Editor, The News:
Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Marc Dalton recently said that budgeting is tough (The News, April 27) when responding to Maple Ridge school trustees having to cut school bus service for 250 families in Maple Ridge in order to save $650,000 from next year’s school budget.
So was “budgeting tough” when our premier flew around in her own private plane on the taxpayer’s dime costing us $500,000, over five years? Maybe she should be the one that takes his advice because obviously these two think that private plane rides for our premier are more important than our kids’ education and safety.
That’s the really screwed up part. In 2015 – $2.9 million was spent by all our 85 MLAs on travel expenses alone for a legislature that only sits a couple of months a year. That is roughly $34,000 per MLA. That is more than some people make in a year. Ninety years of school bus service in Maple Ridge will end next year. Seems the money is there – it’s just that they don’t want to spend it on our kids. They would rather have kids walk home alone, long distances in the dark next year, and apparently the premier’s plane rides come first.
Patrick Stenner
Maple Ridge