Richard Walton spent nine years trying to get students to write clear and concise essays on one page.
Walton is now the mayor of North Vancouver District, and the former high school teacher is attempting to practise what he preached in the classroom as he and 20 other mayors in the region meet privately December 5 to finalize a question for next spring’s transit referendum for Metro Vancouver voters.
“I’ve sort of got the final draft and I’m going over it again this afternoon,” Walton told the Vancouver Courier December 4. “There’s been a lot of ‘wordsmithing,’ if you like.”
Walton, who is chairperson of the mayors’ council on regional transportation, said his hope is mayors will agree on a question December 4 and recommend it be voted on at a public meeting December 11.
Approval of the question would trigger Transportation Minister Todd Stone and the provincial cabinet to review the wording and decide whether it is suitable to be used in a mail-in ballot referendum scheduled for sometime in the spring.
Walton said focus groups, polling and research has been done to help understand the best way to ask a question. In California, he said, questions have to be 75 words or less. So far, his draft is probably more than 75 words.
“I haven’t counted it but the old teacher in me has been driving to get the number down,” Walton said. “I think it will be a little more than [75] but it will certainly be something that a person should be able to read clearly and fully comprehend within a minute. It’s likely going to be one page, one question and is likely going to have a series of bullet points which describe exactly where the funds would go.”
Back in June, the mayors’ council on regional transportation approved a 10-year transit plan that will cost $7.5 billion and include the construction of a 5.1- kilometre subway line from the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus.
The provincial Liberals said in the last election campaign that a referendum must be held if the mayors want new funding sources for transit upgrades. The mayors’ plan relies on $3.9 billion from senior levels of government and funding mechanisms such as reallocating $250 million per year of the provincial government’s carbon tax, bridge tolls and possibly charging drivers for the distance they drive.
Walton pointed out TransLink’s “up and down” brand problems with the public and wants to ensure the question clearly defines where money would be spent on transit initiatives such as more buses, light-rail projects and a subway.
“People obviously need some measure of confidence that these funds are going towards these things,” he said. “And there’s issues with trust and confidence, as well, that the ballot has to reflect and address.”
The mayors’ council, which includes representation from Electoral Area A and the Tsawwassen First Nation, has had to come up with a question despite it being on record as opposing a referendum. Mayors pointed out there were no referendums to widen the TransCanada Highway or build a new Port Mann Bridge.
Mayor Gregor Robertson now finds himself campaigning for a positive vote in the referendum. In his recent re-election bid, Robertson campaigned vigorously for voters to say yes to the referendum ballot question.
“The referendum is going to happen,” he said December 4. “I think it’s important now that we just put our support behind getting that transit investment, making sure we build a broad base of support across the region for transit.”
