The business "drive out the tax" voices are going after the wrong target in Translink.

I can understand Councillor Geoff Meggs’ frustration with the “Drive Out the Tax” campaign, as it does seem to let the province entirely off the hook from the equation that is causing the coalition members such heartache.

It is the province that needs to take a hard look at itself and the burdens unfairly being spread around to sources that cannot possibly pony up enough to bridge these shortfalls.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I feel that Translink held the Mayor’s Council at Metro Vancouver for a $130 million ransom back in October – give us more cash, or your transit service levels go back to 1990 levels.  This of course was caused by the complete lack of interest in taking responsibility for public transit by the Gordon Campbell administration:

“Cities had been poised to consider a bigger funding increase, stumping up $275 million in large part by charging an annual vehicle levy, provided the province delivers other sources, such as road pricing, to add another $175 million.

That’s off the table because Victoria balked and [Shirley] Bond on Monday continued to argue that local cities can raise more for TransLink from property taxes – an option the mayors reject.”

I do agree that the downtown businesses most definitely played their cards wrong by not protesting as loudly as possible when the province eliminated Translink’s ability to levy  the parking stall tax.  They continue to miss the buck with this campaign, largely out of fear of pissing off the Premier.

So as a result, an organization that is cash-starved gets the brunt of the attack.  Am I suggesting that Translink and the way it is administered can’t be dramatically improved?  Absolutely not.

But realistically, like Meggs suggests, a couple of fired executives and internal cutbacks are not going to solve the chronic crisis of underfunding that Translink currently faces.  We are talking hundreds of millions – even billions – of dollars that need to be kicked in before any 10-year transportation dream can be properly contemplated within Metro Vancouver.

Once again, these kinds of funding gaps are far too massive to expect homeowners, businesses and municipalities to make up.

Ultimately, whatever “restructuring” and “mandate shifting” that I am predicting will occur with Translink over the coming years, the burden of failure will fall squarely on the shoulders of the Premier – an individual that unfortunately continues to fall through the cracks when it comes to British Columbia’s business community.