Encourage Premier Clark to Support Cycling

Please send a message to Premier Clark at the address below indicating your strong support for a comprehensive Provincial Cycling Strategy including investment in high quality cycling facilities, education, promotion and legislation including a revised Motor Vehicle Act that places the priority on the safety of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

Other Ministers involved in cycling issues include:
Hon. Blair Lekstrom - Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure

Hon. Kevin Falcon - Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance

Hon. Michael de Jong, Q.C.- Minister of Health

Hon. Dr. Terry Lake - Minister of Environment

Hon. Ida Chong - Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development

Hon. Patrick Bell - Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation

The benefits of cycling and the BCCC's recommendations are detailed in Realizing the Benefits of Accelerated Investment in Cycling and summarized in Investing in a Healthy Future. The cornerstone of these recommendations is the four year investment of $175 million dollars per year totalling $700 million to fund family friendly bicycle paths, separated bike lanes and other high quality cycling facilities in communities and on provincial roads throughout BC.

Premier Clark and her ministers are likely working on a new budget so now is a great time to recommend greater investment in cycling. Your message could include some or all of the following:

• What this investment and the other recommendations and improved cycling would mean for you, your family and your community
• The highlighting of the recommendations that are important to you, your family or your community
• Specific cycling facilities you would like to see built
• Stories on what new cycling facilities have meant to you and your community
• Stories about impact of the lack of cycling facilities in your community
• Cycling education and skills training for adults, children
• Updating the Motor Vehicle Act to improve the safety and comfort of cyclists and pedestrians
• The economic benefits of cycling and cycling tourism

Hon. Christy Clark Premier@gov.bc.ca 

Please cc your MLA. You can find their email address at: http://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm

As well, cc:
blair.lekstrom.mla@leg.bc.ca, kevin.falcon.mla@leg.bc.ca, mike.dejong.mla@leg.bc.ca, ida.chong.mla@leg.bc.ca, terry.lake.mla@leg.bc.ca, pat.bell.mla@leg.bc.ca,dawn.black.mla@leg.bc.ca, adrian.dix.MLA@leg.bc.ca, harry.bains.mla@leg.bc.ca, lana.popham.mla@leg.bc.ca

NDP Leadership Candidate Adrian Dix on Cycling

Here is the response from NDP Leadership Candidate Adrian Dix to our cycling survey. Adrian is the first leadership candidate from either party to complete the survey.

1. How often do you ride a bicycle per month? 

I actually don’t cycle. I run, walk and use transit for most of my urban/suburban travel. 

2. What level of funding for bicycle paths, separated bike lanes and other high-quality cycling infrastructure do you support per person per year in BC? 

I am not putting forward an alternate budget in this campaign. However, I support more funding for more and improved cycling lanes. The NDP has a record of expanded cycling while in office and I want to do more to make cycling an important part of integrated transport systems and plans. 

3. Do you also support $5 million per year of provincial funding for a comprehensive cycling education program including cycling skills training for children and adults and safety awareness campaigns for drivers and cyclists?

As I stated above, I am not putting forward an alternative budget. However, I support the expansion of cycling education and skills training. 

4. Do you support changing the Motor Vehicle Act to enable municipalities to set blanket speed limits in residential areas and on bicycle routes below 50km/h? 

Yes, in principle, subject to full discussions with the Union of BC Municipalities and others with expertise. 

5. Do you support a comprehensive review of the Motor Vehicle Act with the specific goal of improving the safety of and legal protection for vulnerable road users including pedestrians and cyclists? 

 Yes 

6. What other measures do you support to enable more British Columbians to choose cycling as a safe and convenient form of transportation?

Expanded bike lanes, removing the HST, working with transit and transportation planning agencies to ensure maximum integration of transport modes. 

Adrian Dix for BC
info@adriandixforbc.ca
http://adriandixforbc.ca
Lower Mainland: 604-523-4886 Province-wide: 1-866-523-4886

Thanks to Adrian and his campaign for the reply. The BCCC requested responses from all NDP and Liberal leadership Candidates. We will post the responses from other leadership candidates as we receive them. If any of the political parties send us a position on cycling, we will post it as well.

NDP Leadership Candidate John Horgan on Cycling

Here is the response from NDP Leadership Candidate John Horgan regarding cycling.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to respond to the BC Cycling Coalition survey. As many of the questions relate to government spending, it is premature for me to make any fiscal commitments at this time.

That being said, as a recreational cyclist and as an advocate for alternatives to conventional automobile transportation, I have stated that as premier I will focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, explore real transportation alternatives and expand energy conservation efforts.

