"Reason is always a kind of brute force; those who appeal to the head rather than the heart, however pallid and polite, are necessarily men of violence. We speak of 'touching' a man's heart, but we can do nothing to his head but hit it." --G.K. Chesterton

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Opposed to punitive Barnet road usage fee

From funding the Evergreen Line and lowering business taxes to expanding library services and maintaining support for local non-profits, our first all-candidates meeting covered alot of ground.

To my mind, the defining moment of the debate was when Neal Nicholson said that, if elected, he would support the imposition of a road usage fee (a toll?) on motorists using the Barnet Highway. The proceeds, he said, would help pay for the Evergreen Line. If memory serves me correctly, he declared he wanted to ensure it would "cost a lot" (or something to this effect) to drive the Barnet.

Luckily, I followed Nicholson in the speaking order and said, in no uncertain terms, that it would be unfair to penalize motorists who, by necessity, have to drive to and from downtown Vancouver from Coquitlam. Moreover, I pointed out that the entire region, if not the entire province, will benefit from expansion of rapid transit.

This being the case, the burden should be shared by all, not shouldered disproportionately by one segment. The video that's part of this posting is of my complete answer. Please visit my Facebook page for more videos.

No comments:

Post a Comment