Premier Gordon Campbell has guaranteed that construction for the Evergreen Line will start in the spring of 2011. It is a promise, however, that is made on the backs of the municipalities, not his own government.

Watching the Translink Mayors’ Council  go back and forth with regards to Translink’s demands for funding is becoming exhausting, and is most definitely frustrating.

It is time to take the gloves off, and go bare knuckle with the ailing Premier (you know, the one who has a 12 per cent approval rating), because his empty rhetoric with regards to transportation funding and the municipalities is wearing really thin.

Let’s take a quick look back at the past month in regards to the ever evolving positions of this group.

On September 16th, the Mayors expressed a willingness to look at new taxes – as long as the Province was also willing to come to the table with some new funding mechanisms devoted to transit.

This of course came after the Mayors were held hostage and forced into a $130 million contribution towards Translink under threats of a 40 per cent drop in service that would resemble levels not seen since the 1970s.

The Mayors had refused Translink’s demands for a $450 million infusion that Translink had requested last fall to pay for their share of the massive planned upgrades including the Evergreen Line and additional service south of the Fraser.

Now one week before the Mayors were set to meet with Premier Gordon Campbell, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan was prophetic in speaking about what he believed was going to happen:

“…Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan believes that regional mayors are about to get taken for another ride by the province, one where they’ll be left paying all the bills again. “When will they learn? They keep buying into these promises and then they get taken to the cleaners.”

So one week later, the Mayors sat down and signed an historic MOU with the province, where the Premier was saying that “everything’s back on the table,” and Transportation Minister Shirley Bond was talking about innovative funding options the Province was willing to consider.

Fast forward to October 9th, where Translink forwarded a request for $68.2 million from the Mayors, including a 2-page proposal detailing how that money could be raised through an increase from property taxes, constituting an additional $54 a year per average household.

On top of that, Bond came out swinging on Monday – the day before the Mayors were set to vote – by taking the Mayors to task to “honour their commitment” for Translink’s $400 million share of the costs for the Evergreen Line, which the Premier guaranteed completion on to UBCM delegates a couple of weeks back:

“I can tell you this, and I can tell you with a degree of confidence that you can take to the bank. The TransLink Evergreen Line is going to start in the spring of 2011…“

So what happens when the Mayors cry foul and ask what happened to the other funding mechanisms that were put onto the table by the Province a few weeks before? The get accused of playing politics:

“Once again the mayors are positioning themselves in a very combative way and that’s disappointing.“

And what does Bond say about that commitment?

“I am absolutely happy to have a discussion about additional tools.  But we can’t do that in a thoughtful way before December.”

So basically, pony up what we’re asking on the backs of your property owners, and then we will discuss the new options that we dangled in front of you to get you to sign that MOU.

I can only imagine how absolutely infuriating it is to deal with these two-faced individuals.

As such, it is no surprise that the Mayors, feeling deceived once again with Corrigan’s words rolling around in their heads, rejected Translink’s demands.

And I say, good on them.  Enough is enough with Gordon Campbell’s bullshit.  “Take this to the bank”???  Give me a break…all he does is dole out false hope and commitments, and people are sick of it.

These are the statistics that need to be properly and aggressively communicated by the Mayors to their various jurisdictions:

“Metro taxpayers already contribute 65 per cent of Trans-Link’s operating costs, up from 53 per cent a decade ago when the agency was created.

• This guy is always ranting against someone, because that is just what he does.  But out of all the offensive things he has said, whether about me or others, the vitriolic content in this post could take the cake as the most stomach churning.  Let’s examine some of what he says, which are accompanied by photos that allow him to further ridicule participants and spectators of the parade:

1. He pokes fun at the gender of a participant, finding it funny that he cannot tell whether the individual in question is male or female (hmmm…hilarious, considering that this is an appreciation of the lesbian, gay , bisexual and transgender community).
2. He makes fun of a woman’s physical appearance by labelling her  “Miss Butch Legs”
3. He criticizes the Mayor for “having just a little too much fun.”  God forbid.
4. Direct quote under the picture of an Asian woman: ““Hey, you bick guy, yoo wook out wif mee? I makey gud deel fo yoo. Fotty fife dalla fo one owa…”  This is just beyond offensive.  Talk about being a racist…just another example of the pot calling the kettle black.
5. He takes pictures of a child, covers his eyes (as if that makes the boy in question impossible to identify – and for the record, it doesn’t), and then ridicules his parents.
6. Refers to some individuals as “whales,” presumably because of their weight.

