Close X
Friday, November 1, 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

Gasoline use plunged in first year of pandemic

Gasoline use plunged in first year of pandemic
Statistics Canada data show Canadians bought 38.6 billion litres of gas in 2020, 14 per cent less than the year before and less than in any other year since 2001.

Gasoline use plunged in first year of pandemic

Military officer's new assignment sparks outrage

Military officer's new assignment sparks outrage
Yet survivors and experts of military sexual misconduct are expressing outrage over Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe’s new role, saying it raises even more questions about the Armed Forces’ ability and commitment to addressing the problem.    

Military officer's new assignment sparks outrage

Report cites B.C.'s inadequate heat wave supports

Report cites B.C.'s inadequate heat wave supports
Human Rights Watch says in its report that while those two groups are at a greater risk of heat stress, many were left to cope with the dangers of record-high temperatures on their own.

Report cites B.C.'s inadequate heat wave supports

Public workers in B.C. must get vaccinated

Public workers in B.C. must get vaccinated
The BC Public Service Agency said Tuesday the requirement is part of an effort to increase vaccination rates throughout the province. It has set Nov. 22 as a deadline for workers in core government services or ministries to show proof of vaccination using the BC Vaccine card.

Public workers in B.C. must get vaccinated

Witnesses sought in sexual assault

Witnesses sought in sexual assault
The suspect is described as a 20-30 year old man with a darker complexion, black curly hair past his ears, medium build, approximately 5’10, and was wearing a grey hoody with baggy pants.

Witnesses sought in sexual assault

Canadian data: risk of death higher with Delta

Canadian data: risk of death higher with Delta
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto and published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analyzed more than 212,000 cases of COVID-19 reported in Ontario between Feb. 7 and June 27, 2021.

Canadian data: risk of death higher with Delta