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Been emailing with Bryan Volger, one of the advocates behind what we now know as the West Coast Express. I was seeking the information to help in figuring out how to restore service to the Interurban. Here’s what he wrote:

The West Coast Express was started by myself at an all mayors rally in Port moody in 1989.  At the time the Socreds were loosing power and the N.D.P was building a winning party for the 1990 election.  At the same time the Progressive Conservatives in Ottawa were going down in the same year.  Both of those parties are no longer with us today.  The N.D.P got the majority of the seats in B.C. and pounced on my idea.  By 1990 I had formed a group of railway people from across Canada mixed with local intrest groups and called it The Lower Mainland Commuter Rail Consortium.  The Consortium dealt with national rail policy which had seen Via chopped in half and C.N. going up for sale. 

Via needed more passenger business to stay alive in Vancouver. The proposal was to run commuter rail down the BN-CN tracks and one leg would join up with B.C. Southern and the other leg would go to Mission. Both would split at Sapperton junction. When the merger plans of C.N. and B.N. fell through the commuter rail plan was moved onto C.P.R.track.  However we had reached a deal with Burlington Northern for full cooperation from B.C. Transit.

One of the members of the Consortium was Bombardier Transportation who had made bi- level cars for Toronto and Florida.  Los Angles Metrolink had ordered about 100 cars and Bombardier offered Glen Clark to order some while the line was up.  

Im 1990 I ran in Burnaby for council with the commuter rail plan. I failed to get in because with the C.P.R. I could reach the valley with C.N. access to B.C. Southern tracks at the Patullou rail bridge.  At the time in 1986 the Socreds had run light rail cars on the old interurban for Expo 86.  Most felt that would continue, but it did not. Proof that it can be done though.  

The West Coast Express was part of an international move that had Seattle next in line with the Sounder commuter rail system. The West coast of north America was doing the same thing.  These cars are all interchangeable and can be bought and sold if a track lease fails to be renewed. 

In 1992 the Cascadia Talgo trains were being built for Amtrack service between Seattle and Vancouver which would connect all commuter rail operations by train on the West Coast. 

In 1993 after a year of speeches at cities between Burnaby and Mission every riding was now N.D.P. 

The North East Transportation Plan was put together by community groups and B.C. Transit for a fifteen year transportation plan including highways and train infrastructure.  It got approval from the B.C. Government and the first objective was to get a deal with the C.P.R.  Through the B.C. Terms of Union between Ottawa and B.C. to bring the province into confederation linking Canada by rail and the recent law suit in 1989 by the Socreds to stop Ottawa from shutting down the E&N on Vancouver Island strengthened the B.C. hand.

The cars were ordered in 1992 from Bombardier at 2 million each and G.M. supplied the locomotives. 

In 1994 the commuter deal was done giving the commuter rail plan success and the Millennium line to run parallel to the BN-CN tracks.  By 1995 the schedule was fixed to have only the commuter rail running in time slots to avoid collisions with freight trains.  In 1995 the N.D.P had a name contest and the West Coast Express was chosen. 
 
In 1996 The Millennium Line was planned because the people of Burnaby did not want Skytrain running from Edmonds to Lougheed Mall across Burnaby.  With full cooperation from the B.N. and a huge rally the public told Burnaby to build the line from new Westminster over the B.N. yards to Lougheed Mall and follow the original proposal with Skytrain. 
 
Meanwhile the freight company on Vancouver Island Rail America was closing down and B.C. Southern took over.  Today theyshare the track with Via Rail and there is no reason why they cannot run in the Fraser Valley also. The President of B.C. Southern told me this year its a done deal if the governments have money. We will not go anywhere without the government.  Obviously the former government railway owner followed the same recipe as C.P.Rail. and Express.
 
So I have got permission to press ahead with railforthevalley.com and other groups.  I have submitted a plan to the President of B.C. Southern whom may not reply until the envelope arrives from Victoria. I have written Mr. falcon and he is not against the railway serving the people with passenger rail. He knows the freeway faults and the high gas prices that just started going up last year.  I believe he will announce it before the next election.   

The future expansion of the express was to go around Coquitlam on the C.P tracks from Braid to Coquitlam Station, however I believe that is the Evergreen line with Skytrain now. 

