THEVOICE | 2 THURSDAY, FEB. 14,2019 | EDITOR ROXANNE EGAN-ELLIOTT Atlarge WELCOME ae Ae we ees SS 2 2 » JA — i} Jody Wilson-Raybould, minister of justice and attorney general at the time, speaks at the 2017 First Nations Cabinet Leader's Gathering in Vancouver. GovERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA/FLICKR Resignation rocks government Wilson-Raybould’s exit surprising and dramatic, says Greens Elizabeth May = By AUSTIN EVERETT he resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould from cabinet eight months before a federal election is an extraordinary turn of events in federal politics, said Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May. In an exclusive interview with The Voice, May said Wilson-Raybould’s letter Tuesday announcing she was leaving cabinet has rocked the Trudeau government. “This is definitely extraordinary. I can't think of anything that has happened quite like this,” said May, who spoke to The Voice by phone as she was about to give a speech from the east coast. Wilson-Raybould resigned from her posts as minister of veter- ans affairs and associate minister of national defence early Tuesday morning. Wilson-Raybould will still be performing her duties as MP for Vancouver-Granville. Harjit Sajjan, defence minister and MP for Vancouver South, will act as interim veteran affairs minister. In her resignation letter, Wilson- Raybould said she is stepping down with a “heavy heart” and twice thanked “all Canadians.” She did not mention Trudeau or the Liberal party by name. She also wrote that she has now retained counsel, a former Supreme Court of Canada judge Thomas Cromwell, to get advice on what she can say publicly. May said the prime minister is now in a tough spot. Last month, Wilson-Raybould was shuffled from her previous cabinet position as the highest-ranking federal legal advisor in the government to the position of veteran affairs, a shift many consid- ered a demotion. something, May said. “Trudeau should tell Jody Wilson- Raybould that she is not bound by solicitor-client privilege because she needs to clear the air,” May said. David Moscrop, a political theorist at the Univer- “She is sitting “She needs to clear sity of Ottawa, as a backbencher on told The Voice by choice,” May the alr. that the resigna- said. — ELIZABETH MAY, GREEN PARTY OF tion, though not CANADA LEADER May said this is one of the first times that a federal minister has resigned without saying why. Trudeau has to choose whether he will lift the solicitor-client privilege that prevents Wilson-Raybould from publicly sharing all the details regarding the SNC Lavalin contro- versy, or risk being accused of hiding overly surpris- ing, does mean Wilson-Raybould has something to say that she couldn't say while she was a minister. Moscrop said he thinks the resig- nation will not have a significant impact on constituents. At the time of publication, Wilson-Raybould’s resignation letter post to her Facebook page had received more than 2,300 likes and 1,200 comments, with some suggest- ing she should cross the floor and join another party. Dana Oikawa, a constituent in Wilson-Raybould’s riding, said that she doesn't support the Liberal party, but respects Wilson-Raybould’s decision to resign. “It was the right move to make, because it showed her responsibility and how she didn’t want to take part in these kinds of politics,” Oikawa said. Wilson-Raybould said in her resignation letter that she remains committed to “a positive and progressive vision of change on behalf of all Canadians and a differ- ent way of doing politics.” B-Line bus plans ignore bike lane safety TransLink's new North Shore transit service will offer no significant improvement for cyclists = By ROXANNE EGAN-ELLIOTT T ransLink’s planned street changes to accommodate the B-Line bus service in North Vancouver might marginally improve cycling in the city, but safe bike infrastructure remains nearly non-existent, say cycling advocates. “The current infrastructure is not safe enough,” said Don Piercy, who is chair of the cycling advocacy group HUB North Shore. “We need better infrastructure.” Most of the planned B-Line route is currently along the same streets as an existing bike route. The cycling space is marked by painted lines giving cyclists a small lane in which to ride, or by sharrows, meaning painted symbols on the road indi- cating that bikes can share the lane with vehicles. North Vancouver residents have recently raised concerns about cycling safety in the city follow- ing the Jan. 27 death of a cyclist. A 55-year-old man was killed while riding in a bike lane on Esplanade Street, the main street that runs in front of the SeaBus terminal. The age of 0.7 cycling fatalities per year, a contrast to North Vancouver’s two deaths in the last year. According to ICBC estimates, an average of nine cyclists are killed in collisions each year on B.C. roads. Martyn Schmoll, a cycling advo- cate based in North Vancouver, said the road construction planned by lane is marked [— Mu TransLink to by painted lines The current accommodate between parked . . the new bus cars and traffic. infrastructure 1s not service was an This most recent ” opportunity to cyclist fatality was safe enough. reve some the third since July — DON PIERCY, CYCLING ADVOCATE of the safety 2017 in the city issues. of just over 50,000 people, and the second in under a year. By contrast, four cyclists were killed in collisions with vehicles in Vancouver from 2007 to 2012, according to City of Vancouver statistics. That’s an aver- “It’s hard to say whether a fatality like this shifts the winds of change, but I suspect not, based on previ- ous history about how these things go,” said Schmoll, co-chair of North Shore Safe Routes Advocates, a group that lobbies for safe transpor- tation options. TransLink’s plan for the B-Line does add a couple of short sections of separated bike lanes that will improve safety, but Schmoll said it’s a concern that the majority of the bike route will become a shared lane for bikes and buses. “It’s never good to have people on bikes sharing space with trucks and cars, so I’m not in favour of any so-called infrastructure that puts those two people in the same space,” Schmoll said. North Vancouver city Coun. Tony Valente, also a former chair of HUB North Shore, said that he thinks the city has not moved quickly enough to implement adequate and safe space for cyclists. “Hopefully we can change that,” he said. SHARE THE ROAD TIPS FOR DRIVERS » Keep distance Stay at least three seconds behind cyclists and one metre away while passing. » Check right turns Shoulder check to look for cyclists before turning right. » Don't door Use right hand to open driver- side door and look for passing cyclists. » Stay focused Make eye contact when possible. SOURCE: ICBC