Navigation
User login
B.C. Provincial Election 2009
May 12, 2009 is our next opportunity to vote for the political party of our choice to run British Columbia. In anticipation of this, I wondered where the parties stood on traffic safety. Do they have anything in their platforms for this election? If not, can we as concerned voters influence that?
Before Christmas I visited the NDP and Liberal web sites. I could not find anything on traffic safety on either one, nor could I find a contact e-mail address on the Liberal site. I did send a request for information to the NDP, but to date there has been no response, not even an automated one to acknowledge the e-mail.
My next stop were the web sites for the local MLA's as I have the Liberals on one side of me and the NDP on the other. I e-mailed both a couple of weeks ago and received a response from the Liberal office directing me to a provincial Liberal web site where I could add my wishes to have my voice heard. They didn't answer my question about their platform, so I thanked them and asked it again.
The NDP did not reply.
I will try the Green party next and continue to follow up with the others.
Links:
Comments
Weekly Update
Another week has passed without a reply from any of the parties.
It's sad that the politicians that we pay have so little regard for their constituents. While they must receive a large number of e-mails that present a significant workload there must be a duty to respond. It's little wonder that people feel that the government does not have their interest in mind.
Update
I have received a direct response from the NDP Transportation Critic who advised me that the NDP has not documented their platform for the upcoming election but he will contact me directly as soon as it is.
The Green Party has so far failed to acknowledge or reply to an inquiry to their party web site.
The Liberal Party has not responded to the follow up query asking for information rather than a link to their "tell us what you want" site.
Response from the NDP
The Opposition Caucus takes traffic safety very seriously. During this
last term, we have met with the British Columbia Federation of Police
Officers to discuss concerns that included traffic safety.
As our roads become increasingly full, it is very important to look at
the impacts that will be created, including things like traffic safety
and congestion.
Sincerely,
Carole James, Leader
Official Opposition
Unfortunately, this reply really doesn't say whether the NDP has any traffic safety planks in their election platform. I responded with that and asked if they would provide an more detailed response.
Response from the Green Party
From my recollection there is nothing in our 2009 policy that relates specifically to traffic safety issues. Our policy book - Green Book 2009 - 2013 - will be on our website in the early part of March. If you have suggestions, we are open to them.
Sincerely,
Jane Sterk
The Greens only took two inquiries to produce an honest and straight forward response. If you wish to make suggestions, you may e-mail Ms. Sterk at leader@greenparty.bc.ca
Response from the Liberals
I've heard a bit more, but it really doesn't add anything more than is already here. This is from the BC Liberal Team:
Thank-you for interest in the BC Liberal Party Platform for the coming
election. As this is a BC Liberal Party initiative, your message has been
sent to our attention for reply.
Our full election platform will be released in the lead-up to the May
Election, but until that time we are listening to the thoughts and ideas of
British Columbians.
People from every part of the province have great ideas on how to keep B.C.
strong, which is why we're asking people to share them through our Open
Platform at www.openplatformbc.ca. If you have an idea you'd like to submit
it can help form the development of the BC Liberal 2009 election platform.
BC Conservative Party
This party has posted a policy on it's web site that lists the following point:
3.0
A BC Conservative Government will enact legislation to ensure that any individual caught street
racing three times will lose his or her driver’s license for life.
Any street racer involved in a fatal accident will lose his or her driver’s license for life, even if
convicted of his or her first offence.
BC Liberal Platform
Here is a link to the full Liberal Election Platform PDF Document.
I searched traffic, driver, driving, safety, and road without finding anything of consequence save a mention that all traffic ticket fines are returned to the municipalities for public safety funding.
It would appear that the Liberal party is not promising any new traffic safety initiatives in the coming election.
BC NDP Platform
Here is a link to the BC NDP Election Platform PDF Document.
I searched traffic, driver, driving, safety, and road without finding anything of consequence.
It would appear that the NDP party is not promising any new traffic safety initiatives in the coming election.