The other expansion was to Abbotsford to Mission over the C.P.R. bridge, however now Via does not use that route it is closed to all passenger trains. 

Via was awarded a multi-million dollar repair contract by The West coast Express to maintain the cars. Now Via could stay in Vancouver. 

The ground work has been done it needs money and I think you have it. Falcon needs pushed, but his political timing to keep the valley Liberal is important. 

We have suggest B.C. buy into Bombardier fast train technology being made for Sweden in Canada.  The factory goes into operation this year. 

This train would getr people from Chilliwack to Whistler in three hours using the B.N. track thru Burnaby to North Vancouver and switch onto C.N. track there. 

We have suggested Colorado Rail Car EMU self propelled diesel cars the Budd cars of today.

We have recommended Bus service between Kawatlen College in Langley and The University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford as a inter-city route run by school buses or contract buses. They will pick up at both airports on the Fraser Highway. 

I had a short meeting with Dianne Watts, the Mayor of Surrey, today, and boy what a character she is! It’s quite easy to tell why she’s developed such a great reputation in both the community and through the media. She’s extremely open, upfront, and approachable. Not to mention, her personality is absolutely vivacious! 

I immediately understood that she truly is non-partisan. Her heart is in the right place, and she is doing this for the betterment of the city. Dianne works together with groups to make things happen, and it’s her collaboration with all sorts of people that has made her first term as Mayor so successful. 

Furthermore, she’s a lady of creative solutions, which is unquestionably marvelous to see. For example, in speaking with her about light rail and her support for the technology over SkyTrain, she made it clear that one cannot simply make attacks. That is to say, she can’t just say “SkyTrain is not the right choice here”, but she has to come up with various alternative options and develop proposals around these aptly-named creative solutions. 

The meeting has solidified in my mind my support for Dianne as Surrey’s Mayor. She is a sensational human being! I’m delighted to have met her, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you speak with her sometime!

Mark Jaccard, leading climate change advisor to the Premier, wrote an oped in the Sun today, where he defended the government’s carbon tax policy - a policy that he has personally pushed for years. 

It gets fun though when he responds to Carole James’ position against the tax:

Third, opposition politicians may mislead the public for their own political ends. Carole James, leader of the B.C. New Democratic Party, wrote in The Sun last week that the carbon tax is unfair and that she would exempt from the tax any person or industry complaining loudly enough, replacing the tax with ineffective subsidies. This saddens me. An honest politician would be telling British Columbians that a carbon tax is essential. Some people will have higher costs no matter where they live and to pretend that one can design a tax so that everyone is treated identically is disingenuous. Our carbon-funded tax cuts will benefit low-income British Columbians, even those living in colder regions.

Climate policy experts told B.C.’s NDP government throughout the 1990s that a carbon tax was essential to reduce emissions. During this time, social democratic governments in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom took the honest and courageous move of implementing carbon taxes. Our NDP government instead used taxpayers’ money to provide subsidies and information programs that had no effect on emissions — just what they were told would happen.

Given these obstacles to politicians doing the right thing, my colleagues at the Global Energy Assessment were surprised by B.C.’s carbon tax — the first in North America. They wanted to know more about our “honest and courageous” political leaders. So I told them about Gordon Campbell, Carole Taylor and Barry Penner. I stayed quiet about Carole James.

So, basically, he says:

We told you what to do in the 90’s, you didn’t listen to us, now you are in opposition, so… STFU! 

Rock on Jaccard!

(Please note, that I am in no way a BC Liberal. It’s just, how can you not want to poke the ineffective NDP when they are down and seemingly never going to get back on their feet?!)

There’s a story in The Province today about Surrey continuing it’s so-called “made in Surrey” approach to regional growth, although this time the city has a leg to stand on.

There’s a strong possibility that following the LRSP update, Metro Vancouver will gain stronger powers to enforce cities in the region to play along properly with the regional growth strategy - something Surrey has a reputation for “derailing” due to it’s sprawled development.

One of the current large problems in the region is a growing lack of industrial land. As most should be aware, Vancouver and Burnaby are actually making the situation worse by rezoning industrial land for high density condos. Just take a look downtown: False Creek North and South, Yaletown, Coal Harbour - all former industrial lands. Burnaby is playing a similar game, building condos along the SkyTrain lines, usually on land that is or was industrial.

