VANCOUVER, BC: Claims by the pro-TransLink tax campaign that a NO vote will cause cancer, dementia and strokes, shows how desperate the YES campaign has come, the No TransLink Tax campaign said today.

UBC professor Kay Teschke made the claim yesterday to News 1130, after TransLink YES campaigner Gordon Price posted her statements to his blog.

“I’m surprised she stopped there – why not claim voting No will spread West Nile Virus and Ebola too?” said No TransLink Tax campaign spokesperson Jordan Bateman. “We have seven-and-a-half weeks until we vote, but TransLink tax supporters have already resorted to silly scare tactics, all because our fully-costed analysis has shown the TransLink Mayors’ whole wish list can be built without this regressive sales tax.”

The No TransLink Tax campaign noted statistics obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation which revealed TransLink employees take 60 per cent more sick days than private sector workers.

In 2012, Coast Mountain Bus Company employees averaged 12.2 sick days each. SkyTrain employees took 11.9 days each. The average private sector worker took 7.4 sick days.

“We know the TransLink tax supporters are desperate to avoid talking about TransLink’s mismanagement and waste,” said Bateman. “Claiming a NO vote will cause cancer, strokes and dementia, is ridiculous.”