Dear editor,
In response to the open letter to me from J. Cates with regard to transit subsidies.
If he would carefully reread my letter he would discern that I made a point by point rebuttal to the letter by Mr./Ms. Olsen.
There was no mention of anger, far less “incensed” in my letter.
Yes, riders should pay more. What would our tax load be like if the BC Ferries only charged one fifth of actual costs? It is a user pay system.
I for one choose not to pay any more than absolutely necessary not having ridden a ferry since Thanksgiving to visit relatives on a gulf island. If you don’t want to pay full cost fare for transit, why then should I be obliged to contribute? I would far rather see my tax dollars go towards raising the standard of living for seniors, I will be one soon enough. Perhaps then seniors could afford a vehicle of their own if that were the case.
I made no mention of road maintenance, my gas and property taxes already go towards that. I made no mention of “reckless squandering” of public funds on education for anyone’s children. Nor did I mention funding of fire/police/health services or anything else for that matter. Transit, that’s all I wrote about.
J. Cates’ letter is less a rebuttal than an inaccurate attack on points he attributes to me that I never made.
He did get one thing right to his credit, I drive a truck. I am a homeowner and find it difficult to get a load to the dump or bring home fence panels on the bus. I can’t catch a bus to the many lakes north of Campbell River where we like to go camping. I apologize for offending sensibilities but it makes the most sense for me. I pay for the gas, maintenance, insurance, and licensing all by myself and I wouldn’t dream of asking anyone to chip in. Unless, that is, I start picking up hitchhiking senior citizens.
M. Richards
Comox