MOTION ON NOTICE

At the Council meeting of February 19, 2002, Councillor Bass submitted the following Notice of Motion, which was recognized by the Chair.

2. Reversing Provincial Cuts to Seniors (File: 1263)

WHEREAS, the provincial government announced in January that it would be cutting the BC Bus Pass Program - a 20-year program that provided low-income seniors with $45 annual transit passes.

AND WHEREAS, nearly 25,000 low-income seniors living in the GVRD rely on the annual transit pass program,

AND WHEREAS, these passes provide low-income seniors with basic mobility and access to medical services and doctors, shopping, recreation and social activities;

AND WHEREAS, in the past the provincial government has transferred funding to transit authorities and municipalities to cover the cost of the BC Bus Pass Program;

AND WHEREAS, the provincial government had previously contributed$12 million to TransLink's annual budget for the BC Bus Pass Program;

AND WHEREAS, during his February 13 televised address to the province, Premier Campbell announced that the cuts to the BC Bus Pass Program were wrong, but he failed to outline who should pay for the resurrected program;

AND WHEREAS, previous to the February 13 announcement to reverse the cut, Premier Campbell suggested cost-sharing the program with transit authorities and municipalities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, Vancouver City Council:

(a) congratulate the Premier and the provincial government for reversing their harmful decision to cut the BC Bus Pass Program; and

(b) ask the provincial government to fully fund this program without downloading future costs of the BC Bus Pass Program to transit agencies or municipalities.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver