Frankly Speaking

The SkyTrain system in Surrey will finally expand past King George Station, if the new Surrey council has its way. It voted Monday to scrap plans for LRT and put the money committed to it towards a SkyTrain line along Fraser Highway. Surrey has had no rapid transit extensions since 1994, despite a huge influx in its population since that time. Surrey council’s inaugural meeting Monday night was a very different type of meeting. While the usual formality was still part of the meeting, the most important part of the meeting came after the formal swearing in of council members. Council held a “special regular meeting,” where two motions were passed – one to begin the process of changing from the RCMP to a local Surrey police force, and another to scrap LRT in favour of SkyTrain. Both of these motions are a direct result of Mayor Doug McCallum’s successful campaign with the Safe Surrey Coalition. A new police force and a push for SkyTrain instead of LRT were the coalition’s two ...

Voters lined up at the Whalley Legion hall to cast ballots in a Surrey election - probably about 50 years ago. Photo from the Surrey Archives. An update: There will be a meeting for the eight Surrey mayoral candidates tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 3) at Morgan Creek Golf Club in South Surrey. It is sponsored by the South Surrey-White Rock Chamber of Commerce. I will be involved as one of the two moderators. The meeting is open to the public, and starts at 6:30 p.m. I am planning to post a more detailed look at the candidates running in Surrey and the major issues of the campaign thus far. It will appear on this blog in the coming days, as I find time to do sufficient research. Surrey residents who are planning to vote will have to pick through 84 candidates running on 10 different slates, along with a large number of independents, when they go to the polls on Oct. 20. While the sheer number of candidates and slates may seem overwhelming – and it is – there are many good ...