I am uniquely familiar with transportation, traffic and congestion issues because these are major concerns in my own constituency of Juan de Fuca. I am a frequent cyclist along the Galloping Goose Regional Trail, which runs through my constituency, and I have long been an advocate of light rail transportation between Victoria and the Western Communities.

I have announced a variety of measures in my environmental plan (please see http://www.horganforbc.ca/john-horgans-plan-bcs-environment) including investment in regional transit and working with municipal governments to encourage smart urban growth. Of course, this will include creating opportunities for increased cycling and pedestrian mobility. As well, in order to move people out of cars and to encourage them to embrace alternative forms of transportation, we will ensure that cycling and pedestrian traffic are both safe and enjoyable for British Columbians of all ages, wherever they live and work.

As a side note, as a young cub scout I was very proud to earn a ‘cycling badge’ and believe strongly that cycling skills and road safety should be part of the K-12 curriculum. 

John Horgan
Horgan for BC

250 812 8907
Web: http://www.horganforbc.ca
E-Mail: info@horganforbc.ca

Thanks to John and his campaign for the reply. The BCCC requested responses from all NDP and Liberal leadership Candidates. We will post the responses from other leadership candidates as we receive them. If any of the political parties send us a position on cycling, we will post it as well.

Support a National Cycling Strategy to Help Curb Childhood Obesity

Governments across Canada including the Province of BC, have started a dialog on childhood obesity. Our Health Our Future, a National Dialog on Healthy Weight. They are encouraging all British Columbians to participate.

There is an on-line forum where people and groups can submit ideas and vote on ideas submitted by others. Please vote for the BCCC's idea to Develop a National Cycling Strategy.

The Province's press release contains some sobering facts:

• Evidence shows that if British Columbians exercised for 30 minutes a day, controlled their weight, ate reasonably well and refrained from smoking – they could reduce their risk factors for most chronic disease by up to 80 per cent.
• About 2,000 British Columbians die prematurely every year due to obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Childhood overweight and obesity rates are rising in Canada. Obesity rates in children have almost tripled in the last 25 years.
• Childhood overweight and obesity in British Columbia is an issue nearing crisis proportions according to the Province’s Select Standing Committee on Health.

In the Globe and Mail article on the dialog, Ministers’ ‘national dialogue’ on obesity falls short for health advocates, Mark Tremblay, director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario supports funding for bike lanes.

Dr. Tremblay said the government invests very little in fighting obesity. To achieve real change, current and successive governments will need to invest hundreds of millions in a national strategy to build more bike lanes, shift the health-care system toward obesity prevention and improve public education about nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

More information on the case for increased investment in cycling can be found in the BCCC's budget submission, Realizing the Benefits of Accelerated Investment in Cycling. A summary can be found in Investing in a Healthy Future.

Encourage Leadership Candidates to Support Cycling

Three political parties, the BC NDP, BC Liberals and BC Conservative Party are in the midst of readership races. This is an excellent opportunity to engage and educate these political leaders on cycling. Please contact them through the links below and encourage them to support cycling.

Volunteering on their campaigns and going to campaign events are a great ways to show your support for cycling and build relationships with the candidates and their aids who may key people in government at some point.

Please indicate your support for the BCCC's recommendations and in particular the four year investment of $175 million dollars per year totalling $700 million to fund bicycle paths, separated bike lanes and other high quality cycling facilities in communities and on provincial roads throughout BC. Investing in a Healthy Future is summary of the recommendations prepared for the candidates.

The message can be as short or as long as you want. The most important thing is to let them know that investing in cycling is important. It could include some or all of the following:
- The mention any of the other recommendations that are important to your or your community.
- What these recommendations and improved cycling would mean for you, your family and your community
- Specific cycling facilities you would like to see built
- Stories on what new cycling facilities have meant to you and your community
- Stories about impact of the lack of cycling facilities in your community

BC Liberals
Contact information for the candidates:
http://conservationvoters.ca/leadership-race-2011/liberal-candidates

BC NDP
Contact information for the candidates:
http://conservationvoters.ca/leadership-race-2011/ndp-candidates
Note that the deadline for new members to be eligible for the leadership was Feb. 4.

BC Conservative Party
Deadline for joining to vote in election of the party leader: May 7, 2011 at midnight
Leadership convention: May 28, 2011 - Details to be announced

Green Party of BC
The Green Party is not holding a leadership race.

The BCCC is also planning to survey the candidates. Stay tuned.

Please share this with your cycling friends.

