11/05/2024
As Mayoral candidate I have received many requests for responses to questions from various groups. Here are my answers to inquiries from Bike Regina:
Q: Do you bike to work, school for recreation, none of the above.
Point-blank and flat out, I don’t ride a bike for anything anymore. Not for recreation, not for exercise, not for transportation, and not to commute to and from work. I have, in my lifetime, used a bicycle for all of these different things. Infrastructure for bicycles is not supported properly, anywhere in the entire province let alone our city. That being said, there are pros and cons to both camps. We have cycling alleys and bicycle paths around Wascana lake…..They are improperly used by some of the cyclists in the city….With bicycle lanes that are improperly used by motorist in the downtown core….. There are disrespects in both camps. What nobody sees or seems to talk about are the respectful interactions between cyclist and motorist that happen on a daily basis. The slow down and swerve wide to pass, the slow, moving cyclist. The cyclist that makes the extra effort to move over as far as they can at a stop sign to allow the motorist behind to make that right turn. When both groups can find understanding and middle ground based off of mutual respect the willingness to construct a better world for quite literally both lanes of traffic. The solution may not be the original vision of either camp, but a hybrid, functional and agreeable is a system I can work with versus purposefully fracturing, dividing and leading fires for no reason there’s enough issue in contention around this who would ever want to make it worse when it would take less effort to try and fix it. I would like to see the long existing fracture amongst all commuters functionally stop in all forms. We all have to get somewhere and we all got to do it somehow, 2 feet and a heartbeat, walking down the street, cycling for survival, floating down the river, boating to bounty, chugging on a train, or sailing through the sky.
Q: What is your stance on investing in safe cycling infrastructure and related modes such as walking and transit?
These are paramount cornerstones to restoring order at the bottom level of society. Without proper infrastructure in place it does not allow for the movement of the lower class to and from work and play unimpeded, as well as educational and medical institutions, in the same manner as the rest of society. They must be able to freely enjoy access to these infrastructures, the same as the rest of the individuals in society, for that same benefit, or all else becomes useless static in the background.
If you can’t get to work to get a paycheque how are you supposed build up a life where you don’t have to rely on the public services anymore? This is the same with the individuals beyond lower class. The situation becomes one where it is impossible to affectively spend that paycheque effectively and in a manner resembling any kind of long-term investment. Collectively we need to consider proper shared spaces in the consideration of integration of walkable traffic versus automotive traffic. If we had clearly defined spaces for both of these groups in that gray area in between the walking and the driving corridors we can very easily accommodate the cycling class. I point to the layout in Ottawa to highlight this. I would further encourage other considerations for entrepreneurial pursuit in the city around that, including, but not limited to rickshaw trail rides, promoted by the city, and for the city to help add new finances into our coffers, without ever having to steal from anybody else in making yet another unique tertiary experience the city can be proud of. Every little bit helps when you’re trying to avoid taxation mode going off the rails. I realize myself that I will never be able to promise lower taxes, tax increases are one of the inevitability‘s ensured of life just as much as death, aging, and the deterioration of health. What I can promise is original grassroots, thinking, and organization, around the ideal of taking up as much of the increase by breathing life into programs, and initiatives that do not exist, and are yet core fundamentals to exponential growth.
Q: Do you support investing in cycling infrastructure even where it affects existing vehicle infrastructure such as parking supply or vehicle lanes.
The evolution of safe spaces for cyclist should be considered along with the evolution of municipal law for the governance of this issue. I fully believe that if a cyclist wishes to be treated as motor vehicle they should be treated as motor vehicle. That means they need to display a slow, moving vehicle sign and be able to provide insurance and registration for the bike. The amount of collisions between uninsured cyclists and people of all kinds in large cities is a massive problem, no one else gets to run somebody over shrug and walk away. Well unless your name is, Scott Moe. A motorcycle enthusiast must provide these items and this is a bike. Cyclists also need to adhere to traffic law. I’ve seen more cyclists blast through red lights and cruise walkways or roadways, depending upon which is more convenient. This wouldn’t be a problem if drivers knew that these cyclists had the option to jump between a traffic lane and a pedestrian lane. Becomes a matter of consciousness and safety. When the vehicle operator doesn’t know at what point, and cyclist will take the whim, and decide to change from a pedestrian to a vehicle. There are pros and cons of both sides of the argument, I could play devil's advocate for either side all day. From the outside looking in on this issue, I would say the dialogue the college and university people are trained to be able to have surrounding these issues is not happening and has not happened and cannot happen then as this has been a reoccurring issue and conversation in most cities for the last 40 years. Real conversation from somebody unafraid to look unrefined is probably the only way to have new conversation. I find just broaching most subjects is enough to get things moving, you can’t start if you don’t start, very simple. I’d very much look forward to more conversation around this issue, as it is a major problem and once again, just like Soup After Dark (SAD) if we could figure it out collectively as a city, we can become an example that can be looked to collectively nationwide. Regina could just keep stacking wins by doing what I do every day with the InfiNate Initiatives. The Queen City could in terms of blended colloquialism, be picking up the fruit left on the ground by everybody too proud look down and see it, let alone be seen bending over to pick it up…..There’s a feast at our feet, I would rather put in a little bit extra and get my own table, then stare up at somebody else’s table and pine for crumbs. I am in the weeds on this now, but the heart of this is a crisis and the Queen City lags behind on this issue. I would like to hold continued dialogue surrounding this issue on an ongoing basis until resolved or at the least some measurable forward movement can be pointed to later as the epilogue of the crisis and issue at hand.
Q: Would you partner with groups like Bike Regina, Better Bus Youth or Regina Citizens Transit Coalition to better understand the impacts and land use planning.
The best way to develop any agreeable plan, and to be able to completely understand the scenario is by being able to work with EVERY different entity within a given area. It is also imperative that the person or persons in charge be guarded against servility in the system, and the vile self-serving nature of most bureaucratic sycophants, this is usually the downfall of most NGOs, and not for profits, and is the reason that the entire pond of them should be considered toxic and irrelevant. Unfortunately post secondary institutions do not have a course that teaches to guard against this toxicity so the only way to figure out who’s good and bad is by working with everybody and keeping very close measured and weathered eye on action versus statement.
Q: Do you consent to Bike Regina publishing your answers on our social media?
Of course, go ahead, I’m an open book. I would very much like to see the doors of the snake pit, Sorry…. Henry Baker Hall open to the public for observation of all meetings regardless of whether or not, we feel like we want to be portrayed in one light or another.
Lastly, one issue in our City that is driving me mad is bicycle traffic not following the rules of the road. It is a safety concern to all. It is not the bicyclists' fault either, because we do not provide anything near proper infrastructure, for this neglected minority. Alternatively, if you are going to act like a vehicle you must follow the rules of the road for a motor vehicle. I have literally witnessed bicycles driving in the shared bike lane the wrong way on a one-way street. If elected, slow-moving vehicle signs that are mandatory on every other vehicle that move slow will be mandatory for bicycles operating on roadways insurance and registration should also follow as these people who are not paying to use the roads are still impeding traffic. The revenue added to SGI by having people properly adhere to the rules of the road, will probably be no small amount of money. People will be mad at me for instituting this, however I would remove the RCMP and the city police from their illicit duties of breathalyzer in every vehicle that they stop to actually apply some legality to their jobs. Get ready if we’re all gonna work, then we are all gonna work on the same level of accountability.
