Sidney Mayor Larry Cross is among the new appointments to the Victoria Regional Transit Commission.
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Blair Lekstrom assigned a new chair and appointed four municipal leaders from the Capital region to the commission.
Former Central Saanich mayor Jack Mar previously served as the Saanich Peninsula representative. Before that former Sidney mayor Don Amos was on the commission and served as the chair.
“I’ll be there representing the interests of the Peninsula, in any discussions,” said Cross. Major discussions these days include rapid transit options being considered to deal with commuter issues coming from Colwood and the West Shore. Cross doesn’t want to see any solutions hit Peninsula residents in the wallet.
“The rapid light is upwards of a billion dollars and that’s a lot of money. I would be concerned that that investment is made, and it is so huge that no other investment could be made for anybody else for 25 years. That has to be looked at,” he said. “We’re starting to look at some serious tax implications here.”
Three other new appointments were Barb Desjardins, mayor of Esquimalt, Carol Hamilton, mayor of Colwood and Victoria Coun. Marianne Alto.
The four new appointments join Susan Brice, a Saanich councillor, Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin and Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard on the VRTC. Lekstrom also designated Brice as chair.
“These individuals make many positive contributions to their communities and British Columbia. I know they will continue to do so as they work on improving transit service in the capital region,” said Lekstrom. “Victoria has a good transit system and our aim is to make it even better.”