To our Rail supporters:
Our activity has been low key publicly during COVID-19; however, we have been extremely active on a number of fronts behind the scenes.
Your have been receiving our weekly newsletter focusing on on activities and the issues that we feel are important to our supporters and ALL elected politicians, Municipal, Provincial and Federal, South of the Fraser.
Within the next few weeks, we will be doing a segment on “Commentary that Matters” which will be available on-line as well as a Chill TV Interview (Chilliwack TV) telling the real story and opportunity of the Interurban Rail Corridor.
Our success in getting the Interurban reactivated will lie in our ability to inform the community, our politicians, and believe it or not our Transit providers.
As one of our recent Newsletters indicated, TransLink in its report to the Mayors Council, and subsequent public interviews conducted by CEO Kevin Desmond, makes it clear that TransLink is dealing with the reality of a very NEW normal.
What will our NEW Normal look like? A few things are for sure, there will be a serious shortage of senior government funds, the Fraser Highway SkyTrain project is firmly on hold, and we are pushing for it to be reconsidered, ensuring our limited financial resources are spent wisely.
We are in good shape to achieve our goal, and now is the time to act.
Our weekly email is being distributed to over 3,500 registered supporters and growing weekly. We have had recent successes behind the scenes, with the Provincial Government and the South of Fraser Business community. They are –
- The Provincial Government identified passenger rail South of the Fraser in this year’s throne speech with more detail provided within the budget that was posted later. Specifically, the B.C. Government under the Minister of Transportation will be conducting a South of Fraser Transportation and Housing Study, which will be underway shortly. There will be a public input component, it will not be driven by TransLink or B.C. Transit. You will be asked to provide input into this study, stay tuned and be ready, we will be calling on all supporters.
- We have the support of the Surrey Board of Trade and all Chambers of Commerce for this study.
We need your help and donation now to achieve our collective goals.
What do we need it for?
- We are on Twitter and are going to activate an Instagram account designed to host a very creative 3-minute video. We are considering a radio and TV campaign depending on donations.
- Creating and publishing promotional material, including briefing binders for our elected decision makers. An example of costs to-date – Ink, paper and required postage for hard copy mailings in 6 months run close to $800.00
- Holding public meetings and rallies
- Multiple research initiatives underway
We are pulling out all stops. We are determined like never before to see a state-of-the-art Hydrail Passenger service between the Pattullo Bridge SkyTrain Station and the City of Chilliwack become a reality.
We invite you to join us and play an integral and a positive role in our campaign by making a donation today.
If you can help by donating, any amount, we really would appreciate your help and support, you can donate by paypal, credit card, or cheque:
1. Donate Via PayPal – This is a secure opportunity to donate by credit card through PayPal!
or
2. Cheque payable to: South Fraser Community Rail Society
Please mail cheques to:
SFCR c/o 1473 272 Street,
Aldergrove B.C.
V4W 2N2
… every dollar received is gratefully acknowledged and publicly accounted for.
Sincerely,
Bill Vander Zalm
Former Premier of British Columbia
Former B.C. Minister for Municipal Affairs and Transit
Former Mayor of the City of Surrey
Rick Green
President of SFCRS
Former Mayor of the Township of Langley (2008 – 2011)
On Behalf of the South Fraser Community Rail Society
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connectthevalley/
Contact Rick Green for any additional information: 604-866-5752
Please FORWARD this newsletter to ALL friends relatives & neighbors!
