Stave Lake Water Decision – Media Release

Abbotsford City Council candidate Henry Braun announced today that he will be voting ‘No’ on the Stave Lake Water question on the November 19 referendum ballot.

Since declaring his candidacy, Braun has been seeking answers to his questions about the proposed P3 water deal. ‘Over the past weeks I have been listening, gathering information and learning as much as I can about our water situation and the Stave Lake Water plan voters are being asked to decide on. Along the way I heard from many people, most of whom are opposed to the project. Some of the opposition seems to be for reasons other than the project itself’, Braun stated. ‘These include escalating property taxes, much higher water bills, the HST, operating deficit of the Entertainment and Sport Centre and the uncertainty in the global economy’.

He added, ‘There are way too many unknowns at this point. If it were my money I wouldn’t invest in the project without better information on what we are committing ourselves to – so I cannot honestly recommend that the citizens of Abbotsford approve spending tax money on this either’.

Braun believes that the residents of Abbotsford have already begun to respond to the potential water issue, and when properly informed will rise to the challenge of water conservation. ‘The issues are complex, deserving of additional time to examine innovative long term solutions and I’d like to see Mission back at the table. In the meantime, Braun supports the “conservation first” approach, working in tandem with a careful “conservative second look”. We need sufficient time for Abbotsford to build up our economic reserves before we rush into a decision that will impact us for the next seventy-five to one hundred years, which is the estimated life of the water treatment plant.’

More details on Braun’s thoughts on this and other issues impacting the citizens of Abbotsford are available on his website at http://henrybraun.ca