He refers to the Pride Parade being filled with “hate,” yet the only hate that I can detect is coming from the author himself.  For shame indeed.

• Of course residents are enthusiastic…heck, now that I live in the neighbourhood, I would love to have a facility like this right next door.  But if Aquilini and crew are suggesting that they be excused on some of the millions of dollars of community-amenity contributions so that they can put it towards a facility that they want built for their privately held interest, then they are barking up the wrong tree.  It is a very sly ploy and a smart strategy to intrigue residents with the idea.  But if it means that we as taxpayers are going to have to subsidize the Canucks’ practice facility and the first foothold towards further development for the Aquilini Investment Group in Northeast False Creek, then I think I can do without such a centre.

• This guy if ridiculous, but pretty f’ing funny.  I have been watching this home grown talent for a while now, so it is nice to see the local media starting to take notice.  Peter Chow finally out, mutha f***ers.

• After speaking to one of the voting participants at last Friday’s meeting, I can concur that the reason that the Minister was presented with multiple options to choose from was due to the Board striking back at Metro Vancouver staff.  Lois Jackson aside, few around the table were comfortable with the staff’s decisions, and so to avoid further delay by sending them back to the drawing board, they pushed the decision on to a higher authority.  The Metro Vancouver setup continues to be dysfunctional, and a lot of that has to do with internal staffing issues (aside from the structure and process, which is also severely flawed).

• With all due respect to my friends working in Real Estate, this is a very good thing for the city.  In terms of pricing, I think that we have truly reached a pinnacle of affordability…the threshold of purchasing ability was about to be completely derailed, so this is a step in the right direction.  Oh, and I finally made my way down to Olympic Village to see the suites and get a sense of prices.  Let’s just say that I won’t be one of the 4-500 more buyers that are needed for the city to come out even or a possibly a little ahead after the financing deal.  $1.3 million for 2 bedroom, 950 sq. ft. suite?  Unbelievable.

• Clearly it wasn’t the Mayor’s fault…because apparently, it is just a part of who we are as Canadians.

• Watch in the coming days for a feature I have written regarding Vancouver’s growing battles between neighbourhoods and City Hall.  Like I have mentioned before, something isn’t working, and without a either a revamp of the consultation process, or some serious political will from the Mayor, this problem of NIMBYism is only going to continue to grow.

• Miro Cernetig has an interesting take on the NPA regarding how and why they can and need to get back into the political game for the sake of Vancouver. I also notice that Miro read my suggestions for the NPA’s potential new name before writing the column. Anyways, like I have written in a previous post, without any kind of defined policies for people to attach themselves to, they are going to face an impossible task in capturing back the imaginations of the electorate. It is time for the association to stop worrying about the cosmetics of politics and gain some substance that people can latch onto. But then again, if the NPA chooses to stay the course and remain ambiguous, I am all for it.

• For the record, I think that the notion of renaming Stanley Park is ridiculous. But then again, having the discussion is a part of the public realm, and no one should be trying to stifle such a proposal from being debated. Furthermore, if this is the kind of supporter that the anti-naming campaign is going to attract (read the diatribe to understand how the naming issue seems to be little more than window dressing for some deep-seeded opinions on Aboriginals in Canada), then I am all for a public debate. And for the record, I would hardly call those that put their name forward for a public office that pays $12,000/year, requires long and involved hours each and every week, and encompasses never-ending criticism, scrutiny and abuse from certain individuals obsessed with bringing Vancouver’s ruling civic party down to its knees, cowardly. Cowardly are the ones that cast stones from the outside looking in.

• Jeff Lee has taken over the civic beat for the Vancouver Sun, which is one of the best decisions the paper has made with regards to civic politics in many years. Lee is a true old-school investigative journalist that devours details and puts them into prose that readers from all political persuasions can appreciate. Having had contact with Jeff over the years for federal political stories, I have a deep respect of how he gets the issues faster than most reporters in this city, and I am excited to read his upcoming columns leading into the next election. For the record, public office holders should be slightly intimidated that such a formidable presence is now going to be covering them.

• I always suspected that the Sochi House during the Olympics Games was a pretty impressive attraction – but now I understand why. The excessive spending on pomp and circumstance ($31 milion) makes it seem as though Russian sporting officials gave Vancouver a pass athletically so that the achievement in Sochi in 2014 would be considered that much more impressive by contrast. Having met the girlfriend of figure skater Evgeni Plushenko on the street and grabbed a picture with the both of them, I can attest that the picturesque couple seemed to be having A LOT of fun on the Russian taxpayers dime (they could barely stand up straight for the photo). Seems like a huge boondoggle to me, and one that will have some interesting impact on the results of the next Winter Olympics.

