Talk:Gary Coons

Cleanup
Please note that this is an encyclopedia, not a personal public relations database. This article is to be written in proper encyclopedic style — most importantly, that means that subsequent references to him, following the initial name reference at the top of the article, are to be written as Coons, not as Gary. Bearcat 22:56, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Duly noted. I will endeavor to work on the clean-up. Moonbug 23:32, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

I have plenty more to add, but not the time to add all of it this instant. There will be many varied sources showing his stances on different issues of note. Moonbug 00:05, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Quotes
Although Coons is the New Democrat Critic for Ferries and Ports he is outspoken on many other issues as his numerous statements in the house as well as the large number of news stories published about his work attests.

On Ferries
"I just want to look at the amounts in the core business estimates that were given. I can see that in '06-07 there was approximately $130 million given to B.C. Ferry Services, and this year it's $144 million — an 11-percent increase approximately. Back in '04-05 the amount was close to $127 million, and again it's a 14-percent increase.

The minister was talking about one of the objectives of the transformation of B.C. Ferries was to have less cost to the taxpayer and a better quality of service. But when we look at those increases, I also see in the performance 2 submission from B.C. Ferries to the commissioner that back in the years prior to 2006-2007 — actually, in 2006 and 2007 — the taxpayer subsidy was $91.8 million, and that was contractual. B.C. Ferries says it's going up to $105.2 million; then in 2008-2009, $123.4 million. In 2009-2010 it's going up to $146.5 million; in 2010-2011, $146 million.

Finally, in 2011-2012 in B.C.'s performance 2 submission to the commissioner, they're saying that they are anticipating getting $152.9 million, which from the current contract is a 67-percent increase — from the current contract to what B.C. Ferries is expecting.

I'm just wondering if the minister agrees with those numbers that over the next three or four years there's going to be a 60-percent, 60-percent and then eventually a 67-percent increase in the taxpayer subsidy to B.C. Ferries."

"The Auditor General says, though, that the negative side of this increased independence is that the Ferry Authority is not answerable to anybody. With no owners, no shareholders, no financial stake in the company, there's no person or agency that controls B.C. Ferries or its board of directors. The Auditor General says that this new governance structure is a hybrid that has yet to prove itself."

"They transferred over our vital, essential marine highway to be flipped over in a profit-over-service scheme — no business plan, no written objectives, no observable objectives, no criteria for how the objectives are being met. I hope the minister writes down the five objectives from the Auditor General's report so he has them all in one spot. His staff can say — instead of me or the public going to documents willy-nilly — that they are put out there for the public to see."

On Forestry
"Log exports exchange short-term gain for long-term pain."

"The expansion of log exports to the Queen Charlottes coupled with the continuation of old-growth logging will lead to the devastation of our vulnerable coastal forests. This plan once again offers little hope for workers and communities and we need to press for the necessary transition programs and funding for both workers and communities."

On the Moratorium on Oil Tanker Traffic on the North Coast
"There is a moratorium on oil and gas activities in B.C.'s offshore waters. That means there isn't supposed to be any exploration activity and tanker traffic along our coastline. Frankly, I find it disturbing that traffic has begun without even the most cursory of public discourse from the government."

"The moratoria have not been lifted, and they need to be for this tanker traffic to legally go ahead. If the moratoria are, indeed, going to be lifted, there must be debates on both the federal and the provincial levels, as well as consultation with the First Nations Peoples whose territories are affected by this change in policy."

"If governments are unwilling to act to protect the interests of communities like Hartley Bay in the event of a small spill like that caused by the sinking of the Queen of the North, how can the communities of the North Coast feel secure in the face of the possibility of a major spill?"

"The sneaky approach both the federal and provincial governments have taken on the issue of tanker traffic doesn't inspire much confidence in their commitment to the environmental health of the North Coast."

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