Frankly Speaking

Contractors trim limbs and repair damage to power lines on 82A Avenue in Surrey, more than 48 hours after Saturday's windstorm. Bonnie Bucholtz photo A massive oak tree, likely planted close to 100 years ago at what is now Port Kells Park, lost a major portion of its trunk in Saturday's windstorm. The tree fell across 88 Avenue and remnants of it can be found on both sides of the street. Frank Bucholtz photo This week's column in the Surrey Leader and Peace Arch News Surrey was likely the hardest-hit area of all the many parts of B.C. affected by Saturday’s windstorm. As of Tuesday night, less than 2,000 of the 710,000 customers who had lost power as result of the storm were waiting for restoration of service. Most of them were in Surrey. On Monday morning, when slightly over 50,000 customers were waiting for electricity, more than 20,000 of them were in Surrey. There were 137 separate outages in Surrey still awaiting repair at that time, according to BC...

This week's column in the Peace Arch News and Surrey Leader Surrey’s latest Civic Treasures have all demonstrated a lengthy and passionate commitment to the community. Historian Roger Bose, reporter and musician Alex Browne and artists and mentors Cora and Don Li-Leger will be formally named 2015 Civic Treasures at the annual business and the arts reception on Oct. 6. This award is a significant one, as it is one of a small number of initiatives by the City of Surrey to recognize the importance of intangible but important aspects of city life. There is much more to Surrey than development, real estate, crime, roads and transportation. Bose is one of the many members of the pioneering Bose family who have played an important part in Surrey life for more than a century. He is a valuable source of historical knowledge in the city, regularly takes part in activities to promote Surrey’s rich history and is an instrumental research contributor to an upcoming book about t...

This week's column in the Peace Arch News and Surrey Leader The Little Campbell River flows through the Semiahmoo First Nation's lands in South Surrey. Frank Bucholtz photo The recent revelation of the salaries, income and expenses of the Semiahmoo First Nation prompted a lot of reaction from right across the country – and most particularly from a few members of the band, which is based in South Surrey. Although the Semiahmoo First Nation has only 93 members, chief Willard Cook collected a salary of $267,729, including $420 for expenses. Councillor Joanne Charles collected $200,756 in salary and expenses, while councillor Roxanne Charles collected much less, just $32,198 in salary and expenses. Revelations of the salary, income and expenses comes as a result of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, passed by the Conservative government. The stated purpose is to let band members and taxpayers be fully aware of the financial position of First Nations acros...

Mission Mayor Randy Hawes - photo courtesy of the Mission Record An editorial I wrote for this week's Mission Record, suggesting the importance of taking the long view on water supply: Mission Mayor Randy Hawes makes an excellent point about water, as residents of Mission and most parts of B.C. live through some of the driest conditions in memory. Hawes asks this question. If communities such as Mission are bumping up against Stage 4 water restrictions this year,  how will any of them ever be able to supply enough water to their residents when the population is much larger in the future? Virtually every planner, public agency and citizen is predicting such a population gain. Hawes says it’s time for some serious long-term planning for a sufficient water supply, not just for Mission and Abbotsford, who currently share water resources, but for the entire Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region. He told Mission council Tuesday that Harrison Lake is one of the be...

Peter Fassbender ran for the BC Liberals in 2013 because he wanted to get things done. He believed the party could win an election that pollsters and most of the public thought would be a cakewalk for the NDP. He was right. He won his Surrey-Fleetwood seat, which had been held by the NDP's Jagrup Brar, by 200 votes - with that margin of victory likely due to an intensive door-knocking effort in the final weeks of the campaign. He talked with voters about jobs, growth and issues that mattered to them. When he ran, he was mayor of Langley City. While he was mayor, a position he held for eight years, he served for a time as chair of the Mayors' Council - which has limited oversight powers over TransLink. He lost that position, which is voted on by other mayors, because some of them felt he was too close to the provincial government. Fassbender pushed hard for many initiatives in Langley City during his years as mayor, notably a downtown master plan, more condo development...

A police shooting took place outside Starlight Casino in New Westminster on November 8, 2012. Image from CTV News The Independent Investigations Office is looking into the shooting death of 20-year-old Hudson Brooks outside the South Surrey district RCMP office early in the morning of July 18. It is the sixth investigation into an officer-involved shooting that the IIO has instituted since April 1. While police have said that Brooks was “suicidal,” he apparently was not armed. The shooting has provoked a wave of anger in South Surrey, and many people say the shooting was an extreme over-reaction by police. The IIO has emphasized the importance of getting witness accounts of what happened on July 18 , and particularly wants to hear from civilians. Anyone with information, or who witnessed the incident, is asked to contact the IIO’s toll-free witness line at 1-855-446-8477. Officer-involved deaths are deeply troubling. This shooting took place just a few days before th...

Former Surrey councillor Dalton Jones, who's been around the block a few times, has a great expression about the United States. He calls it the "Excited States of America." This applies most particularly to its politics. In U.S. politics, nothing is more closely watched than the protracted, convoluted and messy job of picking candidates for president. This process is always at its messiest when a president is nearing the end of his second term, and the office is wide open. However, the utterances by Donald Trump, one of more than a dozen candidates in the running for the Republican nomination, take the phrase "Excited States" to a whole new level. Trump, a multi-billionaire real estate developer with an outsized personality, has already smeared most Mexicans, and Americans of Mexican origin, by suggesting that most of them are rapists, drug dealers, criminals and miscreants of other persuasions. He did allow that a few might be alright, saying ...