Close X
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
ADVT 
National

Group calls for vote on Surrey, B.C., police force

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 15 Nov, 2021 05:22 PM
  • Group calls for vote on Surrey, B.C., police force

SURREY, B.C. - A group opposing the planned transition from the RCMP to a municipal police force in Surrey, B.C., says it has collected close to 43,000 signatures from residents calling for a referendum on policing in the city.

Darlene Bennett launched the campaign with the group Surrey Police Vote over concerns about rising costs associated with starting a new municipal police force, which was a key pledge in Mayor Doug McCallum's election campaign in 2018.

The city council voted in favour of the transition in 2018, the public safety minister approved the creation of the Surrey Police Board last year, and Surrey's budget for 2021 showed the transition was $18.5 million more than the original $45-million cost estimate.

Amber Stowe, media relations lead with McCallum's office, says the mayor would not comment on the petition before Elections BC delivers the final result.

A statement from the Surrey Police Union says the 42,942 signatures collected by the Surrey Police Vote initiative falls far below the legislative requirement of 10 per cent of voters from all 87 electoral districts in B.C. in order to trigger a referendum.

Bennett said upon launching the petition that the initiative would not campaign across the province, rather it would focus on the nine electoral districts in Surrey in hopes of demonstrating the need for a regional referendum to the provincial government.

B.C.'s Referendum Act gives provincial cabinet the power to order a referendum in a particular region, campaign strategist Bill Tieleman said in a statement on Monday.

The petition's signatures represent about 13.5 per cent of about 318,000 registered voters in Surrey's nine districts, according to a 2017 tally from Elections BC.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Afghanistan, pandemic cast a shadow over campaign

Afghanistan, pandemic cast a shadow over campaign
Party leaders hit the road last week just as the fourth wave began to surge and Kabul fell to the Taliban, prompting a desperate push to ramp up evacuation efforts for Canadian expats and former Afghan support staff at the capital's airport. That effort ended early Thursday morning.

Afghanistan, pandemic cast a shadow over campaign

Number of wildfires in B.C. falls below 250

Number of wildfires in B.C. falls below 250
The BC Wildfire Service says some of the major blazes — such as White Rock Lake, Tremont Creek and Lytton Creek — were still classified as out of control.

Number of wildfires in B.C. falls below 250

Party leaders talk affordability in B.C., Ontario

Party leaders talk affordability in B.C., Ontario
That is particularly the case for a housing market made ever hotter by the pandemic that drove more Canadians to want bigger homes and bigger yards. For younger Canadians, and those with lower incomes the pre-pandemic pipe dream of home ownership was pushed even further out of reach.

Party leaders talk affordability in B.C., Ontario

698 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

698 COVID19 cases for Wednesday
There are 5,356 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 154,669 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 139 individuals are in hospital and 75 are in intensive care. 

698 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

One presumed dead in B.C. construction collapse

One presumed dead in B.C. construction collapse
Fire and rescue personnel determined that one person had sustained "catastrophic" injuries, but it was still too dangerous to remove debris within the construction site in order to recover the body, Sgt. Peter DeVries said in an interview.

One presumed dead in B.C. construction collapse

Imams urge Canadian Muslims to get vaccinated

Imams urge Canadian Muslims to get vaccinated
25 religious leaders have issued a joint statement pointing to "overwhelming, undeniable scientific evidence" of vaccine protection as a fourth wave targets mostly unvaccinated people.    

Imams urge Canadian Muslims to get vaccinated