Dear Editor
Re: Don’t make taxpayers cover the cost for refugee leisure passes, Letters to the editor, April 1.
Just to clarify, there is no actual out of pocket cost to the taxpayer of providing leisure passes to the refugees.
For example: the pools of Burnaby are there regardless. The cost of running the pool does not increase if a few extra people are in the water. Same with the weight rooms and other activities that the passes allow access to.
Providing single use leisure passes to the refugees introduces them to the amenities of Burnaby.
It is a way to show them what is available and to encourage them to use the facilities in the future as paying customers.
Plus, I think it’s a nice gesture saying welcome to our community.
Karin Alzner, Burnaby parks, recreation and cultural commissioner
