boulevard and Lougheed Highway on the Coquitlam side, and to 112 Avenue in Surrey via a new path along the top of Johnston Hill on the north side of Highway 1. The path has been much-delayed, largely due to the complicated overpass and access structure on the Coquitlam si...