Hubert Culham: “Yes” win in transit plebiscite would destroy the Fraser Valley

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      By Hubert Culham

      The transit plebiscite has given us citizens one good thing: the sense that we don’t know where our city or the Fraser Valley is headed, or why, or who is making the decisions—or what are the real issues.

      The Machiavellian political web behind the plebiscite will never be unravelled, but once you realize that transit is not the point, you can think what this costly game is really about.

      There are only two issues and they lock together: people flowing in upon us from the outside world, and priceless lands of the Fraser Valley ripe for development to become one of the world’s largest and most unlivable cities.

      Our world is exploding with every kind of growth, from oil wells, to high rises, to desertification; and volcanoes go pop.

      But the growth that is deadliest is human population itself, and the poorest countries are the worst off. Like rabbits they reproduce, but cannot feed themselves and have no jobs. These desperate people hope to emigrate to a happier land. Not all immigrants are poor. A few bring great wealth, speculate on real estate, and drive property values up in an inflationary spiral.

      We must welcome them; that’s the Canadian way. So we have been told, and we assume that we must absorb our share of the world’s poor as immigrants into our cities. Many head for Vancouver, first stop from the East and a boom town to boot. But the city is already being densified and is costly. It is starting to look like Manhattan. Maybe they can live somewhere in the Fraser Valley. So how many are we talking about?

      The transit referendum casually throws out an “estimate” of one million new people in Metro Vancouver’s region by 2041; then we must add in our own citizens and their children who can no longer afford to live in their once beautiful city. You are actually considering many millions of people. The transit “estimate” of one million new people over the next 26 years has obviously been fiddled so as not to panic the voters. There are no brakes in place.

      The Fraser Valley is a unique natural, geological land formation complete with majestic mountains, a fertile valley, plenty of fresh water in a great river, and a temperate climate. Treated with respect by its inhabitants for eons, it has provided lavish rewards to man and wildlife. It is a fragile environment, since its funnel shape locks in, and concentrates all contaminants.

      But where is Vancouver’s “region”? The plan in the transit package conveniently stops at the east boundary of Langley Township. But the Fraser Valley keeps going eastward to Chilliwack. All this land is on the table. No, it must not be a question of political boundaries, but of nature’s sculpture of the land, the air, and the water. It is absolutely finite.

      Air pollution wafts up the valley where it sits and festers over farmland and a few people. Each year our water flow is more polluted with heat and chemicals, to be dumped into the ocean. Remember that it was Yanks and Canadians in 2005 who demonstrated in Bellingham and Abbotsford to stop Sumas Energy 2, a gas-fired electric generator from being built just across the border in Washington state. It would have used Canadian gas, and dramatically polluted the air of the Fraser Valley, with Fraser River water for coolant and Fraser Valley towers to transmit the electricity through our grid for sale—where?—to the USA. Our provincial and federal governments did almost nothing to stop this environmental madness. They looked the other way. It took the Supreme Court of Canada to finally kill the project.

      The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is our only hope for the salvation of the Fraser Valley. It was a piece of far-sighted provincial legislation by the NDP government in 1973 to protect B.C.’s best agricultural land and the environment against rapacious development. From day one the ALR was attacked and eroded by a series of governments, including our present one. The most vulnerable and critical ALR land is right here in the Fraser Valley. There is, in fact, very little contiguous land involved, and each time a bite is taken out of it, the remainder is less sustainable. Yes, it is a critical mass. As California’s drought continues and it cannot feed the USA, B.C.’s temperate zone agriculture will be more valuable and we will need it to feed ourselves. The ALR lands are the lungs of the Fraser Valley. Build on them at your peril.

      Rapid transit commuter trains have a role to play in the modern mega-city, but only after the demand is clearly demonstrated.

      The transit plan clearly shows extending rapid transit to Langley City, then on to the west boundary of Abbotsford. In fact it means more city straight on through to Chilliwack. If the transit plebiscite is approved, the voters, without even knowing it, will have effectively approved the death of the Fraser Valley and the ALR.

