A current election summary and party update

» Weeks one to five of the 2015 Canadian Federal Election

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
Mi news@theotherpress.ca

n August 2, Governor

General David Johnston
dissolved Parliament, thus
beginning the election for
Canada’s 42nd session of
Parliament.

Political leaders were at
different events across the
country when the election
was called. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper was at Rideau
Hall in Quebec. The NDP
Leader, Thomas Mulcair, made

: an opening address from the

: Canadian Museum of Natural

: History, on the border of Ottawa
: and Gatineau. Justin Trudeau

: was in Vancouver as part of the

: city’s Pride Parade, and made

: his opening statements near the
: Olympic Cauldron. Elizabeth

: May of the Green Party made her :
: first statements of the election
: from Sidney, BC.

On August 6, Maclean’s

: hosted the national debate

: that involved the leaders of the
: Conservative, NDP, Liberal, and
: Green parties.

During the first week of

: the campaigns, both Thomas
: Mulcair and Justin Trudeau

: made it clear that their platforms :
: will be based on helping out :
: middle-class Canadians; a

: position both parties have held
: since before the election was

: called.

Throughout August, the

: Conservative Party came under

: increased scrutiny due to the

: ongoing senate scandal and trial
: of Mike Duffy, particularly about
: whether or not Harper was aware :
: of Nigel Wright paying Duffy’s
: ineligible expenses.

Harper claimed that he was

: under the impression that all of
: the expenses would be paid by

Duffy himself. However, a series

: of emails exchanged between
: Wright and Benjamin Perrin, the :
: Prime Minister’s legal counsel,
: suggest otherwise. As reported
: by CBC, regarding Wright paying :
: off the expenses, he wrote, “We :
: are good to go from the PM.”

Premiers of several

: provinces have started to
: become increasingly involved

in the election. Harper

: exchanged some heated words
: with Alberta’s NDP Premier,
: Rachel Notley, calling her

: government “a disaster.” Harper
: also had some comments for
: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall
: saying that Wall should be more
concerned about whether or not
: the NDP wins in Saskatchewan
: Tidings. Tensions are assumed

to be heated between Mulcair

: and Manitoba Premier Greg

: Selinger, after Selinger did not
: attend Mulcair’s Winnipeg

: rally. This is most likely due to
Selinger’s sinking popularity in
: the province.

 

Multiple bus zones no more

» TransLink announces that one-zone fare will apply for bus passengers

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
Mi news@theotherpress.ca

fter years of delays and

problems, TransLink
has come up with a potential
solution that may aid in rolling
out the Compass Card to
transit users—removing the
requirement of multiple-zone
fares across bus networks.

TransLink made the
announcement on August 7
that, starting on October 5,
passengers will only need to pay
a one-zone fare while travelling
by bus, even if they cross zone
boundaries. Multiple zone fares
will remain in effect for those
travelling by SkyTrain or by
SeaBus.

The decision comes after a
long deliberation about how to
assess the problems that came
with the Compass Card’s ability
to tap out. This process has
been problematic, as there are

: often delays and miscalculations :
: when a passenger taps out while
: exiting a bus.

Another issue with the

: tap-out process is the automatic
: reservation of a three-zone fare
; upon tapping into the system.

: Should a passenger forget to tap
: out their card, they would be

: forced to pay a three-zone fare,

: even if they only traveled one

: zone. Even those who remember :
: to tap out would currently be
: at risk of unnecessarily paying

: multiple-zone fares, due to an

: eight to 10 per cent margin of

: error when calculating travelled
: distance.

As well, a loophole in

: tapping out the cards and

: calculating multiple zones

: allows a passenger to tap out

: prematurely, and thus not have
: to pay for multiple zones of

: travel.

These errors have not been

problematic when traveling via
: SkyTrain.

TransLink hopes that,

: with the new change in the bus
: fare system, they will be able

: to make further progress in

: introducing Compass Cards to

: the general public. As of now,

: the only people who are using

: the Compass Card are post-

: secondary students, TransLink
: employees, West Coast Express
: customers, and people witha

disability.
The change is expected to

: be a temporary one that will

: allow more people to access

: the Compass system while

: TransLink figures out another

: solution to tapping out. It is also
: a change that many passengers

: are happy to see. Accordingto  :
: an online poll conducted by CBC :
: in May, 58 per cent of passengers :
: agree that one-zone bus fares

: area good incentive to join the
: Compass network.

While TransLink will face a

: loss of revenue with the change
: to one-zone bus fares, officials

  

: hope to slow down the losses

: by keeping multiple-zone fares
: in effect over other TransLink
: networks, like the SkyTrain.

“If you want to get there

quickly, you’ll take the train.

: Some will switch if they’ve got
: the time, but it remains to be

: seen how many will do that,”

: TransLink spokesperson Anne
: Drennan explained to the

: Vancouver Sun.

Image via www.news1130.com

Image by Buchanan-Hermit via Wikimedia