Last night, Jordan Bateman was in Colwood to talk to more than 100 taxpayers about Greater Victoria municipal waste. Here's a CHEK News story on the speech.

Jordan's speaking notes:

VICTORIA SPEECH NOTES

September 22, 2015

THANK YOU’S (slide 1)

• West Shore Chamber of Commerce
• Young Entrepreneur Society of Victoria
• Attendees
• Brad Little
• Rick Pepper
• CTF Supporters

ABOUT THE CTF (slide 2)

• Organization details
• Mission
• My background 

INTRODUCTION

• Story about Canada Games Pool as a kid
• Whirlpool; hundreds of us going faster and faster, swept along (slide 3)
• Lifeguard would blow whistle: “Reverse course!”
• We’d all turn and flail and shriek as the current carried us away
• Momentum – we see it in sports
• Takes a lot of effort to reverse course; use metaphors like “turn the tide” to describe that effort
• We see momentum in politics too.
• 1 bad decision begets another, which forces a third, than a fourth, and before you know it, your government is stuck in a negative spin.
• This is what’s happening right now in this region.

o   Bad decision after bad decision after bad decision is creating a whirlpool that will take a herculean effort from taxpayers to turn around.

o   Let’s look at some of these decisions. Some are huge – say, close to a billion dollars. Some are relatively small – say, $50,000. All contribute to the negative spin in the region.

SEATERRA

• Spin started with Seaterra (SLIDE 4)
• Somehow, a simple project to treat sewage – something virtually every city in BC does – nearly became a billion dollar boondoggle.
• Bad decision begat bad decision
• They rushed through the process, settling on a site – without asking the public what they thought (or Esquimalt council, for that matter)
• They hired staff, they created branding, they spent $72 million and delivered nothing
• They tried to bribe Esquimalt residents
• They understated their costs by at least $100 million – and likely far more. This $789 million project was going to end up costing a billion dollars.
• Kudos to citizens for standing up and fighting this. The RITE Plan group and many others – including the CTF, which produced an independent report from a local government accountant calculating the true cost to business taxpayers:

o   The average CRD homeowner would have paid about $410 per year for the project

o   The CRD’s plan understated the average Victoria homeowner’s tax bill by $579 over six years, Esquimalt by $555, View Royal by $195, and Saanich by $69.

o   The average CRD business property owner would have paid $2,306 per year for the project’s capital and operating expenses.

• Now we’re back at square one. I’m concerned cheaper alternatives are still not being properly considered.

JOHNSON ST. BRIDGE

• The Blue Bridge (SLIDE 5) is another example of bad decision making. Originally pegged at $63 million, it’s now looking like $100 or even $110 million.

o   One report showed the existing bridge could have been fixed for $23 million

• It’ll be at least a year late
• Steel flaws, legal wrangling, months with no work being done
• AGLG should look at it when it’s done
• JohnsonStreetBridge.ORG people (Mat Wright, Ross Crockford, and Yule Heibel) were right. Their goals:

o   that the City of Victoria’s political process to replace the bridge is seriously flawed;

o   that there are alternatives to this process;

o   that Victorians deserve much more of a say about the process for a project of this scope.

GAS TAX HIKE

• Let’s look at another series of bad decisions around transportation.
• Regional leaders want to raise the price of gas even higher. You may not be aware of this, but the Greater Victoria Transit Commission, supported by the CRD, has asked the provincial government to add another two cents per litre in gas tax. (SLIDE 6)
• Taxes make up a big chunk of gas prices. In the Victoria area, government collects 41 cents of tax on every litre of gas families buy. That 41 cents is a direct payment from you to federal, provincial and regional governments.
• Fill up your car? You’ve just handed government a $20 bill.
• Gas taxes in Victoria are already the fourth-highest in North America. Now Victoria politicians want to make it number three. That’s not a bronze medal worth having.
• Gas taxes not only hit taxpayers at the pump, they drive up the cost of every good or service moved in the region. They also drive up property taxes, as municipalities are huge consumers of fuel for fleets and operations. That extra expense has to come from somewhere – the taxpayer.
• Lower Mainland gas prices should be a cautionary tale for Vancouver Islanders. Greater Vancouver boasts the highest gas taxes in North America – 49 cents per litre. TransLink, the regional transit authority, used to collect 4 cents per litre. Fifteen years later, their share is 22 cents per litre, when you include the federal transfer TransLink collects.
• Despite that big tax rate, TransLink’s rosy projections of gas tax riches haven’t materialized, as prices hit a tipping point. Higher prices means fewer litres sold (at least in the region), which means less gas tax revenue. What will be Victoria’s tipping point? Will 43 cents per litre in gas taxes be too much for a region already struggling with the high cost of living?
• Tax supporters on both sides of the water always claim the need for more money to add more transit. Very few people oppose new bus routes, but motorists already pay enough. 
• What about the money that’s already being collected? Victoria drivers pay more than $135 million in gas tax annually. Better use of resources should be encouraged before any suggestion of taking more money from cash-strapped taxpayers.
• For those wanting to stop this tax hike, a small glimmer of hope remains. Earlier this year, B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone ordered an audit into BC Transit spending. “We are challenging transit and every local government partner to make sure the dollars being spent today are being spent as wisely as possible,” Stone told The Vancouver Sun.
• Stone, who must ultimately approve the gas tax hike, has seemed hesitant, putting off any decision on it until the 2016-17 B.C. Budget. This gives taxpayers time to make their will clear.
• To help, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has launched a petition opposing the tax hike at taxpayer.com/VictoriaGas. Taxpayers can sign the petition and pass it on to friends, family and neighbours.
• If this gas tax is approved, it will be there forever. It will also reinforce for mayors and councillors that there is no political cost to raising taxes; encouraging them to return to their favorite ATM – the taxpayer – again and again.

