Close X
Monday, November 4, 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

Leaders gird for round two ahead of English debate

Leaders gird for round two ahead of English debate
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Green Party Leader Annamie Paul will convene again at 9 p.m. eastern time for the second back-to-back debate.

Leaders gird for round two ahead of English debate

Death of driver at drive-thru:VPD

Death of driver at drive-thru:VPD
The vehicle rolled forward, colliding into a structural piece of the restaurant. The driver was unable to free himself from the vehicle as he was pinned between the vehicle door and frame.

Death of driver at drive-thru:VPD

COVID-19 passport good first step: B.C. doctors

COVID-19 passport good first step: B.C. doctors
Dr. Matthew Chow with the Doctors of B.C. says his group would also like to see mandated vaccines for all health-care workers, similar to what is being done with long-term care staff.

COVID-19 passport good first step: B.C. doctors

814 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

814 COVID19 cases for Wednesday
There are 5,550 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 163,793 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 261 individuals are in hospital and 129 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

814 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

Leaders face two pivotal debates, French tonight

Leaders face two pivotal debates, French tonight
With less than two weeks to go, millions of voters are expected to tune in for Wednesday's two-hour French debate and Thursday's English debate. The topics for that debate are affordability, climate, COVID-19 recovery, leadership and accountability and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

Leaders face two pivotal debates, French tonight

Vancouver Police help rescue paddleboarders stranded in First Narrows

Vancouver Police help rescue paddleboarders stranded in First Narrows
The Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue also came to help. Working together, the four agencies rescued the 17 stranded paddleboarders and ferried them back to shore. 13 others managed to make it across the narrows to the North Shore.

Vancouver Police help rescue paddleboarders stranded in First Narrows