Editor:
Re: New West should spend money on a fire boat, not Q to Q, Record Letters
It is a common theme on the editorial pages that city hall should not spend money on the Q to Q ferry.
The fact is and remains that the developers of the Port Royal community paid significant money to the city to upgrade transportation between Queensborough and the mainland.
That money was meant to be spent on a bridge, however a bridge proved unfeasible; instead, we have the Q to Q Ferry. The letter writer asserted the Q to Q Ferry is only for fun.
This is patently false; the ferry is used for commuting between Queensborough and the mainland for work, to spend money downtown or at the Quay, and for other reasons. The Q to Q Ferry is part of a transportation network just like the SeaBus or the Aquabus Ferries in Vancouver or North Vancouver.
Regardless of why people use the Q to Q Ferry, Queensborough is a part of New Westminster, home to almost one-sixth New Westminster’s population, and a beautiful, diverse and peaceful part of New Westminster at that. We should not be pitting neighbourhoods against other. Funding for a fire boat (a recycling depot, or whatever other project people say should be funded instead of the ferry) has nothing to do with funding the Q to Q Ferry.
I’m quite confident council will not decide not to buy a fire boat for New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services because of the amount they use to fund transportation within the city.
Ken Armstrong, New Westminster