Now, it’s perfectly debateable whether or not these rezonings were justified and are actually improving quality of life. Certainly, it’s a very complex debate, ranging from the Province building rapid transit along industrial corridors in the first place (in an attempt to avoid NIMBYs), to Vancouver pursuing a word renowed smart growth strategy for the Downtown Penninsula.

The fact remains though, that industrial land is disappearing quickly and cities north of the Fraser are doing nothing to replace the lost plots of industrial lands.

This leaves Surrey is a difficult situation. Jean Lamontagne, General Manager of the City of Surrey’s planning department:

“Many municipalities have converted large areas of industrial land to higher uses, such as residential,” Lamontagne said in a report to council.

“Surrey is now being expected to make up for the shortcomings of others.

“It is expected to provide storage, distribution and truck storage for the region. It is clearly not acceptable . . . as they do little for the tax base of the city,” he said.

In the article, Dianne Watts, Mayor of Surrey, outright dismisses the option that Metro Vancouver will be able to overrule the City’s land use authority:

“The pressure to convert industrial land to residential is very high in Surrey, but we’re saying no,” she said.

“The region is looking at other communities to pick up the slack. It wants to fix mistakes of the past, but one community can’t supply industrial land for the region.”

Then, Vancouver Councillor Suzanne Anton steps in and completely misreads the whole situation with this statement:

“Surrey wants to be able to upgrade industrial land to commercial land [and produce more tax revenue]. Surrey is saying more loudly than others that they don’t want to be told what to do,” said Anton, who sits on the Metro planning committee.

Surrey has never wanted to replace industrial with commercial. Frankly, industrial lands provide better jobs in the long term for residents. In fact, Surrey has pursued a very intense strategy of protecting or expanding industrial lands in the city.

But it gets better. Anton then goes in for the knockout:

She admitted Vancouver recently converted industrial land in Southeast False Creek for a future residential community of 15,000. But she said Surrey shouldn’t point fingers.

“Do we want to get into who shoots up on the Downtown Eastside and where they come from?” she asked.

BAM!

How dare Anton try and claim that all the homeless, mentally ill, and drug addicted in Vancouver are somehow Surrey’s problem?! How dare she reinforce a negative persona on both Surrey as a city and claim to define it’s type of residents?!

That type of verbal attack on a neighbouring community should not be occuring by any mayor or councillor in the region.

In fact, it’s quite debateable, but if it wasn’t for the SkyTrain, Whalley wouldn’t have even gotten half the problems it did in the 90’s. And where do you think those people were coming from - oh, right, VANCOUVER!

I’ve been pondering a lot recently about my position in the community and how to best realize my vision for this region, and, more specifically, for my home city of Surrey. You see, a person like me tends to have a lot of projects and ideas swirling around his head - it’s just a matter of how best to make these a reality. Rather often, it seems that the power to truly improve things lies in the hands of decision makers. To that end, I’m pondering a potential run for political office in Surrey during the November municipal elections.

I’ve written before about what I believe is a lack of boldness in this region. You know, that spice of life, that energy… that ability to make, support and rally around the *best* decisions and ideas - and I think it’s something I inherently possess. It’s a quality that could make up for my lack of experience in politics and support my candidacy as I’m advocating for the important issues.

And what are the important issues?

Well, take a look at the “four pillars”, so to speak, of a Surrey civic platform that I’ve been brainstorming.

1. Sustainable Development
2. Green Spaces
3. Transportation Alternatives
4. Vibrant Communities

I’m a logical guy, so trust me when I say that I already have many plans on how to achieve measurable improvements in these four categories - something rarely seen from political candidates vying for office. November’s a long ways away still. Does the platform sound intriguing to you? Something you would support?

Stay tuned, the rest of this week, I’ll give a full rundown on each of these “pillars”, including specific policies and plans.

Naturally, I’d really appreciate any and all comments :)

TransLink had it’s last board meeting under the old structure on December 12th, and the Mayors’ Council has approved the new nine member board of professionals. Unfortunately, the names have yet to be released, but as Jeff Nagel at The Black Press reports, it doesn’t seem very fruitful for the region…

As Maple Ridge Mayor Gordy Robson says, “Out of the whole list of 15, there were two east of Boundary Road.”

