Editor: Besides waffling on every issue he has touched, Todd Stone now thinks B.C. Ferries should look internally to cut costs in lieu of cutting sailings or increasing fares. Wow — what colour is his pot and kettle?
Hey Todd, you’re the boss — you own the ferries. How about eliminating either the Ministry of Transportation or TransLink? How about the Agricultural Land Commission — they have had 40 years to designate agricultural lands. Those lands should not be negotiable at any price.
Liquidate ICBC. There is no mandate to monopolize auto insurance, particularly at above-market rates. Sell B.C. Place Stadium with the $500 million roof. Operating an arena is definitely not a core government need.
All of the above could provide instant funding for Site C and TransLink, with no increase in taxes or interest charges for borrowed funds. That’s just the start. Today’s priority should be about reaffirming what role government should play in our society — at all levels of government.
The point of their current existence is absent, and to fund this exponential growth they have stretched resources far beyond their means. They need to get back to core services and quit bilking the public.
It is in government’s self-preserving interest, and not taxpayers’ interest, to influence our society via continually offering new useless services (loosely defined and requiring more tax funding to expedite) or alternately by using moral suasion.
For example, society is encumbered to allocate transgender swimming times at public pools. Money is no object when it comes to installing a prosthetic eyeball in a rockfish (they will argue it’s not government money, but just follow the paper trail). The newest disease entry in the world of medicine is called obesity.
The public also learned from government where it is perfectly acceptable to have a full-dress marriage ceremony for two dogs.
Faulty logic today does not escape government initiatives — in fact those types of scenarios are largely created by governments. For example, bridge tolls are increased because there is insufficient usage. Ditto ferry fares. Whatever school teaches that philosophy needs to be shut down immediately.
So if we go back to the common sense camp, let’s start by putting a moratorium on all new projects.
It is blatantly obvious that governments and politicians don’t want to police themselves. For as long as I can remember, they have paid lip service only to practising transparency and accountability.
It is time to specifically legislate as a crime when any public official or legislator embellishes, deceives or lies while campaigning or performing their duties. We need to legislate personal restitution for all ill-conceived or biased projects.
We need to legislate that any member with input toward the creation of new taxes, fees or tolls must waive any exemption, reimbursement or deduction for the intended new tax. Thus there is no conflict of interest.
Once these politicos are reined in, I doubt you can make a business case for Site C or transit funding. If there is no immigration, there is no need for additional power or transit.
Richard Keill,
Langley