Hair salon owner David Prior, whose salon is on Hornby, should have his views listened to and interpreted free from the hyperbole and rhetoric of bike lane opponents.
In a younger incarnation, I met Laura Jones, the VP of Western Canada for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses via a job interview. And, in successsive, years, I have met her at various events and business functions (although I doubt she remembers). And, just like her husband, she has always struck me as brilliant – one of the power women of the city, and a true thought leader when it comes to economic issues within the province.
And, in that ilk, her column in this morning’s Province is quite compelling. The CFIB’s membership is strong, and as is usually the case with the business community, Hornby have stuck close to the script and banded together to give 92% disappoval to the Hornby bike lane (EDITOR’S NOTE: Although Jones makes reference to “several hundred businesses on Hornby,” she never actually mentions what the CFIB’s sample size for the survey was, and how many returns she got back from the 300 originally sent out). The comments that Jones presents are also quite powerful in conveying her message.
Regardless, where I take issue with the piece is with the hyperbole, a tendency that seems to engulf those that take issue with the bike lanes.
