Dear Editor,

Dave Gourley's attempt to refute my information, rambles on, praises, and defends the AirCare program, but reveals none of the spending waste [Internet information faulty, Sept. 4 Letters, Langley Advance].

He states my information does not have "confirmation of accuracy," and I maintain there was only a few minor, dated inconsistencies in my letter.

Well he, as manager, is keeper of the records who could relay such accuracy but isn't willing to let us in on TransLink's AirCare spending waste of our money.

He states that "AirCare is a user-pay revenue-neutral program."

Whoopie-ding. Just like the carbon tax buzzwords, I guess we should feel much better now. It may be revenue neutral for TransLink's bean-counter bookies but it sure hasn't been for our wallets.

Gourley says statistical and financial data is available on AirCare and Translink websites, but if it is, it's so well hidden even Julian Assange would be challenged to find any of it.

Gourley: "Therefore someone who doesn't own a vehicle pays nothing towards AirCare."

He gave no information on the testing station land and buildings ownership and expenses. Beedie Development owns the Abbotsford facility and has a portfolio of interest in the other nine.

What's the public ownership interest in these properties? I'm no auditor general, but something is twitching my quid-pro-quo nose here.

I think Gourley's main crux of contention was my statement that the AirCare contractor, Envirotest Canada, had a contract that guaranteed constant profits of nine per cent of revenue.

Gourley wrote, "There is no guaranteed profit margin."

What contractor works for nothing? This is a for-profit contractor, not a charity or non-profit, and this is really a cost-plus contract with minimal risk.

Gourley states "Pacific Vehicle Testing Technologies, a subsidiary of TransLink, with 11 employees, administers the testing contract."

What? It takes 11 unionized public sector people with full benefits and pensions, etc. to oversee a contract with only 10 testing stations? The private sector would do this with a maximum of two people working only part time on it. It must be some bad contract to require that much scrutiny to administer.

It's not as if TransLink has a stellar reputation of efficiency, so in our public critique of Dave Gourley's self-serving operation, why not reply by showing us the Envirotest Canada contract?

I stated, "AirCare sucks a minimum of $25 million annually directly out of our economy, not counting all the inconvenience and cost of peoples non-productive off work time and fuel wasted getting to and from the testing stations."

(The $25 million figure was given to me by Dave Gourley himself in April 2005).

There is clearly a push by the enviro-greens and the unions lobbying the NDP to retain the AirCare program, and why wouldn't Dave Gourley work with them to save his fat $132,000 (2010 data) a year job, too?

Rather than waiting till the end of 2014, the Liberals should do us a favour and axe it completely before they bow out next May.

My advice to the BC Conservatives is, promise to kill it on day one if elected to government.

Roland Seguin, Langley