In a recent interview with Business in Vancouver, Non-Partisan Association mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton rejected Vision Vancouver’s characterization of her as a “flip-flopper.”
“I reject that completely,” she said.
She defended her position shift regarding the contentious downtown bike lanes – and notably her unexpected council vote in favour of the project.
“I was persuaded that night – I know people thought I was going to vote otherwise – but I listened carefully to all the people who came and spoke,” Anton said. “I listened to staff, I listened to proponents and at the end of the night I thought, ‘OK, I’ll go with that.’ Because that’s your job at council – to listen.
“But when the [construction] vehicles were out at 6 a.m. the next morning digging it up, I said, ‘You know what, I think I was hoodwinked. That process was a sham. I was listening and paying attention, but I’m not sure that anybody actually had an open mind last night. So I said, ‘I’m not going to be a public supporter of it.’”
If elected mayor, Anton said she would address the bike lane controversy by having an independent study of the bike lane impacts.
“I don’t think people are trusting city hall on this one right now,” she said.
Anton said she’d like to hear all the complaints about the structures and fix what can be fixed.
“If it’s hopeless, if there’s pieces of it that can’t be fixed or pieces of it that are just completely impractical and useless, then they should come out – like [in] talking to those guys at the south end of Hornby Street there. I really question why it’s in there, [the bike lane] really interferes with the businesses there, it really doesn’t serve any useful purpose at all. Maybe that’s a piece that should come out; maybe more of it should come out.”
Anton said she’s not enthusiastic about ripping up a $3 million piece of infrastructure that cyclists like.
“But it costs businesses a lot of money and people down especially at the north end of it near Dunsmuir, people can’t get into their businesses,” she added.
See next week’s edition of BIV for in-depth interviews with Anton and Mayor Gregor Robertson about business-oriented election issues.
Jenny Wagler
@JennyWagler_BIV