A commentary by a retired Times Colonist staff writer
I’m beginning to think I’m not “woke” enough.
Maybe it comes with retirement. I’ve always considered myself kind of hip and progressive.
Soon, I fear, I’ll be hiking my pants up mid-way to my chest and yelling at kids to get off my lawn. I’m already whining about taxes, being on a fixed income and all.
Actually it’s taxes, or rather the apparent lack of concern over them, that this piece is all about.
While reading the profiles submitted by candidates for the upcoming Victoria council byelection, I noticed that only one of the hopefuls even mentioned keeping a watchful eye on government spending as one of his priorities.
As for the rest, well, most took a more aspirational view of the council job they are seeking, promising to work for the likes of fare-free transit for all, accessible daycare and, of course, affordable housing.
Now don’t get me wrong, housing, rent protections, transit and daycare are all laudable goals — objectives that will knit nicely with the thinking of the “woke” council incumbents. The only thing is there is no mention by the council wannabes of how they plan to pay for any of this.
And that’s a major shift from municipal politics of only a generation ago. I confess I’m old enough to remember municipal department heads being grilled for hours every year as councillors undertook a line-by-line review of their budgets looking for fat to trim.
Those councillors understood that one of their jobs was to represent the interest of taxpayers, many of whom struggled to come up with their share of city taxes. (Half of the existing council doesn’t even live in the city, let alone own property here.)
They also knew when it came time to implement any tax increase they would face packed council chambers as many seniors waited patiently to give them an earful if any proposed tax increase seemed unjust or unaffordable.
Those seniors don’t show up much at tax time any more. The province has made it easy for them to defer their property taxes — offering low interest loans to cover the cost, only repayable when the home is sold so they no longer have to fear being taxed out of their homes.
And while debt isn’t a good solution to over-taxation, it’s a popular one. So many just grumble at home.
Judging by the majority of candidate platforms, project costs are something that someone else will work out. Let’s look at fare free transit, for example. The current “woke” Victoria council decided it was a good idea to start charging for street parking on Sundays. To justify it, they said they would use the money to provide fare-free transit to youths.
OK, staff estimated Sunday parking would raise an estimated $500,000 a year. Councillors promptly negotiated a deal with B.C. Transit that saw them bulk purchase thousands of passes that went unused.
(In June alone the only 620 passes were picked up by youths while the city paid for 7,200.)
So now the promise is to provide fare-free transit for all? Why not? Youth passes worked so well. Let’s double down. The idea fits well with the current council’s agenda.
You don’t have to look any further than tents in city parks to councillors’ hand-wringing over an offensive mural in Bastion Square for examples of mismanagement and bad ideas by the existing council, which has long been operating more like a university student council than a serious level of government.
Anyone remember the Crystal Pool replacement project? After spending some $2-million on planning design and securing some $7 million in federal grants, this bunch suddenly decided they may be putting the new pool in the wrong spot and maybe they should should start over.
As for the grants? Gone. Whether the planning and design work will ever be used is yet to be determined.
As for the loss of the grant money? That seemingly doesn’t matter when you’ve got a magical ATM in the taxpayer.
After the byelection the new councillor will be walking smack dab into the middle of city budgeting. The current proposal is for a tax increase of 1.7 per cent.
An increase! In an economy wracked by a pandemic, where businesses are shuttering under debt loads and lost business and where residents — many of whom have lost their jobs, faced reduced hours or salary rollbacks or both — this council is considering an increase.
How “woke” is that?
I don’t think we need more of the same.