PROPERTY TAX HIKES

• That gas tax hike isn’t the only tax going up. CRD cities continue to jack up property taxes (SLIDE 7)
• Saanich up $94 for the average homewowner. 4.23%
• Victoria up $50. 2.2%
• Colwood up $120. 4.9%
• Langford up $50. 4.4%
• North Saanich 2.9%. View Royal 6.8%. Oak Bay 5.7%. Esquimalt 2.15%.
• Trending upwards. Doesn’t include CRD, hospital or other taxes.
• Fraser Institute found that Canadians spend 42% of their income on taxes.
• Excited to see groups like the Grumpy Taxpayers of Greater Victoria form. Gives us hope we can push back against this negative spin.

VACANCIES DOWNTOWN (SLIDE 8)

• And they wonder why the T-C, Business BC magazine and others keep reporting about empty storefronts downtown.
• Businesses can’t make a go of it, in part because of heavy tax burden. Business owners pass on tax costs to the tenant. Takes too long for shop owners to become profitable.
• But not just downtown. Lots of struggles across the region.
• Take about a whirlpool: Bad spending decisions in the region increase costs. Higher costs mean higher taxes. Higher taxes mean higher lease rates. Higher rates mean empty storefronts. Empty storefronts mean fewer taxpayers. And fewer taxpayers mean more taxes needed. On and on.

INNER HARBOUR BUILDING (SLIDE 9)

• So what did Victoria City Council do – they started competing with the private sector.
• In March, they bought 812 Wharf St., the inner harbour building housing Milestone’s, for $8 million.
• This building wasn’t going anywhere. It turns a profit (according to the City), so it would have drawn private sector interest.
• Usage could not have changed without city approval
• Empire building. We don’t elect government to own commercial property.
• No expertise in commercial property management. No feeling of competition. No property tax revenue. If they lose money, they’ll just up taxes on everyone else. Private owners’ tax money being used to compete against them.
• Silly. They wanted to “secure” the inner harbour. There was nothing insecure about its future.
• But when you’re about controlling everything, it makes sense.

SINGING HANDRAILS

• When governments get into that negative spin, even small, easy decisions get bungled. (SLIDE 10)
• When a bureaucrat suggests a city spend $50,000 to beautify some of its parkade stairwells, the answer should be: NO. Fresh coat of paint? Sure. But $50,000 in public art in parkade stairwells is ridiculous.
• But that’s not what the Victoria politicians decided. Their spin of bad decision continued.
• Murals and an “interactive musical railing” are planned for the back stairwell of the Bastion St. parkade.
• An interactive musical railing. In a parkade. So people using the stairs can make music. Seriously. From the Times Colonist:

o   The City of Victoria has approved installation of an interactive musical railing for the parkade’s back stairwell. The railing will be equipped with sensors that, as people’s hands run over it, trigger sound and light effects for each of the six floors.

o   There will be bird songs in the spring, jazz during the Victoria International Jazz Festival and seasonal music at Christmas. There will also be sampled drum sounds, allowing people to trade rhythms back and forth.

o   A series of LED lights, visible mostly at night, will illuminate the railing. The lights will also be triggered by sensors.

• Why?
• The city councillor speaking for the project, Pamela Madoff, claims the musical railing is “designed to ensure that civic parkades are safe and welcoming.”
• Give us a break. Government doesn’t exist to make stairwells attractive.

