Let me ask you to suspend your disbelief for a moment. Consider that what we are seeing in the provincial election campaign that was officially kicked of this week, is actually a two-horse race.
Now that I have you in this imaginary space, stop smiling and consider a couple issues that affect Vancouver. Ask yourself which party can bring about change for the better.
Lets start out with street homelessness.
This week the City of Vancouver released a preliminary report from the most recent homeless count. The number of people sleeping outside at night is declining. The report notes over the 24 hour period on March 13, 273 people were found sleeping outside. This is a decrease of 11 per cent from 2012 and 66 per cent decrease since 2008, the first year of low-barrier shelters.
You can quibble about the value of shelters versus more permanent residents but it would be fair to say the reduction is impressive. And it would be important to note this would not have happened without the funding support of the B.C. Liberals in general and Housing Minister Rich Coleman in particular. Colemans dedication to funding longer term supportive housing, agreeing to pick up the tab for, among other things, construction on 14 city sites, including operating costs, has been commendable in dealing with a serious problem in our city.
While in the news release Mayor Gregor Robertson says, we need a stable reliable provincial commitment that full shelter funding will be made permanent, as well as the investment required to meet the urgent need for new social supportive housing, we have seen the considerable amount the Liberals have to offer. Although it may still be coming, at this point, the NDP and Adrian Dix have been mute.
And the NDP hasnt been much better on an issue being driven by the Vancouver School Board: the seismic upgrading of schools. According to board chair Patti Bacchus, Dix has so far only agreed to commit to those projects that are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, as was reported in the Courier last week, Christy Clark announced $584 million over the next three years. But that is province-wide. Vancouver has asked for $850 million to upgrade or replace 42 high risk schools.
One other minor point on education and it really isnt about money. Dix has committed to eliminating Foundations Skills Assessment tests, which are much reviled by the teachers union and many parents but supported by the Liberals and great fodder for the right-wing Fraser Institute.
Money however is an issue for a matter that rates higher in the minds of Vancouverites than education and that would be public transit. In fact, the whole region is in a grumpy state due to the chronic failure of the provincial Liberals (and the NDP before them) to provide effective assistance for sustainable funding of its transportation authority TransLink.
Hesitancy by both parties to fork over any portion of their pie is understandable. The province is not flush with cash these days. As you know the Liberals are predicting they will run a small (but not terribly credible) surplus in their current budget. The NDP says, if elected, it will have deficits for at least the next three years. If there is money for TransLink, neither is in a hurry to hand it over. On Monday, Clark proposed a referendum for 2014 on just how funding should be determined. Richmonds mayor Malcolm Brodie told reporters it was a recipe for failure. Surreys Dianne Watts was equally contemptuous, saying it would have a devastating effect on her citys plans. And the chair of the TransLink Mayors Council on Regional Transportation dismissed it as a deflection.
Again, at the time of my filing this the NDP has said little except a comment its transportation critic Harry Bains made to the Globe and Mail that his party is committed to long-term funding as long as it is not a burden to the working middle class.
Which I imagine is most of us.
But then most of us, according to the latest polls, are less interested in specific issues in this campaign that they are (60 per cent) saying what we need in Victoria is change. And that doesnt require any suspension of disbelief.
