A strange thing about numbers; they can be looked at in many different ways.
Following the public engagement and revealing of the Ipsos Reid survey results to council, not all are sold on the idea that Cochrane needs a transit system, at least at this time.
Ipsos, along with town administration and the communications team, presented their findings to council on Oct. 9, and though at first glance it appeared cut and dry – that 70 per cent of those polled were in favour of a transit system – Coun. Ivan Brooker viewed the figures quite differently.
Brooker accentuated one particular finding, that 68 per cent of those surveyed said that though they see a benefit to a transit system in Cochrane, they do not feel it is necessary ‘in the near future.’
Cost was another hurdle Brooker found difficult to clear, particularly the omission of it during the engagement.
“There were a lot of slides that were shown that people in general support transit, and that’s all good,” said Brooker, “but if you ask the same question with a dollar figure next to it, their answer could be very different. So it’s unfortunate in my mind that we did the phone survey without having those sort of questions attached.”
Brooker’s major contention that the most important question of the engagement – cost – was not asked of those who took part in the survey was explained by Jamie Duncan of Ipsos Reid as one of the areas they could not properly address due to the fact that there was no actual plan on the table.
“We did hear from all sides of the transit debate that cost, pricing and the taxpayer burden are all at the top of their mind,” said Duncan. “The question of cost is incredibly important, but it is a conversation that requires context and detail.”
Duncan said that before a true dialogue on cost can move forward, there must be a distinct plan put forward for discussion that shows clearly defined options.
Duncan said that when it comes to taxes, the public understands the value of their tax dollars in very different ways.
“There are a number of ways you can communicate with the public about taxes, value for their taxes and the cost for service,” said Duncan, “and this will be an important element or component of how the town explores costs concerns with citizens moving forward.”
Another issue Duncan said could not be tackled during the public engagement was getting a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer on transit.
“This exercise was not a plebiscite,” said Duncan. “The question was rather, ‘what do you think?’ We did not ask respondents to give thumbs up or thumbs down about bringing or not bringing transit.”
Mayor Truper McBride said the matter of cost ‘came through loud and clear,’ but also, if the question of cost would have been asked of the public with regards to other endeavours, like the proposed aquatic centre, arts centre or police station, they would have voiced cost concerns with these projects as well, and that the apprehension should not only be applicable to transit.
“These are all tremendously expensive facilities,” said the mayor, “and any time you’re dealing with price tags of this magnitude it’s only natural that the public and council be concerned about those price tags and keep them to a minimum.”
Despite Brooker’s lone vote of dissension, council approved the sum of $50,000 for administration to move forward on a transit plan.
“I don’t understand why we would even proceed with this $50,000 at this point in time when 70 per cent of the people are saying ‘we still have no interest’ and that’s without even knowing the cost of entertaining transit at this time,” said Brooker. “Things will change in the course of three years, so for us to go out and spend $50,000 to discuss alternatives at this point, when we have no intention of initiating those, is ridiculous, because things will change.”
Brooker felt that no action should be taken on transit until six months to a year before the service is needed.
Council moved to have administration complete the transit alternative analysis by February 2013 to ensure they would be able to tackle the issue once again when they address strategic planning in March.