RAISES

• So what else have the politicians been working on?
• Well, they doubled their pay for sitting on the CRD board and various committees. (SLIDE 11)
• To be clear, this isn’t the pay they receive for being elected to their local council in Victoria, Langford or any other municipality. This is just the extra pay they get for attending CRD meetings.
• The claims some of these politicians use to justify their cash grab are downright embarrassing.
• First, there’s the line that CRD pay hasn’t changed in 20 years. Sure, that’s true, but every mayor and councillor has received raises from their city halls during that period. So they all got more money from taxpayers.
• And even if they hadn’t, so what? When these politicians decided to run for office, there was no gun being held to their head. They willingly put their name forward in a local election. When they won, they chose to accept the appointment to the CRD. And they did so, knowing precisely what they were going to be paid – and what sacrifices would have to be made personally.
• Secondly, some CRD politicians also spoke about the need for pay to be “competitive.” This is absolute nonsense – there is no competitive market for regional districts. It’s not like a Saanich councillor, dismayed at the wage paid a CRD director, can jump ship to the Metro Vancouver Regional District (although we’d like to see them try). No other regional district is out trying to recruit CRD directors to their boards.
• Here’s the truth about politician pay. Some are grossly overpaid for the work they do, while some are terribly underpaid. But that distinction is very much in the eye of the beholder. Given the long list of pressing concerns facing the CRD, it certainly seems like there is room for improvement.
• But here are a few guidelines. Politicians shouldn’t be raising their own pay. If a raise is necessary, it should be put in place for the next mayor and council, not the current one – giving voters a chance to speak on the issue.
• Further, politicians shouldn’t double dip. A mayor or council salary should be all they get; there should be no top-up for regional roles. They are only on regional bodies because we elect them locally. There’s only one taxpayer – and we pay them already for their work.
• Lastly, no evidence exists to prove that paying more attracts better candidates to public life. In fact, Rod Sykes, the former mayor of Calgary, argues that his city got better candidates when they paid less. 
• The CRD would be well advised to at least reverse the pay hikes and start focusing on some of issues that really matter to regional taxpayers. But they won’t.

HOMELESSNESS

• We’re seeing a lot of these same mistakes occur again – this time with homelessness.
• Mayor Helps blunders into Topaz Park (SLIDE 12), planning to turn it into a tent city, and is stunned when neighbors feel blindsided and worried.
• Well, duh!
• Then she rushes some public consultation and is stunned to find out that many people think its unfair that some folks get paid for their public consultation, and others don’t.  (SLIDE 13)
• Paying the homeless $20 to show up is not productive.
• Despite the claim that Victoria wants more public consultation (SLIDE 14), they’ve already hatched a plan and sent it to the CRD.
• Then we hear that all it will take to solve homelessness is roughly $12 per year to fund a $50 million development. Run, of course, by the same people who brought you Seaterra, Johnson St., and singing handrails. What could go wrong?
• Their numbers are highly suspect.
• Helps proposes to build 367 supportive housing units at a cost of $50 million. That works out to $136,240 per unit. Unrealistic.
• It is then proposed that the provincial government kick in $7.73 million to operate these units. This works out to $21,064 per unit. Then the cost to service the debt will cost about $2.08 million per year, or $5,668 per unit. 

o   No one has bothered to see if the province would be on board

o   BC Housing prefers to give rent allowances, to avoid clustering low income people all in one place. Like, say, Topaz Park.

• Funny enough, the annual operating cost per unit is $26,732 or $2,228 per month. If you rented for even half that, you could help twice as many people.
• Helps made a bad decision rushing into Topaz Park. Then she made a bad decision trying to backtrack and rush public input and paying one group of people to be there. Now another bad decision is on the horizon, this one costing $50 million plus.

TURNING THE TIDE (SLIDE 15)

• We need to turn the tide.
• Citizens become experts and outspoken
• Grassroots groups form
• Talk to people
• Force government to stay within their bounds – both what they are legislated to do, and what they ran to do
• TRANSLINK: make our own luck. 2010, 2012, 2015 plebiscite

THE SELL

• The CTF is one of several groups working to turn the tide here on the south Island. But we need your help.
• As I mentioned at the beginning, we rely on grassroots funding. No government, no big business, no billionaire patrons (although if you know one, let me know). Just everyday Canadians who believe in our cause of lower taxes, less waste, more accountability
• Do three things:

o   Sign up at taxpayer.com as a supporter. Action updates, petitions, etc.

o   Be active. Letters, emails, comments – fight for your beliefs

o   When a CTF agent calls, take the call. Brad and Rick meet with dozens of people every week, talking about our work and building financial support.

o   If you believe in the work we're doing, take their call. Have a chat with them. And, if you can, support us.

• We can turn the tide here. We did it in the Lower Mainland against the TransLink sales tax. When the campaign started in December, they were up 14 points. By the time the vote happened, thanks to the CTF, they lost by 24 points. 38 point swings in public opinion are hard for politicians to ignore – even ones being swept along in their bad decision making current.
• So help us out – sign up, get engaged, and take our call.

Q & A