Editor:
Kevin Falcon the new Liberal Leader recently stated in the press that that there was a lack of foresight by the Provincial NDP government in cancelling the 10-lane bridge proposed on Sept. 23, 2013, by the then Liberal government.
He also stated that he was the B.C. Liberal Minister of Transportation from 2004 to 2009.
Between 2004 and 2006 the B.C. Liberal government spent $22.2 million in seismic upgrades, pumping systems and emergency power supplies.
On Feb. 16, 2006 the then Liberal government announced that they were going to construct another tunnel at a cost estimated at $500 million.
Need I remind him of a statement he made on May 5, 2009 that the George Massey Tunnel was good for another 50 years. As a result, that very same year he was replaced by a new Liberal Minister of Transportation.
Unbeknown to the public a meeting was held on April 4, 2013 between the new B.C. Minister of Transportation and 22 Ministry officials and Tunnel Engineering Consultants of the Netherlands to update them on the state of the art of immersed tunnels. None of the proposals by the consultants were made public at public hearings that were held to discuss the proposed GMT replacement crossing.
After constant lobbying by the Port of Vancouver that the GMT be removed so they could deepen the river to allow for deeper ships to travel upriver., some four years later on Sept. 23, 2013 the B.C. Liberal government announced they were going to build a 10-lane bridge for $900 million instead and remove the GMT.
It has been some 17 years since Kevin Falcon the former Minster of Transportation of Provincial Liberal government announced that they would construct another tunnel to replace the GMT. What happened to that promise and why could he not have had the foresight to replace the crossing sooner?
May the new tunnel crossing be built sooner than later or no one is going to win this political game for the benefit of the people and their environment.
Douglas George Massey
