Is TransLink nearing the breaking point? It's a question worth posing as frustrations expressed by a number of mayors and councils over transit and transportation priorities continue to mount and boil over for public display.
TransLink has been unable to solve a riddle it has been wrestling with for some time now: how to meet escalating service demands without creating unpopular or unacceptable revenue streams to pay for them.
As a result, municipalities are finding themselves pitted against each other when it comes to determining what particular project gets the green light over others.
The situation has been building for some time, but three recent developments show how bad things have become.
First was Premier Christy Clark's arbitrary decision that a new bridge would replace the Massey Tunnel, and that construction would begin soon. The announcement was met with opposition from a number of mayors, but it also was backed by others, notably Delta Mayor Lois Jackson.
One of the critics of the Massey Bridge, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, continues to insist a rapid transit line down Broadway to the University of B.C. is the most pressing priority, but the chance of that being built anytime soon evaporated when the B.C. Liberals won re-election, as the voters along that transit line voted for the NDP.
Then there was Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts' announcement that her municipality would essentially bypass TransLink and the provincial government and approach Ottawa on its own, asking for $1.8 billion in funding to build three light rail lines across the city.
Watts has been pushing for some kind of light rail service in her municipality for quite some time, only to be ignored time and time again from her mayoral colleagues.
Of course, it remains a long-shot for the federal government to fork this kind of cash over to a municipality (Surrey is not in Quebec, after all), but Watts' actions seems to be a stunning example of the frustration some mayors have with TransLink's planning process.
Finally, New Westminster council is now balking at Surrey's desire for a six-lane bridge to replace the Pattullo Bridge, arguing its street network could not handle the extra flow of traffic such a bridge would bring.
This kind of infighting and going-alone actions is occurring while that unprecedented referendum on how to fund transit in Metro Vancouver draws ever closer.
The premier says that referendum is partly designed to ensure mayors make their own positions on funding known, so they can be held accountable.
But the way things are going, who knows whether the current TransLink model can function long enough to make it to the fall of 2014, when the referendum will be held.
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Don't underestimate the significance of those unprecedented five-year contracts reached between the provincial government and the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union.
The union's master agreement often serves as the template for other public sector union contracts, so it's a good bet other unions will sign similar contracts in the months ahead. Interestingly, the union signed a new deal well ahead of the March termination date of the current one, and others may opt to sign early as well.
The union also bought into the government's idea of tying bonus wage hikes to economic growth. Public sector unions have long been accused of thinking economic growth had nothing to do with the compensation coming from government, so this is a philosophical shift of sorts.
The one exception when it comes to other unions following this kind of contract is, of course, the B.C. Teachers' Federation. It considers itself a social justice movement, and not a trade union, so expecting it to grasp the linkage between economic growth and wage increases for their members is perhaps unrealistic.
In political terms, however, the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union deal speaks volumes. Signing a five-year deal suggests the union realizes it backed the wrong horse in the last election and that it had better work with the one that won.
The new contract lasts until after the next election as well. The union seems to have bet on the outcome of that contest already, and the bet has not been placed on the party it has traditionally backed.
That tells you all you need to know about where the NDP is at these days, and how the party is viewed by its own allies.
Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global B.C.
