Why Metro Vancouver Should Vote No In The Transit Plebisicite

The Mayors have stated that they have no “PLAN B”, implying that there is no alternative to the tax. But it is very clear that there is an alternative : The Mayors should unite to call for a dramatic cut to immigration, almost all of which has been unnecessary. Since 1991, Canada’s immigration intake has averaged 250,000 per year. In that time, immigration has been responsible for about 83% of Metro’s huge population increase. Immigration will soon be responsible for close to 100% of Metro’s population increase. Metro Vancouver’s population in 1991 was 1.6 million. It is now over 2.5 million. If the immigration madness continues, Metro’s population will be 3.5 million in 2040.

Residents should vote “NO” for the following reasons :

There is no point in increasing Metro’s population to 3.5 million by 2040. Canada’s average yearly intake is a policy. Let’s say that last word again : It is a policy, not an inevitability or a constitutional requirement. It can be changed easily. The policy was introduced in 1990 for a corrupt reason : to allow the Conservatives to better compete with the Liberals for the immigrant vote. Our federal government has never provided any justification for its high intake. If there is no justification for the high intake, then there is no justification for huge unnecessary infrastructure expenditures that result from the intake.

Metro Mayors are trying to deceive the public by not saying why the area needs all the extra infrastructure. Two sample ballots that Metro has published demonstrate the deceit. The first one began with this statement : “One million more people will live and work in Metro Vancouver by 2040. ” Let’s repeat : there is nothing inevitable about another million people living in Metro by 2040. To be blunt, that will happen only if the Mayors don’t show the guts to stand up to Ottawa and if they continue to expect residents to pay for their gutlessness.

The second sample ballot, the one that residents will use, says nothing about an additional 1 million people living in Metro Vancouver. The obvious question is “WHY?” The clear answer is that the Mayors and Councillors do not want Metro to ask who these 1 million people are and why they are coming here. The answer to “Who are these people?” is unnecessary immigrants. The answer to “Why are they coming here?” is that all of our federal parties are equally gutless and scared that if they stand up for the majority of Canadians, they will lose their share of the minority immigrant vote.

None of the conventional reasons given for immigration such as the supposed necessity to deal with an aging population or the supposed need to stimulate the area’s economy are true. In fact, the federal government’s own research has shown that Canada should not use immigration to solve problems caused by an aging population. It has also shown that immigration provides no significant stimulus to the economy. In fact, recent research of thousands of income tax returns demonstrates that immigrants are taking close to $30 Billion per year more in benefits out of the economy that they are contributing in taxes.

Municipalities like to plead that they don’t have power over matters such as immigration. Yet, they often grovel to Ottawa for other things and manage to get concessions by doing so. The point is that now is an even more important time to get concessions and to avoid a senseless 1 million increase in Metro Vancouver’s population and the accompanying massive expenditures.

Metro Mayors also need to answer the following crucial question : What will they do in 2040 when a new federal government wants to increase Metro Vancouver’s population by another 1 million?

Metro Vancouver mayors do not seem capable of understanding that there are limits to an area’s ability to absorb people.