• The fact that other Mayors have got bent out of shape because Mayor Gregor Robertson has actually taken a lead on oil tanker traffic within the Burrard Inlet is petty politics at its worts. This afternoon’s meeting is informative in purpose and far from any kind of binding decision on the issue (because as mentioned, it would be a broader debate for Metro Vancouver to have). Robertson wanted to get him and his Council colleagues up to speed on an issue with huge significance in light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, and for that he should be commended. Mayors like Burnaby’s Corrigan and North Vancouver’s Mussatto need to pull their heads out of the sand and understand that this kind of briefing is the basis for a broader debate, and that each and every municipality that borders the inlet have the exact same opportunity to receive information – so stop whining, Gentlemen, and get to work.

• Question for Mike Klassen, the man behind CityCaucus.com and a possible future City Council candidate: What exactly was your relationship with Sam Sullivan while he was Mayor? Were you receiving paid contracts with the City of Vancouver, or were you simply a supporter/volunteer?

Toronto's gridlock is now rated as the worst amongst 19 major metropolis', including Los Angeles, New York and London.

This morning both Gregor Robertson and Dianne Watts (by conference call) participated in the Big City Mayors’ Caucus (BCMC) meeting as part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) festivities occurring in Toronto this week.

I am happy that the mayors have taken to the national media to push the issue of transportation infrastructure within municipalities, as it is very clear that funding, or a lack thereof, are one of the major obstacles in terms of competitiveness for Canadian cities.

In British Columbia, and more specifically Metro Vancouver, we have experienced a stretch of significant investment prompted by the Olympics, giving the region a skewered view of the realities of provincial and federal support for our cities’ aging infrastructure.

For the rest of the country that didn’t have the benefit of hosting the world as a catalyst, the picture is far bleaker.

Canada is the only OECD and G8 nation without a long-term federal transit plan or national transportation strategy.

The Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) estimates that transit systems across the country need $20.7 billion for infrastructure between 2006 and 2010, or about $4.2 billion annually, which would cover rehabilitating and replacing existing systems, as well as expansion plans to accommodate increasing numbers of riders. Of the $20.7 billion required, 44 per cent is needed to rehabilitate or renew existing infrastructure, while 56 per cent is needed to expand service capacity to serve more riders.

The Toronto Board of Trade has just published a study which shows that while the city is economically competitive in a number of areas, it ranks last amongst 19 international cities when it comes to gridlock and commuting times – behind cities like Los Angeles, New York and London.

Bottom line? Transit in this country sucks when compared with the likes of cities in Europe or Asia, and as the FCM is pushing, “we need to replace short-term, ad hoc funding with longer term, more predictable commitments from all orders of government that come closer to addressing the outstanding needs.”

Municipalities have a real problem on their hands. With regards to the most pressing files acting as determinants for the future success of our cities – transportation, housing, infrastructure – there is no money within municipal coffers to make any kind of dent in the gaps.

That is why this group – the Big City Mayors’ Caucus – needs to start taking a different approach, and collectively push for either constitutional recognition for our forgotten third-level of government, or new relationships with their respective provincial governments, spurred by collective lobbying efforts.

The FCM is an effective and well-run organization. But it is the profile that the BCMC has within its midst that can take these seemingly mundane ideas and put them on the radar of the PUBLIC consciousness.

Maybe it’s Gregor taking a lead role in promoting the concept of a national strategy for homelessness and housing. Perhaps it is the City of Toronto’s David Miller (or his soon to be successor Smitherman or Ford) that will talk about the city’s aging infrastructure.

Regardless, these are the best salespeople the municipal front has in the country, and it is time that they start using their political capital to raise issues to the point where the public is demanding funding and involvement from their provincial and federal governments.

These press releases are great for one-off stories, but at the end of the day, a relentless, coordinated and sustained campaign to raise the profile on the plight of our cities is in order.

The poorest kids on the block of governmental hierarchy need to start banding together and putting the fire to the feet of their provincial and federal counterparts.

I would venture a guess that less than 3 in 10 people understand how limited municipalities are when it comes to revenue raising, and how little municipalities are regarded when it comes to the higher levels of government.

Public education needs to happen now, and the only way that is going to happen is if the Big City Mayors make a commitment of political will to test the waters and collectively say “We aren’t going to take it anymore.”

Doubtful of course, considering how beholden Mayor and Council are to their political masters, but hey, a commentator can dream.

Sigh.