“They were business people downtown primarily. That’s awfully weighted toward the City of Vancouver and the downtown business community.”

The mayors initially debated whether to make any choice at all or to send the decision back to transportation minister Kevin Falcon, who spearheaded the radical reform of TransLink over objections of many civic leaders.

But Surrey and Vancouver mayors opposed that motion and it was defeated in a weighted vote, which gives the two big cities enough clout to outvote the rest of the region.

I will refrain from making any real judgements until the list is revealed publicly, but didn’t we know this going in? I mean, after all, the screening panel was full of people from the Board of Trade, the Gateway Council, Chartered Accountants, a Ministry appointment, and the Mayors’ Council’s choice of Mike Harcourt. No matter what Harcourt may have wanted, he was outnumbered 4/5 by the business sector.

—————————————————–

EDIT:

Frances Luba, from The Province, did her own short report on the matter, and there were a few interesting quotes I’d like to bring your attention to.

The abuse continued yesterday with a series of sarcastic awards from the orange-shirted Bus Riders Union, whose members disrupted the meeting in Richmond council chambers with their chants of “Transit for all! BRU fights on!”

“Are you people so deluded that you think you’re going to speak to the new board?” said MacLean, the mayor of Pitt Meadows.

They will be in charge of the 26th biggest company in B.C., with an operating budget of nearly $1 billion, capital projects worth $4 billion and almost 6,000 employees.

The old board learned its replacement will cost $1.2 million to $1.5 million to operate compared with its own cost of $300,00 to $400,000.

The mechanics of how the new board will operate remain unclear, which is why one of the old TransLink board’s last acts was to approve a motion calling on the new board to make its agenda and minutes public, as well as holding its meetings in public.

The other day, I send out numerous emails to a whole bunch of elected officials, inviting them to TransitCamp Vancouver. I’ve started to receive responses, and as you may be aware when emailing MLAs or the like, most of the time you either receive a scripted reply by their assistant or just no response at all. Replying to the public’s concern very quickly is the sign of a great politician, and it’s even better if he or she is replying personally.

So, here’s a list of the people I sent invites out to, their position as an elected official, the amount of time it took them to respond, whether the reply for personal or by their assistant, if they are attending (if not, why), and any side comments. I will continue to update this post as more emails come in today and tomorrow.

Responded:

• Jenny Kwan
  • Vancouver MLA.
    • 14 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (other community events). Requested a summary of the event.
• Gordon Campbell
  • Vancouver MLA and BC Premier.
    • 14 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (he’s traveling in Asia). Wished good luck for the event.
• David Cadman
  • Vancouver Councillor.
    • 15 hours. Personal reply via Blackberry. Not attending due to prior engagements (he’s at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali). Wished good luck for the event.
• Wally Oppal
  • Vancouver MLA and Attoney General.
    • 15 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not in town).
• Jordan Bateman
  • Langley Township Councillor.
    • 16 hours. Personal reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified).
• Jagrup Brar
  • Surrey MLA.
    • 16 hours. Personal or Assistant reply (not clear). Not attending due to prior engagements (out of the country). Requested a summary of the event.
• Carole Taylor
  • Vancouver MLA and Minister of Finance.
    • 17 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified). Wished good luck for the event.
• Olga Ilich
  • Richmond MLA and Minister of Labour and Citizen’s Services.
    • 17 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified).
• Lorne Mayencourt
  • Vancouver MLA.
    • 20 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified).
• Dianne Watts
  • Surrey Mayor and Chair of the Mayors’ Council of the new TransLink.
    • 21 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified). Asked to be informed of future events earlier.
• Sam Sullivan
  • Vancouver Mayor and member of the Board of Directors of the old TransLink.
    • 23 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (civic related apparently). Wished good luck for the event.
• Maxine Wilson
  • Coquitlam Mayor.
    • 23 hours. Personal reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified). Wished good luck for the event.
• Peter Ladner
  • Vancouver Councillor and member of the Board of Directors of the old TransLink.
    • 30 hours. Personal reply. Will attempt to drop in if he’s not out of town.
• Gregor Robertson
  • Vancouver MLA.
    • 41 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (he’s out of town). Asked to be kept informed of future events.
• Mary Polak
  • Langley MLA.
    • 43 hours. Assistant reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified).
• Raymond Louie
  • Vancouver Councillor.
    • 76 hours. Personal reply. Not attending due to prior engagements (not specified). Asked to be kept informed of future events and for a summary of the event.

