March 22, 2007 

The Honourable Kevin Falcon
Minister of Transportation
Government of British Columbia
PO Box 9055, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Via facsimile: 250-356-2290

Dear Minister Falcon:

The Vancouver Board of Trade commends your intent to generally follow the recommendations contained in the report of the TransLink Governance Review Panel. The current governance arrangement needs to be substantially altered, as the panel has reported.

Need for Newly Constituted Board of Directors
We agree with the panel that there is a need for a new, professionally qualified board of directors to perform the primary governance function for TransLink. Their responsibility to plan, construct and operate the regional transportation system is well advised.

Council of Mayors
We agree that there is a need for municipal involvement in the governance of TransLink to ratify TransLink’s plans and funding sources as well as provide public accountability through the proposed Council of Mayors. However, we have concerns with respect to the extent of the responsibility and authority of that Council.

The mayors of the region represent a particular perspective, and do not represent the interests of numerous key stakeholders in the regional transportation system. With some exceptions, the mayors tend to have an orientation towards transit. Even with that perspective their involvement in shaping regional transit sometimes has been flawed, as was demonstrated in the difficulties in launching the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit project.

Mayors are obliged to advocate the interests of their specific municipality. History has demonstrated that it has been difficult for mayors to bring an holistic, regionally based perspective to issues. Regional, not municipal interests must be paramount to ensure an effective, practical regionally functional transportation vision and strategy.

The Council of Mayors should not have what amounts to veto power over the plans developed by TransLink. If that power is to remain, then the Province must have the power to override the veto if the situation demands that. We cannot afford to have repetitions of the situation that arose with the RAV line where an extraordinary effort had to be mounted by a very broad stakeholder group to overcome the misguided decisions of the TransLink board largely composed of mayors.

Responsibility of the Government of British Columbia
The Province must not abdicate its responsibility with respect to transportation in the Lower Mainland. This region encompasses over half of the provincial population and over half of the economic activity in British Columbia. Transportation in the Lower Mainland affects all of the province as well as other parts of Canada. To allow the Council of Mayors to have veto power over this key aspect of the province would be very unwise.

The terms of reference for the TransLink Governance Review Panel include addressing how to ensure that the Province will have effective input into, and oversight of, TransLink activities and decisions as they affect provincial interests. While the Review Panel stresses the need for a provincial vision, more specific provincial input to transportation planning in the region is vital and must be given a high priority.

In our submission to the Panel we recommended that there should continue to be a requirement for joint transportation planning in the region, such as has been established through the current agreement on this subject between TransLink, the provincial and federal governments. As suggested earlier, it is also important that the provincial government have overriding authority with respect to key transportation decisions affecting the Lower Mainland.

Representation of Other Interests
TransLink has the responsibility of dealing with all forms of road and transit transportation in Greater Vancouver, excluding the provincial highway network and municipal roads. Historically, too many mayors have not adequately represented the transportation interests of those who commute by automobile, which are a large majority of the population. Neither have they adequately represented the interests of those involved in and concerned with the movement of goods.

It is important that in the new TransLink the interests of other key stakeholders are properly represented. The interests of organizations involved in goods movement are substantially present in the Greater Vancouver Gateway Council. The Lower Mainland Chambers Transportation Planning Panel is a good proxy for the general business community. Other organizations champion the part of the population who commute by automobile.

This leads to the means by which the new board of directors of TransLink is chosen. It is important that the key stakeholders in regional transportation have a role in the selection of board members. It would be a serious error for the board of TransLink to be appointed by the Council of Mayors, although municipalities or the Council of Mayors should have influence over the appointment of a minority of the board.

We believe that serious consideration should be given to the governance model of the Port of Vancouver, where various stakeholder groups nominate members of the board of directors, but the decisions with respect to board appointments rest in the hands of the federal government. This model has worked well except for a short-lived problem at its inception. A similar model should be seriously considered for choosing the directors of TransLink, with the provincial government holding the final decisions.

