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 ...

The voting packages for the referendum on how B.C. voters will elect the next provincial government are either in the mail, or have been received. Mine came on Wednesday. Everyone on the voters' list should receive their ballots by today. If they don't, they should contact Elections BC. There is an ongoing rotating postal strike, but voters have yet to hear if there will be alternate ways to get them back to Elections BC - perhaps by dropping them off at designated locations. The municipal election is over, althoigh inaugural meetings of most new councils and school boards won't take place until next week. Now voters are being asked to cast another vote. The province is conducting a referendum, using mail-in ballots, on the issue of proportional representation. Voting was to start on Oct. 22, just two days after the municipal election. All completed ballots must be in the hands of Elections BC by Nov. 30. No date has been publicly set as to when results will ...

Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum has promised that one of the first acts of the new council will be starting the process of dropping the RCMP as Surrey’s police force.  Surrey's new council will be inaugurated on Monday evening at city hall, and the mayor-elect has promised a vote on leaving the RCMP. Let's see if that motion comes forward on Monday night. The national police force has provided local policing in Surrey since 1951. It is to be replaced by a municipal force, similar to police forces in Delta, Vancouver and Abbotsford. The idea is popular with citizens and is one of the reasons McCallum and seven Safe Surrey Coalition members were elected to council. Surrey residents are fed up with crime - in particular gang violence, which includes drive-by shootings and the murder of innocent people. Despite the formation of integrated units such as IHIT (Integrated Homicide investigative Team), which involve both RCMP and municipal police members, these crimes s...

The major changes in direction on Surrey and White Rock councils demanded by voters can be summed up in one word – “growth.” Voters do not want growth, at least in the way it has occurred. They want growth which is managed and manageable. Above all, they want infrastructure which keeps pace with growth, and is not constantly overwhelmed by it. Other issues flow from this – how best to follow the Official Community Plan in White Rock; what kind of rapid transit system is best for Surrey; how can people who move here be assured there is space in the schools; what type of police force makes the most sense in a fast-growing Surrey; how to better listen and respond to citizen concerns. Doug McCallum accomplished a very rare feat on Saturday. After 13 years out of office, he is back as mayor, and his Safe Surrey Coalition elected seven of the eight councillors. One Surrey First councillor was elected. Not a single incumbent was returned to Surrey council – an unprecedented and dra...