By: Keith Baldry
North Shore News
August 8, 2008
Link to original opinion piece
British Columbians, it seems, are cranky these days.
And they're particularly cranky when it comes to spending money to get from A to B.
Take the huge slide on the Sea to Sky Highway. That colossal event revived talk about the wisdom of spending so much money on that treacherous stretch of road or, alternatively, why we weren't spending even more to build an alternative route.
I get tired of hearing people who don't use that highway refer to it as the "millionaire's highway" to Whistler, as if improving it only benefits the wealthy landowners in that resort.
What nonsense. First of all, those people conveniently forget that between West Vancouver and Whistler is the more populous town of Squamish, from which many residents actually commute to the Lower Mainland.
As well, Whistler is a huge contributor to the B.C. economy, generating about $1 billion a year in economic activity and attracting more foreign visitors (who spend a lot of money here) than any other resort in the province.
So quit whining about spending money on improving that highway. It benefits the entire province. And as for complaining there isn't an alternative route -- forget it. The minimum cost for another inland road is at least $3 billion (more than four times what we're spending on the Sea-to-Sky upgrade).
The only feasible contingency plan for, say, the 2010 Olympics would be to build a new ferry berth (not terminal) in Squamish to allow a B.C. Ferries vessel to carry Olympic ticketholders there in case there's another slide.
Speaking of ferries, there has also been a lot of anger expressed about those whopping new fuel surtaxes that kicked in on the B.C. Day long weekend. They're almost 18 per cent on the smaller runs, which is a significant hike.
I've written before that the government should perhaps consider increasing its subsidy to B.C. ferries to cover at least some of the explosion in fuel prices (they've gone from $86 million to $140 million in just one year for B.C. Ferries).
There is an argument to be made that any significant decline in ferry usage will hurt the economy of the Gulf Islands and some coastal communities.
But before we all start demanding some huge financial bailout here, it's important to remember just how much you and I already subsidize the people who use ferries on the Gulf Islands and in northern communities.
In the last five years, we've spent more than $550 million in subsidies (including another $125 million or so from the federal government) for those ferry routes. The next five years will likely see a significant expenditure, which means in a decade ferry users will be subsidized by more than $1 billion.
The most expensive Gulf Island subsidy, by the way, is the Tsawwassen-Gulf Islands route, which gets $9 million a year.
So how much more should the subsidy be? Are we talking $50 million? Or $100 million? I suspect when people realize just how much we already spend here, the clamour for a huge increase in that subsidy would decline significantly.
Finally, TransLink has tentatively approved building a new Pattullo Bridge. Anyone who has the misfortune of driving over that dangerous relic would agree a new structure is needed.
But it's going to be expensive undertaking, probably in the neighbourhood of $1 billion. And TransLink is proposing to finance the new bridge by imposing tolls on the new crossing.
Predictably, this has led to howls of outrage on radio talk shows. Anytime the prospect of tolls is raised, people become somewhat unhinged.
Unfortunately, the user-pay model for expensive new projects is likely the way of the future, no matter how grumpy people may feel about it.
Now, some of this crankiness may subside in the months ahead. For example, the near-hysteria attached to the carbon tax seems to have diminished considerably now that the price of gas is actually several cents cheaper than what it was before the carbon tax came into effect.
But make no mistake. British Columbians are indeed in a foul mood these days. And the B.C. Liberal government (and, to a degree, the Stephen Harper federal government) had better hope everyone gets in a better frame of mind soon.
Elections at both the provincial and federal levels are drawing ever closer. And no government wants to face a cranky electorate.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
