ry. - operator bether burns NV man Pobert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com JOHNN Gillis is not an idiot. He docsn’t need to be told things nice. He certainly doesn’t expect to be talked down to by anyone. It has . been some time since he was a child. At 59, the honorably discharged Coast Guard veteran has enough problems. He recently waged a bat- tle with prostate and skin cancer. Diabetes is also part of his day-to- day existence. _ “Yet life goes on. A week ago Saturday, he was at Lonsdale Quay - waiting for a bus to take him to his North Vancouver home. The bus wasn’t there and Gillis was impa- tient because the diabetes was acting up. : P He said he boarded a Lynn Valley bus because he thought he had seen it pass his housc. As he boarded, the driver was engrossed in a conversation with somcone. Gillis .waited for the conversation to end and then approached the driver. In his confusion Gillis asked which bus he was on, a question that was going to lead to another query regarding the bus’s route. ' The driver’s response blew old Gillis away. He claims sc was verbal- y accosted by a driver who was evi- ently having a bad day. “1 said, ‘You don’t have to holler at me sir.’ As the bus started to move I asked, ‘Do you always 1stk to ~ old peaple like that?’ ” Gillis’s sarcastic question culn’t draw a response, but to his mind the ad crossed the line of appropriate behavior and Gilhs -is . Not one to mince words. As the-bus neared his stop, Gillis unloaded. . “IT said, ‘I think you’re an ass. and got off the bus at my stop,” said Gillis. “Here I feel I was being chas- tised by this bus driver. I felt very ? _ very hurt and insulted.” Gillis decided to turn that pain See Transit page § Sunday, August 9, 1998 - North Shore News — 3 “NEWS photo Mike Wakefield OPEL local 378 president Ron Tuckwood cautions that a Greater Vancouver Regional District proposal to contract-out bus ser- vice to municipalities will be both inefficient and costly to taxpayers. W. Van Andrew McCredie Editor andrew@nsnews.com WEST Vancouver’s Blue Bus operation is considered a model system by many, but a transit union president says the contracted service is shortchanging taxpayers to the tune of $300,000 a year. “Supporters of separate municipal systems thapsodize over the District of West Vancouver which has operated its own Blue Bus transporta- tion system for several years, but few people have seen the actual costs for taxpayers,” Local 378 president Ron Tuckwood said. ‘The union charges that West Van municipality has pocketed $300,000 a year for the past four years, According to a press release issued by the union, which represents 530 BC Transit mem- bers, research it commissioned “show/(s) that based on a West Van population of 34,000, the luss is $8.90 per person.” Not so says Blue Bus general manager Tony West Vancouver manager says union report distorts the facts Lorage. The union report doesn’t represent the actual facts, he says. “Whar many people (and the report) forget is that we have a budget we reccive fram BC Transit,” Lorage said Friday. In turn, Lorage invoices BC Transit through- out the year. The 14-year Blue Bus veteran say's the union's report comes off the rails in its con- tention thar West Van receives any realized surplus from the annual budget. The union contends that BC Transit sets a budget of say $5.8 million, and the Blue Bus operates on just $5.5 million. ft argues this sur- plus is a type of tax paid by residents. Lorage disagrees. “f have consistently come in under budget and at no time did the savings go into West Vancouver coffers,” Lorage sai? In fact, the shortfall is mere- iJ 4 BR = i Anfia Marie D'Angelo News Reporter dangelo@nsnews.com PHILLIP? Broughton can’t live in Nortts Vancouver on $77] a month. But he has to. The 60-year-old man is disabled by a pro- gressive neurological disease. His illness was diagnosed about two years ago. . He has lived in the same East Keith Road apartment for 14 years. Fortunately, the suite is wheeichair accessible. But the rent is $625 a month. Broughton is left with $146 to pay B.C. Hydro and buy food “7m not about to go to skid row. I’m going to raise a ruckus. I’d like to be independent and stay here as long as I can.” — Phillip Broughton cach month, Broughton said that he can’t sur- vive with so littl money. “This is not good for the particular discase 1 have because the ghbor Link for chairs, home cleaning services and transporta- tion costs. Long said that if someone’s rent was taking most of the welfare cheque, the person was “encouraged” by the ministry to find a cheap- er place. “F don’r want to sound crass. There are realities there. If I lose my job and I can’t pay iny rent it’s also a fact (that I must move to cheaper lodgings,)” said Long. Broughton said he had been on welfare before becoming ill. Broughton worked at Vancouver General Hospital for 23 years as a pharmacy stock receiver. He left that job to start his own import- export business which failed. Broughton thanks World Vision Canada’s giving him furniture and food. North Shore us brouh more I worry, the harder it gets,” said Broughton. He started having trouble walking last November. He says he is in pain all the time despite taking muscle relaxants. Human Resources Ministry spokesman Mike Long said that the ministry is concerned about and sympathizes with people who have disabilities. ° But $771 amonth is the maximum welfare wili give a disabled person. (Broughton gets $279 trom Canada Pension which is sub- tracted from his welfare cheque so that he receives $771.) “There are sad realities out there that you have to live within your means,” said Long. . . ; Long said that the ministry also picks up the tab for medical benefits for disabled people on welfare. Among the benefits: wheel- ns gave him a scooter. Still Broughton can’t afford to have a phone, something he feels is a necessity with his illness. Broughton said there is a two-year waiting list for subsidized housing suitable for him in North Vancouver. He said he has looked for a less expensive place in North Vancouver, The ones he could find were not wheelchair accessible (Broughton uses a scooter and walker.) Broughton also can’t find a place that would allow him to keep his two beloved cats. “Pm not about to go to skid row. Pm going to raise a ruckus,” said Broughton. “Id like to be independent and stay here as long as I can.” Iv a surplus in a ledger book. The Blue Bus system is unique in thar West Van operates as a contractor for BC Transit. The municipality's responsibilities under the agreement include staffing, operation, maintain- ing the buses and collecting revenue, which is passed on to BC Transit. In return, BC Transit pays the bills, and sets roures and schedules. Earlier this year the Greater Vancouver Regional District approved a plan with the province that shifted the responsibility for Lower Mainland transit issues from Victoria to the regional district. Tuckwood believes the next step will be a full- scale contracting-out of bus service to all 22 municipalities in the Lower Mainland. As to the concept of raking West Vancouver’s contracted-out system Lower Mainland-wide, Lorage does believe in the philosophy that small- er management is better. “There are efficiencies to be made in running it the way we do,” he said of the 67-employee Blue Bus operation. However, he wonders if it is possible to incorporate such a system with all 22 municipalities, NEWS photo Pau! McGrath A disabled Phillip Broughton, with his cat Bandit, can’t make ends -meet on welfare in his North Vancouver home of 14 years.