      Comments

      12 Comments

      Jim Howden

      May 21, 2015 at 2:01pm

      Finally an article that cuts through the hype and exposes the stark reality.

      We're hell bent on densification, building more and more expensive tiny apartments unsuitable for most let alone young families requiring large debt by locals to acquire. Liveability has gone out the window, to accommodate elite and the developers abetted by their political handmaidens.

      We're told a yes vote will reduce congestion by 20%. However, Gregor Robertson's council shut down one of the limited city conduits, Point Grey Road, which had been used as a major route to UBC for the 50 years I've lived in the area, in order to give Gregor and his multi-millionaire potential neighbours, a quasi gated community. Was that a ploy to add to congestion thereby justifying even more taxes and levies for a dysfunctional transit authority?

      If that closure was really about a bike lane, the city could have reclaimed the city land appropriated by said homeowners. It was in fact an action that further added to vehicular congestion on all other corridors to UBC.

      Vision and Green councillors lost not only my vote with that charade but any trust in what they say or advise. Densification is the end game and the Point Grey closure shows that congestion is not the real issue, but a ploy to extract even more cash from us.

      Vancouverite's quality of life and affordability is first, but the whole of the Fraser Valley is next.

      We've voted, No!

      n analysis that hits it bang on!

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      Rico

      May 21, 2015 at 2:06pm

      Wow, that article was some kind of 'special.' I guess we should start building that fence to keep everyone else out. And wow, who knew rapid transit was a gateway drug to paving the ALR. Silly me I thought it was freeways.

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      Jon Q. Publik

      May 21, 2015 at 2:28pm

      Sorry, still trying to comprehend the drivel I just read; this guy's commentary is one step removed from revealing that Translink is actually a front for the reptilian invasion. I also like the very subtle (pardon the sarcasm in advance) swipe at immigrants - seriously this is borderline racism - talk about who's using the scare tactics.

      I get this is a commentary piece but poor form for actually posting this crap. Vote Yes so people like Hubert can eat crow.

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      RG

      May 21, 2015 at 3:26pm

      I object to the author calling himself a "planner". He lacks the credentials, experience, perspective or writing ability of a planner. A BArch does not a planner make.

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      Jim Johnston

      May 21, 2015 at 4:06pm

      It is quite interesting to see the ironic projections about drivel and lack of credentials directed at this writer in a fashion which is likely sadly humourous to all but those exposing themselves. ;-).

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      Kiskatinawkid

      May 21, 2015 at 10:03pm

      JJ: I'm not going to delve into "ironic projections about drivel"(huh?), or "lack of credentials", but, if Hubert did have a professional career in "architecture and planning", it goes a long way in explaining why the lower mainland is such a goddam mess!
      And if he's really concerned about the ALR, he would direct his bitch at the provincial LIEberals. They are the ones destroying it. Of course they also destroyed TransLink.
      Now that's "ironic"!

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      Paully

      May 22, 2015 at 1:38pm

      Bizarreness. Are there seriously people out there who think that voting AGAINST better public transport is good for the environment??

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      Devil's Avocado

      May 22, 2015 at 4:00pm

      "I object to the author calling himself a planner."

      I agree, he likely lacks a creepy beard, a haircut that includes shaved sides of the head with a queefy-poof on top, and most importantly, a distain for capitalism mixed with an economic reliance on wealthy developers. Then, and only then, is someone a legit "planner"

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      Yu Fang

      May 22, 2015 at 7:39pm

      Cities get bigger.They always have. You cant really stop it.

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      p lg

      May 23, 2015 at 10:26pm

      Rico, you've obviously either not lived in the Fraser Delta for long or its been a long time since you travelled outside of Vancouver to see the exponential growth and like freeways, commuter and urban trains also contribute to sprawl as they did in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th Century. Not sure why young people think this is a good thing. Perhaps envisage your own future without transit or trains to carry you to far off places to school or to your work or to your home. Why would you entrust those who have wasted and spoiled so much to think for you. Vote NO!

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