I practise in Ottawa and Montreal. I rely on the downtown location of the bus station. Moving it will destroy my practice.

Please add my signature to the petition.

United we stand, devided we fall. The website is called Keep It Downtown for a reason. And if you had taken a few minutes to read above my post, you’d see I’m not the only one who disagrees with Nathan, so don’t single me out. I went to City Hall and got up and spoke. I’m not saying I’m the expert here, I’m just pointing out some issues Nathan hadn’t recognized.

Nathan says “trying to force them to keep doing business in a location that is no longer feasible in the name of convenience would be a major infringement on the freedom of the business owners”. From the information I’ve been supplied with, Acadian isn’t being forced by anyone. They WANT to leave the location. I think what most people are trying to say is : there are alternatives, and we need City Council and the community to work together to find a more logical solution.

And if you agree it’s a bad idea, why are you even bothering to point the finger at me? We need some unity here. C’mon! The voting “no” on the issue was so that if the proposed location was NOT zoned for commercial/highway use, it may stall Acadian from going there, and buy some time for rational thought, and yes, I agree, some discussion for making this work.

But hey, let’s be honest, Acadian isn’t attending any of these meetings. This deal is probably already decided for us anyway, so enjoy those cab fares, creating more pollution, and destroying the quiet neighbourhoods.

I do not claim to be an expert on this Magos, and if you agree with most of the people on this post, point the finger at elected officials, instead of me, a single father & student who relies on this service (where it is), to see my son on a semi-regular basis.

Sincerely,

Steve Duggan

Wouldn’t it be better to have an honest discussion of the issue rather than self re-enforcing pats on the back. Before you jump on me for going against the effort, I’m not, I just prefer honest discussion over rhetoric. You might be fighting the good fight, but that doesn’t mean you get an automatic pass. You have to prove to those who don’t think you’re right that you are. It’s easy to convince the people that agree with you, but you have to convince the people that don’t.

On to my comments about the issue…

This move is not good for the city, it not good for the people who use the bus, and I bet in the end it won’t be good for Acadian. It is a bad situation all around, but from the point of view of Acadian it was the quickest solution to allow them to remain operating.

I really don’t know what the outcome of voting no on rezoning would have accomplished. The city could work with Acadian to find a new location, but staying open is the most important thing for Acadian and time is a factor. If it’s too much trouble to stay open in Fredericton then they would be forced to move outside the city. I think we all agree that within the city limits is still much better than anywhere outside of them.

I noticed on the facebook page, people mentioned the train station. It’s not going to happen. The building is owned by Irvings, protected by federal law and would be way too expensive to bring up to code. Acadian isn’t going to put the money forward, and 15 years have already given you the Irvings answer. The location is ideal, but there are too many factors for it to be the ideal location.

Have you been following this issue, or are you just dropping in here to try and interfere with our cause? You seem to be going against the effort here. If you support City Council’s decision, then you should go down to City Hall and give Woodside & Co. (excluding the brave three who voted against the re-zoning) a big ol’ pat on the back for their efforts! Otherwise, quit posting on a site that is trying to make positive change!

What does your opening line even mean (If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have accessible transportation to begin with.)? Do you think that throwing in elusive statements will somehow change our minds? It’s the same as City Council sitting there Monday night saying “this area is already zoned for highway/commercial use”…what the hell? C’mon, Nathan – this is a common sense issue. And I haven’t even mentioned the environmental impact here…

And furthurmore, this isn’t a matter of “forcing” Acadian to stay downtown, rather it is about getting City Council to work in conjunction with Acadian to find a place that would be condusive to community needs & values.

Hey Nathan: Are you really excited about increasing carbon emissions? How about spending an extra $20 to get to and from the new terminal? If you owned a house on Serenity Lane, would you be happy having buses, taxis, and couriers driving up and down your street all day? Do you even rely on this service? If so, you should be supporting this cause instead of coming on here and supporting a massive blunder, and trying to convince us that WE are the ones who are wrong!

Now, I realize you can come on here and speak your mind, but I wonder if you’d be able to comfortably express your views to an audience of upset students, small business owners, and environmentalists in person? I stood up at City Hall and expressed my views! Maybe you should have come down and told everyone about what a great decision this is! I somehow don’t think you realize the impact these decisions are going to have on our community.

Or maybe you’re just content having Woodside & Co. make the decisions for you? Trust me, if we say nothing, they WILL decide what is best for us…

If our elected representatives are to ensure accessible transportation for everyone, they should start a provincially run bus system, not step on the right of business owners to take their business elsewhere.

The reasons given above are valid for why it is a poor business decision, and I do hope that Acadian reconsiders, but ultimately their private business decisions (assuming they aren’t unlawful) are not yours or mine to make, and I sincerely hope it stays that way.