Transportation issues are of high priority among City of 91原创 residents.

This was made clear on Saturday morning at the 91原创 City town hall meeting, when several questions on this topic were asked of representatives Mayor Peter Fassbender, MLA Mary Polak, MP Mark Warawa and 91原创 Board of Education chair Wendy Johnson.

The town hall is part of a series of public meetings that allow residents to raise concerns from their community to their government representatives. Questions submitted via Twitter are accepted as well.

Should the Interurban line resurface in 91原创? Fassbender doesn鈥檛 think so.

The tracks do not run where people live, he said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make sense.鈥�

Instead, people need to change their perceptions about busses and understand that bringing the SkyTrain or Interurban to 91原创 alone will not be enough. An entire network of transportation systems is needed, he said.

Part of the transportation problem is solving inefficiencies within . 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long term issue,鈥� Polak said.

鈥淓veryone I think is aware that there are huge challenges with the government鈥檚 current model of TransLink. To make a change like that is a pretty significant undertaking,鈥� she said.

The first short term steps are giving the Mayor鈥檚 Council greater responsibility in making the transit plans for Metro Vancouver and allowing them to choose the type of funding tools used to fund services, she said.

鈥淭he politics around the Mayor鈥檚 Council table drives me crazy sometimes,鈥� Fassbender added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been giving (funding) for a long time South of the Fraser. It鈥檚 our turn to start to see transportation needs that we have for now and in the future. And I鈥檓 going to hold my colleagues to account.鈥�

Some suggest that creating a road pricing strategy could help make up for financial shortfalls.

Fassbender believes this is the right way to go. User pay will be a better solution for the long term than property taxes, he said, however 鈥渢here鈥檚 no perfect system.鈥�

Other topics raised by residents included the drug culture in 91原创 City and affordable housing. Although the City of 91原创 per capita has the highest amount of low income housing in all of Metro Vancouver, many are 鈥渂ecoming ghettos in our community,鈥� Fassbender admitted.

Drug culture is embedded in social issues and legalizing certain narcotics such as marijuana will not take away gangs, he said, adding that not one council member would vote for its decriminalization.

Gangs are 鈥渋n business to make money,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about making money, it鈥檚 about being parasites and it鈥檚 about eliminating the competition. And the way they eliminate competition is not likely the free enterprise system. They just shoot them. Now is that the way it should be? Absolutely not.鈥�

A key step for prevention is through education in schools, Johnson said. Strategies such as the big buddy program and project resiliency are already in place.

鈥淥ne of the things that we try to do is create schools that are caring and supportive and inclusive,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 those kinds of relationships that tell children they are worthwhile and keep them out of the drug culture for the long haul.鈥�

Other topics discussed included the role of government in combating bullying, a possible merger of fire departments by the Township and the City, and the carbon tax.

Warawa was asked questions on a number of federal issues, including trade with China and criminal sentencing.