New minister outlines issues
Claire Trevena is familiar with B.C.’s roads, ferries and bridges, writes Jennifer Saltman.
When Claire Trevena is at home on Quadra Island, she tries to ride her bike as much as possible.
As four-term NDP MLA for the large, rural riding of North Island, she relies on ferries, small boats and driving long distances — sometimes on logging roads where there is no cellphone reception — to see her constituents. She drives the highway to and from Victoria when she’s working at the Legislature and uses transit in the capital city.
“I would say I live transportation,” B.C.’s newly-minted Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure said during a telephone conversation with Postmedia.
The following is an edited and condensed version of Trevena’s interview about her appointment and agenda as minister.
Q When will tolls on the two Lower Mainland bridges (Port Mann and Golden Ears) be eliminated under your government?
A “We’re going to be working on this pretty well immediately and seeing when we can bring it in because people have been paying a huge amount for that. We’re still working on how we’re going to be dealing with this but we have made a commitment to remove the tolls and that will be happening. We’re hoping to have the plan in place before the end of the summer.”
Q The Massey Tunnel Replacement Project was an election issue and the topic of a lot of conversation in the Lower Mainland. Where does this fit into your agenda?
A “I think everybody who knows about B.C.’s traffic knows that we have to resolve the problem of the bottlenecks down on Highway 99 around the Massey Tunnel. It really is extraordinarily frustrating for people. We know that there have been reports from the mayors and very strong views in the area and I’m looking forward to working with them to find a solution to make sure that people get to where they’re going as fast and safely as possible. We’re going to be examining the project and looking at the different options, and making sure that we do go forward with something that serves the region and really gets the best value for money, and does it safely and gets people and goods moving.”
Q What is your role in securing funding for the Pattullo Bridge replacement?
A “It is a priority. The bridge is in a state of poor repair and it has, as everybody’s aware, outlived its life. It bottlenecks, there have been accidents, it’s expensive to maintain, it’s falling apart. My role as transportation minister — even though it is officially a TransLink bridge, so it’s part of their network — my role will be to work with federal government to try to get money and make sure we can get this bridge replaced in a good time frame. I’m going to be meeting with the federal minister of infrastructure next week and this will obviously be a key part of that conversation.”
Q You’ve been asked to find a “fair” approach to bringing ride hailing to B.C. What does that look like?
A “I think it’s finding that safe and that fair and accessible system. I’m going to be working with my colleague in the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General to find what that fair approach is, but I think underlying it all is going to be safety. There is the issue of fairness, both with the industry and public demand, and it is something that we are working through and we have committed to full consultation with industry and with stakeholders to try to find that.”
Q What are the problems with B.C. Ferries and how do you intend to solve them?
A “B.C. Ferries has been a big problem for some time for people both living in coast communities and wanting to access the whole of the province. We’ve seen fares rise, we’ve seen it become unaffordable for many, many people to travel and so that’s why we are addressing the affordability aspect here. We’re going to be reducing fares by 15 per cent on all routes except the ones between Vancouver Island the Lower Mainland, those ones we’re going to freeze. Likewise, we’re going to bring back seniors’ fares. We’re looking at this happening next year. We’re making sure we’re going to fix B.C. Ferries. It hasn’t worked on behalf of the people who live on the coast, or the communities, or the businesses working around the province that rely on this marine highway. We’re also going to be conducting a review of the service to make sure it does once again work for the people of B.C. The other side of it is to work on the procurement process for the new vessels to ensure that our shipyards really do have an opportunity to work for B.C. Ferries, to work with B.C. Ferries and build new ferries here.
Q In the past, B.C. communities represented by Liberal MLAs have been found to be more likely to get lucrative transportation projects such as highway repaving, road widening and bridge work. There is a long history of this in B.C., including with other parties. What is your position on this kind of “blacktop politics.”
A “My view on construction and road construction is making sure that we have a safe highway system that works for everyone in the province. There are vast areas of the province that need a lot of work. You can see that one of our commitments is to increase the pace of four-laning the Trans-Canada from Kamloops to the Alberta border. Look at a map, I don’t think there is an NDP constituency through that. Where the need is is where the investment will be and so will the jobs. I think that infrastructure should not be political. I think it is the fabric of our province, it’s what keeps our province together.”
Q There is a lot of discussion about the best ways to relieve congestion on roads in the Lower Mainland. Most agree that you can’t build your way out of it. What are your thoughts on this?
A “You’ve got to have a balance of different approaches. At times you do need to look at increasing road capacity, at other times you need to be looking at transit, how to ensure people actually get out of their cars and are using public transit. It takes investment and work because it often feels easier to get into your car. There’s many different options we’re working on. This is one of the things I’m really looking forward to as minister, looking at alternatives, looking at how we can get people moving, whether it is building roads or it is looking at areas of urban congestion to see how best we can move people around.”