Financial mismanagement of Vision City Hall was on full display last week when its police force - the Vancouver Police Department - had to be subsidized by Provincial Government so the VPD can carry out traffic enforcement.
For years Vision City Hall ignored Chief Constable Chu's pleas for sufficient funding of the VPD. In his 2011 budget submission to Vision Mayor Robertson, Chief Constable Chu spelled out that traffic units will be impacted by insufficient funding.
Kudos to the BC Provincial Government for stepping in and providing emergency funding to the VPD. Questions remain if Vision Mayor Robertson is capable of providing adequate policing in Vancouver. Should Vancouver be policed by the RCMP if Vision City Hall is not capable of allocating thousands of dollars to the city's police force and instead wastes millions of taxpayers dollars on unused, dangerous and congestion-causing bike lanes?
Sources:
- Province newspaper reports on Provincial funding for the VPD
- 2011 VPD budget submission
- 2010 VPD budget submission
- 2009 VPD budget submission