To ensure that the TransLink board has the range of skills required for its function, a small proportion of the board should be members at large appointed by the majority of the board.

Independent TransLink Commissioner
We agree with the recommendation that there should be an independent TransLink Commissioner to further improve public accountability and confidence in TransLink. However, we are not convinced that this appointment should be made by the Council of Mayors alone. That appointment process would tend to tarnish the independence of the Commissioner. Instead, we suggest that the appointment be made by the Province from a short list of candidates submitted jointly by the Council of Mayors and the TransLink board.

The report is silent on the subject of how the Commissioner could be replaced if the need arises. This should be provided for by giving the provincial government the power to order that.

TransLink Service Area
We agree that TransLink’s transportation service area should immediately be expanded to include Abbotsford, Mission and Squamish, with provision for future expansion to cover the region from Pemberton to Hope.

It is vital that the Province establish and regularly update a 30-year vision for integrated transportation for this larger region. However, this vision must be sufficiently specific to enable TransLink to follow the guidance in the preparation of its own 10-year strategic plans and three-year operating plans. There should also be a requirement that the Council of Mayors adhere to the regional transportation vision the Province drafts for the region, and not obstruct that vision. 

Link Between Transportation and Land Use Planning
The report does not fully address the need for land use planning and transportation planning to be linked. We believe that TransLink should be required to take into consideration and reasonably accommodate the land use decisions of the regional districts and municipalities in its service region. Of course, land use planning must also take into account existing and planned transportation capacities — this must be a reciprocal situation.

The regional growth strategy for each regional district includes a transportation component. For TransLink to function as envisioned in the report of the TransLink Governance Review Panel, the TransLink transportation plan or plans must form the transportation component of the regional growth strategy. This may require amendment of the provincial legislation under which regional growth strategies are covered.

Sustainable Funding Framework
It is clear that TransLink must be assured of sustainable funding for the long run for the development and operation of transit and roads within its mandate. We generally support the approach to funding outlined in the report of the TransLink Governance Review Panel. However, we note that three per cent per annum increases in funding beyond 2013 will not keep pace with the anticipated level of growth in transportation requirements, and a new funding scenario would be needed for the post-Olympic period.

The TransLink Governance Review Panel suggests that the current TransLink flat rate levy on electricity accounts should be replaced by an increase in TransLink’s property tax levy on residential properties. A preliminary analysis indicates that residents in the City of Vancouver currently account for approximately 25 per cent of residential electricity accounts in Greater Vancouver. However, the total assessed value of residences in the City of Vancouver is equal to 38 per cent of the total assessed value of residences in Greater Vancouver. The proposed change therefore would result in a significant increase in the share of this charge paid by City of Vancouver residents. This is unacceptable.

It is important that the replacement of the parking site tax should be equitably distributed throughout the Greater Vancouver region. The TransLink Governance Review Panel report recommends that the equivalent net revenue should be raised though TransLink’s property tax levy from commercial, industrial and utility property classes.

Businesses in the City of Vancouver currently pay approximately 15 per cent of the parking site tax. However, if this is converted to become a part of the TransLink property tax, business properties in the City of Vancouver would pay approximately 45 per cent of the tax, since that is the proportion of the total regional business property assessment that is in this city.

It is imperative that the replacement for the parking site tax not be allowed to fall disproportionately on businesses, industry and utilities in the City of Vancouver. Residents and businesses in that city already pay a majority of the parking sales tax, since a majority of the paid parking in the region is in that City.

Conclusion
We commend the TransLink Governance Review Panel for their report. However, we believe that in the several key areas addressed above, the ideas in the report need to be changed or extended. Without those changes, there could be fatal flaws that would seriously damage the governance mechanism and performance of the new TransLink.

Sincerely, 

Frank S. Borowicz, QC
Chairman and Chief Elected Officer

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