MetroVanIndependent.com
July 2015
3
News
TransLink tax defeated
Continued from page 1
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The No TransLink Tax campaign published its donors and spending twice
during the campaign, including a final
report two days before voting closed. Total
campaign spending for the NO side was
$39,687.95, half of which came from the
CTF. The YES side spent at least $6.7 million, most of which was taxpayer money.
“The YES side tried everything –
spending millions in taxpayer money,
crafting rules to favour their side, putting
an ad on the ballot itself, and using their
political offices to try and quash any
dissent,” said Bateman. “They had big
business, big government, big labour,
big environment and big money. But they
didn’t have the people – and this victory
belongs to those everyday taxpayers who
volunteered their time, spoke with their
friends and neighbours, worked social
media, made their own signs, and chipped
in a few dollars to help us. They deserve
better from the leadership of this region,
and they let their voice be heard with their
ballot.”
With the No TransLink Tax campaign
over, the CTF will continue holding
TransLink accountable for its actions and
pushing for real change at the agency.
“It’s time for the premier, minister,
mayors and TransLink board to fix this
money-wasting, poorly-run agency,” said
Bateman. “TransLink has lost the public’s
confidence and now they have to listen to
Photo by Bert Morelos
TransLink Skytrain
taxpayers and rebuild it properly.”
“We spent $40,000 for polling or
anything like that but all the indicators
seem to be pointing in our direction but,
look, we’re tremendously thrilled that the
tax has been defeated.”
TransLink CEO Doug Allen says the ‘No’
vote is going to cause problems. “We will
face a future that will be more difficult, it’s
certainly going to be more congested until
we have this long-term funding sorted out.”
“This particular plebiscite, in my
opinion, based on my travels over the last
many months was about a tax increase and
it was rejected and we accept that,” Allen
adds.
Every major city in the region voted no,
but there were differences in just how many
people were against this sales tax.
“People don’t like tax inc ɕ