Frankly Speaking

My first foray into this year's federal election came Tuesday night, when I served as moderator of a candidates' forum in the riding of South Surrey-White Rock. Of the six candidates on the ballot, four had been invited by the organizers to speak. South Fraser Unitarian congregation and Crescent United Church organized the event, held at the United Church. The facility was packed, with more than 200 in attendance. Organizers Ann Bryce, Joan Wilson and Lynn McKay did an excellent job. They wanted the forum to concentrate on two major issues, climate change and end of life (specifically physician-assisted dying), which will be in front of the next Parliament, and prepared eight questions on these topics. The responses took up most of the meeting. In attendance were Liberal Judy Higginbotham, NDP Pixie Hobby and Green Larry Colero. Conservative Dianne Watts, the popular former mayor of Surrey who has never taken a back seat to anyone, did not attend. Her campaign office said

Thousands of trees were cut down when the origonal Campbell Heights business park was built. Frank Bucholtz photo Plans to expand Campbell Heights business park as far south as 10 Avenue could devastate the natural landscape of the area. Surrey council has endorsed preparation of a local area plan for the South Campbell Heights area, which runs from 188 Street to the Langley border, and from 20 Avenue to about 10 Avenue. The 245 hectares (600 acres) is mainly mature forest, with a significant portion cleared farmland. It is immediately south of the existing Campbell Heights business park. Another area east of the existing park, going as far north as 28 Avenue and immediately west of the Langley border, is also under study. It is 97 hectares (240 acres) in size. Taken together, the two areas are about 85 per cent of the size of Stanley Park, and are significantly larger than Green Timbers. Any major development in this area will have a devastating effect on the environ

This week's column in the Surrey Leader and Peace Arch News The Surrey LRT project championed by Mayor Linda Hepner is a step closer to reality, with the  confirmation Monday that a Conservative federal government will fund one-third of the cost, up to $700 million. Naturally, the Conservatives had Dianne Watts, Hepner’s popular predecessor and candidate in South Surrey-White Rock, make the announcement, along with Industry Minister James Moore, who is not running in the election. Watts had been scheduled to make the announcement with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Sept. 3, but the dramatic news about members of a Syrian refugee family who had hoped to come to Canada and died at sea changed the focus of the planned news conference. LRT was not mentioned. Hepner promised in last fall’s municipal election campaign that the first phase of LRT would be up and running by 2018. On Monday, she revised that estimate, saying that she now hopes work will be well underway by t

Justin Trudeau with former South Surrey-White Rock Liberal candidate Joy Davies This week's column in the Peace Arch News and Surrey Leader  It’s been a topsy-turvy week for the federal Liberals in South Surrey-White Rock, with candidate Joy Davies resigning Sept. 10 after controversial remarks she made about marijuana use on social media came to light. Davies has been replaced by longtime Liberal and former Surrey councillor Judy Higginbotham. South Surrey resident Higginbotham has been soldiering for the Liberals, both federal and provincial, since 1983, when she first ran with the provincial Liberals in what was then the two-member riding of Surrey-White Rock. She left the provincial Liberals to run with the doomed Social Credit party in the 1991 provincial election in Surrey-Cloverdale, but has been a loyal Liberal since that time. She has run provincially five times and federally three times, in 1988, 2004 and 2008. In 2004, she got almost 37 per cent of the

The horrific crash involving a train and an ambulance at the Crush Crescent railway crossing in Langley on Friday should never have happened. An 87-year-old patient, Helena Van Gool, who was being transported in the ambulance, died after the crash. It involved an eastbound ambulance which had pulled across the tracks to the Glover Road intersection. The ambulance, with the patient and two attendants, was struck in the rear bumper area by a CN container train. The train was heading northeast on CP tracks, to join up with the CN line at Rawlison (232 Street). It isn't clear if the ambulance was in its position before the crossing arms went down, but it would have been easy for the driver to activate emergency lights and siren and get across Glover Road. To see how it all happened, see the video of the train running into the rear of the ambulance at this link from CTV News . The resulting traffic chaos was a nightmare in Langley. The train was stopped on the tracks for almost

I have quite deliberately ignored the federal election campaign until now. It made no sense to write about leaders who talked too much about nothing during the month of August, when no voters were paying attention anyway. However, it is now time to share a few thoughts. This is my column published in the Friday edition of The Peace Arch News and Surrey-North Delta Leader. Although the federal election has legally been under way since Aug. 2, it only really began in earnest this week. There was one leaders’ debate in August, the details of which no one can now recall.   There were very few signs up in August, and they were ignored by almost everyone. Attempts by candidates to portray themselves as saints and their opponents from other parties as the worst types of sinners have, for the most part, gone unheard. Far too much media attention focuses on party leaders. This is not only unhealthy for democracy, as it makes leaders think they are in charge of the entire campaign a