Charlie Wyse and the Port Mann Bridge Expansion Project

Yesterday, Langley Township Councillor Jordan Bateman blogged on Charlie Wyse and his/NDP's position on the Port Mann Expansion Project:

"Oh Charlie Wyse. The NDP candidate, running for re-election in Cariboo-Chilcotin, made it clear what the NDP's commitment is to expanding the Port Mann Bridge: they plan to stop it. As reported in the Williams Lake Tribune, Wyse told his riding association that the PM2 project should not be a priority. Naturally, Kevin Falcon thinks that's crazy talk."

If I were Charlie Wyse, I'd stick to issues in Cariboo-Chilcotin like IPP's (Independent Power Producers'), Agriculture, Transportation and the Forest Industry and leave other election issues in other areas alone. As for the Port Mann Bridge Expansion Project, as an northern and someone who makes use of that bridge to visit family, I see the expansion as a excellent public project and should have been done years ago and shame on the NDP for not looking long-term on transportation issues and being short-sighted and ideological in their transportation planning methods.

Of course, that's not a surprise as Burnaby is on the other side of the Port Mann Bridge and Derek Corrigan (Burnaby's Mayor) has been against the expansion since Day 1 and he is a radical and hard-core NDP supporter and suggested years ago that expanding the Port Mann Bridge would turn Burnaby into a "parking lot". Of course, anyone that has half a brain knows expanding the Port Mann will provide opportunities to expand public transit options which will, in turn, lower vehicle congestion on Highway #1 through Burnaby and other areas in Metro Vancouver considerably.