Surrey Board of Trade anxious for transit referendum wording
Posted January 22, 2014 7:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS1130) – What is the hold up?
That’s what the Surrey Board of Trade is asking the provincial government as we continue to wait for the wording of the upcoming referendum on transit funding for the Lower Mainland.
There is a definite sense of frustration as the board calls the delay “unacceptable.” It wants the question to be released now so people have time to understand it and to know what is really at stake.
Anita Huberman with the SBOT says she has contacted the office of Transportation Minister Todd Stone and she got a very surprising response.
“The staff have indicated they have no timeline on when the question will be ready. We have sent a letter also to the Ministry of Transportation and we are waiting for an answer.”
Huberman calls the question critical to helping plan for the future for both sides of the Fraser River.
“Our Transportation Committee is wondering, ‘What’s going on?’ By 2025, another one million people are going to be moving to the South Fraser. Surrey itself is going to be the largest city from a population perspective in less than 10 years.”
Last week we told you about the proposed wording from Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.
“Do you support the reduction in gas tax, a cap on the existing three per cent on property taxes for TransLink and an implementation of a fair and equitable road pricing policy under one dollar to fund the expansion of the transportation system?”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson threw his support behind it, but the mayors have yet to agree on anything else.
The referendum is slated to be held during the civic election this November.
