(Vancouver) – After rolling out major campaign platform pieces over the last month, Mayor Gregor Robertson and the Vision Vancouver team released their full platform this morning. In contrast to the NPA's runaway spending promises (such as an unfunded $200 million streetcar which Anton previously opposed), the Vision Vancouver platform is a fully-costed plan to move forward on Vancouver's true priorities.
“Vancouver can't afford to roll the dice on the divided NPA or its inexperienced rookie candidates,” said Mayor Robertson, after detailing the NPA platform's runaway spending plan. “The choice in this election is between letting the NPA recklessly take us back to the days of division and mismanagement at City Hall, or voting for a strong Vision Vancouver team with a responsible plan to move Vancouver forward.”
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The NPA's candidates are divided amongst each other, leaving Suzanne Anton and selected fellow candidates off their fliers, and regularly contradicting each other on major policy positions such as a downtown mega-casino, bike lanes, the viaducts, laneway housing, and policing. The NPA platform's reckless promises amount to over $400 million in unfunded new city spending.
“The NPA can't agree on a coherent direction for this city, and Vancouver simply can't afford the NPA's desperate, runaway spending promises,” said Vision Council candidate Raymond Louie. “Promises like Suzanne Anton's $200 million streetcar demonstrate the clear danger involved in going back to the days of wild NPA mismanagement, when we saw an unnecessary three-month strike and poor decisions on the Olympic Village that placed enormous financial risk on city taxpayers.”
Vision Vancouver has a proven record of competent fiscal management at City Hall and sound, forward-looking economic stewardship for Vancouver. Under Vision Vancouver, the City's debt outlook was upgraded by Moody's, Vancouver was recognized by KPMG as having the most competitive combined corporate tax rate of any major city, and Vancouver achieved the lowest 2011 overall property tax increase of any Metro Vancouver municipality.
“The choice is between electing a strong, proven Vision Vancouver team that will act on Vancouver's real priorities, or allowing Suzanne Anton to take us back to the days of NPA waste, mismanagement, and division,” said Vision council candidate Tony Tang. “Vancouver can't afford Anton's reckless rookies. We need a strong Vision Vancouver team at City Hall to move this city forward on real priorities like homelessness, affordability, public safety, and new jobs.”
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