Not Responded:

• Marvin Hunt
  • Surrey Councillor and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the old TransLink.
• Bob Bose
  • former Surrey Mayor and current Surrey Councillor.
• Tim Stevenson
  • Vancouver Councillor.
• Kurt Alberts
  • Langley Township Mayor.
• Maurine Karagianis
  • Esquimalt MLA and official opposition critic for the Minister of Transportation.
• Mike Farnworth
  • Port Coquitlam MLA.
• Kevin Falcon
  • Surrey MLA and Minister of Transportation.
• Bruce Ralston
  • Surrey MLA.
• Shane Simpson
  • Vancouver MLA and official opposition critic for the Minister of the Environment.
• David Chudnovsky
  • Vancouver MLA.
• Adrian Dix
  • Vancouver MLA.
• Colin Hansen
  • Vancouver MLA and Minister for Economic Development.

The pilgrimage by Metro Vancouver mayors heading to Victoria to kiss Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon’s ring is a sign of things to come. Now that TransLink is on the verge of disintegration, with one more meeting left before the new provincial legislation is put in place, politicians are reverting to form. That is to say, in a manner reminiscent before 1999 when the NDP turned responsibility for transit over to the GVRD, mayors are directly lobbying Victoria for transit favours.

Once TransLink was set up, negotiations with the province and Ottawa were usually handled by the TransLink chair and included consultations with the mayors of affected municipalities. I gather that’s how the Canada Line project advanced under the chair of TransLink.

But the new transit board will have no elected officials. It will have instead merely a council of mayors who approve the most general of plans for the transit authority. As a number of soon-to-be-former TransLink board members have grumbled, local politicians will inevitably lose control.

In his monthly newsletter, TransLink board member and Vancouver NPA Coun. Peter Ladner said of the new structure: “It will add two extra layers of bureaucracy, provide less accountability and transparency, sever the formal relationship with Metro Vancouver, and lead to higher administration costs.”

From TransLink vice-chair Surrey Coun. Marvin Hunt’s point of view, power is “migrating back across to Victoria.”

There are two recent Falcon pronouncements that Hunt puts forward to support his theory of what is about to befall us. Last summer, a propos of nothing in particular, Falcon announced that it would be a good idea to have a SkyTrain line running all the way to Surrey. The idea had never been discussed with regional politicians, and it was not part of TransLink’s plans. But it was obvious to the board that with Falcon at the wheel, all its planning was heading for the ditch.

Falcon’s second fiat was delivered a few weeks ago when the minister returned from Europe and declared all SkyTrain stations would have gates and turnstiles. There was much gnashing of teeth at the regional transportation board room table while staff and elected officials tried to figure out just who would pick up the multi-million dollar bill for this bright idea. There were no immediate answers.

What was not in doubt was who was clearly in charge. Hence the pilgrimage of mayors, from Langley District, Abbotsford, Surrey and Vancouver, to visit our pope of public transit. Instead of the planning and horse trading that has gone on around the regional table for many years, it is every mayor on their own.

This new world order, according to Hunt, is aggravated by Mayor Sam Sullivan. “If you are going to criticize Sam for anything, it’s his timing,” he says, regarding Sullivan’s lobbying of Falcon. No one would be more annoyed by this than Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. On a per capita basis her municipality gets one quarter the transit services of Vancouver.

Sullivan has never been seen as a team player regionally, provincially or nationally. His aggressive noises (and so far they have only been noises) about the extension to the Millennium Line down Broadway have made regional mayors all the more nervous about their transit needs being funded.

They thought there was a deal in place: first finish the Evergreen Line to the northeast sector and then work on the Broadway line in Vancouver as well as Surrey’s plans for better transit. That deal remains unchanged, at least on paper. But nobody can figure out just what Sullivan is trying to prove and how Falcon may respond.

What is going on, says Hunt, is “not good for transportation in the Lower Mainland.” And he isn’t the only guy who holds that view. [The Vancouver Courier]