BCCC Priorities for 2011

The newly minted Board of Directors of the BC Cycling Coalition held its first meeting in Vancouver on January 22. As a brand new Board member, I have to say I felt honoured to meet some of the bastions of cycling activism in BC! Present were Jack Becker (President), Colin Brander (Treasurer), Peter Stary (Secretary), Richard Campbell, Ed Schum, Arno Schortinghuis, Sue Vince, Jim Alix, Rhiannon Chernencoff, Robert Rao and myself.

Board Members managed to agree on the BCCC’s priorities going forward.

Some of the BCCC Priorities for 2011:

1. Improving the website

2. Increasing membership

3. Branding

4. Coordinating volunteers

5. Finding funding for some paid staff

6. Developing a well-rounded communication strategy, which would include:

o creating an e-newsletter

o keeping the Blog current

o developing links and coordination between BCCC and member organizations’ websites

o collecting and making available information from member organizations, and

o posting correspondence from members.

7. Building an information clearinghouse, which might include:

o a list of links

o a library of minutes, correspondence and responses, and reports and

o contact addresses (such as maintenance contractors, road authorities, and community newspapers).

That’s an ambitious list of priorities. However, there was no shortage of volunteers to steer them. And with the proposed volunteer coordination, there should be no shortage of BCCC members to achieve all of these.

It’s a little daunting, but I’m looking forward to it. I joined the BCCC because I’m tired of just fuming impotently about the marginalized plight of cyclists in a world that’s built around what I see as an insanely selfish and destructive transportation mode (solo driving in cars). That’s just my motivation – I haven’t spent enough time with other BCCC members to find out what motivates them.

Whatever it is, I’m happy to be working with a group of people dedicated to promoting cycling throughout BC, and I look forward to meeting many more when I get to meet other members of the BCCC.

Call for Directors

The British Columbia Cycling Coalition (BCCC) is seeking enthusiastic individuals who are passionate about cycling to stand for nomination as candidates for our board of directors at the Annual General Meeting on December 4, 2010. We encourage people from all around the province to consider this opportunity to help improve cycling in the province and in your community.

About the BCCC
The British Columbia Cycling Coalition (BCCC) is a registered Non-Profit Society whose members are individuals and cycling organization throughout the province.

Specifically, the BCCC:
• Advocates for improved cycling leadership, funding, policies, laws, design toolkits, cycling-friendly roads, programming, and education at the provincial level
• Nurtures and supports local cycling coalitions and chapters throughout British Columbia

The organization is currently volunteer run with the majority of work being performed by members of the board of directors. The current board recognizes that the growth and effectiveness of the organization is limited under this model. The intent is to transition to a model where day-to-day operations are managed by staff and volunteers while the board provides organizational and advocacy leadership and governance. This transition, however, will likely consume a significant amount of board time over the next two years.

A Great Opportunity
The change in political leadership in BC presents an ideal opportunity to increase support for cycling including:
• A dramatic increase in funding for cycling infrastructure, education and promotion
• Policies ensuring good cycling facilities on new and existing roads and bridges
• Updates to the Motor Vehicle Act to improve cycling safety and encourage more people to cycle

Experience and Skills
We are looking for individuals who are passionate about cycling with experience in one or more of the following areas.

Organizational Development
• Organization leadership
• Support for chapters and coalitions
• Assist in the creation of new chapters and cycling groups in communities around BC
• Reorganization and measures needed to support staff
• Support for advocacy efforts
• Volunteer coordination
Fund Raising
• Foundation and corporate grants, donations and memberships
• Individual memberships and donations
Membership Development
• The development of a membership strategy
• Corporate and individual membership recruitment
Internet
• Redesign of website based on a content management system
• On-line donations and membership payment
• Forums, wikis and other information sharing mechanisms
• Integration of social media
Communications and Media
• Development of a media strategy
• Media writing – Story telling
• Electronic newsletter
Advocacy
• Government relations
• Organizing and coordinating grassroots campaigns
Networking
• Contacts in governments and bicycle industry
• Ability to quickly make new contacts and connections

Time Requirements
Board business - Basic board business will require an average of one hour per week and consist mainly of responding to email messages on organizational business.
Additional Responsibilities - In addition, we encourage board members to undertake further organizational responsibilities as detailed above that may require up to an additional five hours per week.
Board Meetings – Four to six meetings per year on weekends. While in the past, these have been in-person meetings requiring travel, we are investigating various means of tele-conferencing to reduce travel requirements.

Contact
If you are interested or would like more information, please contact:
Richard Campbell
Chair
Board Recruitment Committee
604-733-1764
Email