With the civic election approaching Vision Mayoral candidate is refusing to pay the $173 transit fine. Now to be fair the fine does seem a bit steep and I believe him when he states it was an “honest mistake”, however as a candidate for mayor of Vancouver, he should just shut up and pay the fine.
Why? Because it is giving ammunition to the NPA and they will make this an election issue. Ladner was quoted in the Province, “I think it’s very revealing of Mr. Robertson’s character and his ability to be a good mayor.” He continued, “he mayor makes the laws; the mayor should obey the laws.” A political ploy? Definitely and the NPA have every right to use this against him as sadly that is what politics is about in Vancouver.
This civic election is a big one for Vancouver as we will be heading into the Olympics and once that party is over this city has some serious and harsh decisions to make. For all that the NPA has done wrong you have to give Sam Sullivan some credit for not caring about the “politics” of running a city. Right or wrong, I believe Sullivan did what he thought was best for the city. Some of his initiatives were actually quite good such as the greatly contested eco-density. There was also the downtown ambassador program which arose from his project civil city. Arguments for or against his initiatives can be made, however that was in the past and we need to move forward.
What we need is a discussion on homelessness, density (to deal with rising population), office development, cultivation and support of a great arts scene, nurture small businesses, the whitecaps waterfront stadium, etc… What we don’t need is a discussion on $173 fine. As a mayoral candidate Mr. Robertson just pay it and lets talk about the important issues.
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