If you’re going to a potluck, the first rule is that you have to bring something to put on the table.
A month ago, it looked as though, when it came to organizing a transportation-funding buffet, all the parties accepted the invitation. The head of the TransLink Mayor’s Council, Peter Fassbender, and the head of the province, Gordon Campbell, were there, and the menu looked delicious: funding sources may include, but not be limited to, everything currently allowed or reallocated, as well as “new and innovative sources” (mmm, yum).
It’s been a long time (maybe never) when a premier sat down with a Lower Mainland leader to talk seriously about how to fund transportation projects that will shape Metro Vancouver’s future.
Of course, the provincial government needs the co-operation of local representatives to access local revenue sources – the property tax in particular. That any agreement came to fruition was a testament to Fassbender’s geniality and optimism. It helped that he, as Langley City mayor, came from south of the Fraser. And it looked for a moment like everyone would sit down to the table to politely discuss the options – a dinner party where otherwise fractious relatives were on good behaviour.
But just because the signed memorandum of understanding had no dates or deadlines didn’t mean there wasn’t one. By December, TransLink and the province have to agree on how the local municipalities will come up with $400 million to fund a share of the Evergreen Line if they’re to access federal dollars.
Why federal deadlines are non-negotiable is always a mystery, but, as with the Canada Line, they’re used to force the issue at the local level. The Evergreen Line is a project the minister of transportation definitively says will happen, implying that the province would impose whatever agreement it needs on the region to make it happen. TransLink has brought along two proposals, one to fund just the Evergreen Line and the North Fraser Perimeter Road; the other to bring enhanced transit to, among other places, south of the Fraser.
But without an agreed means on how and who will pay, not much in the way of commitments typically get made – just enough to get by – and the region slips further behind on progress toward regional goals.
Unfortunately, a food fight has broken out.
While Fassbender was on vacation in Hawaii, the restless natives here held their own barbecue. They toasted any prospect of an agreeable agreement. No use of property taxes, said the usual critics – Derek Corrigan of Burnaby, Malcolm Brodie of Richmond and even Joe Trasolini of Port Moody, the city most likely to benefit from the Evergreen route. They were joined by other mayors in protecting their limited tax room, concerned in part about other large-scale regional projects coming down the tube, especially sewage and water treatment, which could cause big jumps on the property tax bill in the near future.
Mayors may also be calculating that the province, in the end, will do as it’s threatening and force whatever formula is required to get the Evergreen Line going by the spring – perhaps putting the hospital levy back on to the property tax. (It was taken off back when TransLink was established.)
But from the mayors’ point of view, so what? Better that Victoria – not exactly popular and with little to lose – is seen to be the one forcing its hand into the regional taxpayer’s pocket than any of them.
How likely is it then, after all the nastiness, for the parties to agree to sit down and get nice with each other to discuss yet more taxes – especially “new and innovative” ones – to fund TransLink’s 2040 plan?
What in the end will be left of TransLink’s plans (or, indeed, of TransLink), especially the region-wide Frequent Transit Network – more important than any of the single projects?
The province hoped the agreement to discuss all options would signal a sincere commitment to better arrangements. But it’s not giving the local mayors anything to chew on beforehand while still requiring them to bring along the groceries. Asking for property tax today with the promise of something meaty tomorrow is the equivalent of a Wimpy burger. Something more nourishing is needed, like a commitment to dedicate revenue from the next stage of the carbon tax to TransLink.
Finally, a point I can’t resist: when it comes to highways – the infrastructure with the most profound region-shaping consequences – no discussion is needed. The province pays the billion-dollar bills and makes the decisions. The roads get pushed through, the bridges get built, but the transit that was to follow, doesn’t.
And the fastest-growing parts of the region – where the future lives – fall farther and farther behind.
Gordon Price ([email protected]) is the director of Simon Fraser University’s city program and a former Vancouver city councillor. His column appears monthly.