So much for ‘Safe Surrey’
Editor’s note: This missive was submitted as an open letter to Surrey’s nine MLAs.
I am writing to you, MLA for Surrey, to make you aware of the dangerous course that Mayor McCallum is taking for our city with his Surrey Police Department proposal. It was rushed to the BC Provincial Solicitor General without input from the public or even his own councillors.
The proposal was released to the public, not by the mayor but by Mike Farnworth. We are appalled by what it contains and what it does not contain. It asserts that the Surrey RCMP have 50 officers fewer than in reality. There are glaring omissions in cost projections. The transition plan is not credible. So much for Safe Surrey; he is proposing less police and less safety at more cost.
During the last two weeks his staged ‘consultation’ events in Surrey were actually ‘show and tell’, with a fake police car and colouring and stickers for the children. I expected on a proposal of this gravity to be able to present and to hear briefs in public forums. The pushback is undeniable. Dismayed citizens are flocking to sign Ivan Scott’s ‘Keep the RCMP’ petition. Even the councillors in his coalition are defecting.
You must insist that the BC legislature takes these concerns seriously. At the best the proposal should be rejected outright. Insist that the Surrey public is consulted in a meaningful way before further action is taken. At the very least the proposal should be returned to the Mayor with questions and comments that must be seriously addressed before it can be reconsidered.
Colin Pronger, Surrey
Keep the RCMP, bring in cannabis stores
Mayor McCallum would have us believe that allowing cannabis stores would increase gang activity … really? Wouldn’t it make more sense to allow them, thereby curtailing many drive-by shootings related to dial-a-dope operations which are gang-related?
His political ploy will be “shoving” his city police down our throats first, then he’ll allow cannabis stores. Then he’ll tell us his plan worked.
Come on Surrey. Let’s keep our hard earned dollars in our pockets. We pay enough taxes!
Have a voice, be heard, and please sign the online petition to keep the RCMP in Surrey.
Keeping our RCMP means we can work on getting cannabis stores in Surrey sooner than later.
It’s a win-win.
Debi Johnstone, Cloverdale
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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