I've blogged before of my displeasure of replacing the RCMP with a municipal police force. It appears our provincial government isn't listening to the citizens of Surrey.
On February 14, 40 boxes of signatures were delivered to the offices of Premier John Horgan. We now have 50,000+ signatures asking for a referendum in replacing the police force. Mayor McCallum received 45,484 votes in the last election so we have move signatures for a referendum that he received votes. The Province of B C continues to ignore the citizens.
I've personally emailed my MLA, Mike Farnsworth, Minister of Public Safety and the Premier. I've never received an answer from any of them!
Today I received this in my mail. It was sent to every house in Surrey. It shows 83% of Surrey residents disagree with the change.
The Mayor is trying to get the money for the transition at the expense of the homeless, delaying the Skytrain extension, and cancelling approved community facilities. The brochure left off the Cloverdale Ice Rink that he axed the day after he was elected! None of the facilities in Surrey have reopened after we moved to Stage 3 of Covid-19. We don't have community centers or libraries! All the staff have been laid off and he's saving a lot of money at the expense of our youth!
This week's Cloverdale Reporter reported one business property tax bill was up 190% over last year.
On June 25 at a closed door meeting, Mayor McCallum axed the Board of The Surrey Homeless Society. This society feeds the homeless with donations from the community. He tried to have the $11,000,000 in charity funds transferred to the city. The account has been frozen by the financial institute! He is trying to sell city land to pay for this change that 83% of the citizens don't want at this time of financial uncertainty.
Council meetings are virtual and if you call in and he doesn't like your question, he disconnects the calls! No one can ask questions and there is no accountability!
Councillor Linda Annis charges that the mayor is “abusing” the in-camera process to side-step transparency and public discussion.
“It’s becoming clear to all of us on council that whenever the mayor wants to pass something controversial without discussion, transparency or public input, he slides it into an in camera session of council,” Annis said. “He knows that once we are in camera our hands our tied and we can’t say anything publicly.
“The fact that I can’t even mention some of the things he’s brought to these behind-closed-doors sessions tells the real story and more often than not, he’s adding things to the meeting agenda at the very last minute without any notice,” Annis said.
“But, the minute the doors are closed, we can’t say a word publicly. It’s no way to run an open government and it’s certainly no way to treat Surrey residents. City business was never meant to be done in secret.”
What's happening in our city is disturbing and it's time our Provincial Government got involved!
On Saturday the Keep The RCMP in Surrey volunteers are giving out more lawn signs at the YMCA close to me.
On Monday night they plan another car rally around City Hall. Monday is the last meeting of the City Council before the summer break. The meetings are all virtual and last Monday the car horns from the rally were heard by the 50 cars that paraded around the block. On Monday they expect many more citizens to drive past the City Hall. I watch the virutual council meetings online!
Why the Province is ignoring the citizens of Surrey is puzzling and hopefully someone will listen. All we ask for is a referendum which is the democratic way for such a huge expenditure!
