Malcolm Johnston, a private citizen, has studied and written about rail transit for years. He does not have a lucrative consulting contract to promote Sky Train, the ourdated and costly beast that has for decades been rejected by transit experts around the world. Nor is he paid to promote any
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Political Eh-conomy: Quick thoughts on Vancouver’s transit referendum “No”
Here are a few quick, initial thoughts on Vancouver’s transit referendum, where new transit funding paid for by a regional sales tax was rejected roughly 60% to 40%. You might want to read on even if you’re not from Vancouver: after all, it isn’t the only property-value-driven urban “utopia” where public services, public spaces
Continue readingMichal Rozworski » Political Eh-conomy: Quick thoughts on Vancouver’s transit referendum “No”
Here are a few quick, initial thoughts on Vancouver’s transit referendum, where new transit funding paid for by a regional sales tax was rejected roughly 60% to 40%. You might want to read on even if you’re not from Vancouver: after all, it isn’t the only property-value-driven urban “utopia” where public services, public spaces
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: The moderating effect of moderation
RossK writes about the Pro-Media Club and its implicit rulebook, which includes a requirement that no one reprove a colleague, even if overstatements and misrepresentations morph into purposeful lies. The blog world doesn’t follow those guidelines so we can point at any load of old codswallop encountered. In coverage of
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Transit referendum and Pandora’s box
When financial numbers involve billions, many of us struggle to gain understanding and perspective. Usually, the beneficiaries of large scale spending are the worst sources of information. Here’s an example. A “fact-check” statement from the paid-for-by-taxpayers Mayors council website says: A “Yes” to Transit vote would cost average households $125
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Sales tax war resumed
The good doctor at The Gazetteer diagnoses a similarity between issues underlying the now debated transit sales tax and the late and unlamented HST. RossK is focused on the tax ‘shiftyness’ involved in both. Quite right. BC Liberals have slowly shifted away from progressive taxation, preferring revenues from fees and
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: With Ian Jessop, CFAX1070, Mar 3
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Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Spending billions without evidence?
[View the story “New Story” on Storify]
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Who is being served by TransLink?
[View the story “Circles of Spin” on Storify]
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Political football – winners and losers
Senior governments download responsibility for delivering services but seldom include taxing authorities adequate to match spending demands. The download trend is demonstrated in a report by The Columbia Institute: British Columbia’s government prefers to raise revenues from individuals through consumption taxes and user fees rather than by progressive income taxes,
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: The Case for ‘Yes’ in Metro Vancouver’s Transit Referendum
Well, anybody could have called this one. According to a new survey by Insights West, 53 per cent of residents plan to vote No in the upcoming 2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite. Only 38 per cent say they will vote Yes to the proposed half-percentage-point sales tax increase
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Frugality, thy name is not TransLink
Opinion researchers Insights West concluded in 2013 that an increase in sales tax was the least favoured funding option for TransLink. Nevertheless, that’s the option preferred by most municipal politicians and the province. They might theorize that a number of small drains in our pockets will be less noticed. Also,
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Poking through transit costs
[View the story “Some TransLink numbers” on Storify]
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: A camel is a horse…
Voters in Metro Vancouver are asked to approve a regional increase in provincial sales tax to generate an estimated $250 million a year for TransLink. The vote is an advisory one, not binding on the province but it fits the Liberal preference for regressive taxation so the province won’t be
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The So-Called Transit Referendum: Don’t Be Duped!
By Emily Griffiths The Transit referendum “Yes” campaign has been asserting itself all over Facebook, Twitter, neighbourhood news boxes, and I can’t help but ask myself, Since when is increasing a flat tax a leftist thing to do? Oh! The word “transit” has been attached to the newest proposed consumer
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: Why we should give even more money to Translink
Your browser does not support this audioYes, if you are bothered by waste and lack of accountability, Bill Tieleman explained on CKNW that there is an easy solution: ignore it.
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Dear Translink… Rob did a good job
I know we don’t agree often. We have a love/hate relationship dependent on my mood and whether or not it’s cold and rainy outside. To be fair, you are consistently late and often leave me standing out in the rain. You have just been voted 3rd best public transit in
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Harassment on Translink
One of the ways that many countries offer against harassment are female only cars on transit. While this option has proven to make women feel safer, there are a few barriers such as transgendered people’s access to these cars and the fact that not all harassment on transit is male
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Vancouver Sun Letter
A letter of mine in the Vancouver Sun today, this one about the “Disappearing Palestine” ads on public transit here in the city. I try to defend the ads against the absurd charge that they target Jews. Click here to read it. Filed under: Ethnicity, Letters to the Editor, Middle
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to TransLink Regarding the “Disappearing Palestine” Ads
Dear TransLink: I am writing to express my wholehearted support for your decision to display the pro-Palestinian transit ads recently unveiled at the Vancouver City Centre Skytrain station and on several buses. The ads offer an important perspective that needs to be heard as part of any informed debate on
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