Mayors’ Council Chair pushes to make transit a crucial election issue

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With the federal election less than two months away, some are hoping to make transit a major issue.

In the 2015 election, many local ridings and seats were won by 3,000 seats or less. And Mayors’ Council Chair Jonathan Cote feels SkyTrain and bus riders can make an impact in the coming election.

Given the thousands of people who use transit, Cote says if they all vote for candidates in favour of stable transit funding for our region, it could make a major difference come October.

“The folks that are really dependent on transit in our communities, really play a big part of our communities,” he says. “And ultimately could be important swing voters in a really tight, tight election.”

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In Richmond Centre, Conservative MP Alice Wong won her seat by just over 1,000 votes in 2015, and in Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, Liberal Ron McKinnon claimed his win by less than 1,900.

With the number of transit users in those ridings far exceeding that margin of victory, Cote says they can make it a crucial election issue. He wants voters to encourage candidates to promise more transit funding.

“We want to continue that push and that momentum to ensure all of the federal parties understand the importance of investing in public transit in Metro Vancouver,” he says.

The NDP is the only one of the main parties to commit to a permanent funding mechanism for public transit as part of its platform.