Mayor Brenda Locke releases her top priorities during her swearing in ceremony
Darpan News Desk City of Surrey, 08 Nov, 2022 04:31 PM
Surrey, B.C. - The new Surrey City Council was sworn in during an inauguration ceremony on Monday night at City Hall.
Mayor Brenda Locke outlined her top priorities as she begins her 4-year term. Mayor Locke's vision and commitment to residents is to ensure transparency, restore public engagement, and maintain Surrey RCMP as the police of jurisdiction.
"Surrey deserves a Council that values public input, delivers on promises and above all else, is ethical and transparent," said Mayor Brenda Locke. "Restoring integrity and public engagement will be the focus of my work every step of the way. My immediate priorities are maintaining Surrey RCMP as the police of jurisdiction, ensuring extensive public input on the city's budget, strengthening the independence of the Ethics Commissioner and creating a stronger role for youth in our city. All voices will be heard and I look forward to working with all the residents of Surrey."
1. Maintaining Surrey RCMP as the police of jurisdiction
Work has already begun to maintain Surrey RCMP as the police of jurisdiction for the City, including producing a report outlining the plan. When complete, this plan will be released publicly for all to see.
1. Public Consultation on the City Budget
Seeking community input on the City of Surrey's Financial Plan will be a top focus and priority. Opportunities will be made available for residents to provide input and feedback in each of the City's town centres.
1. Strengthening the Office of the Ethics Commissioner
The City of Surrey Ethics Commissioner will be strengthened to ensure independence and transparency.
RCMP were called to the 92nd Avenue and King George Boulevard area in the neighbourhood of Whalley just after 10 p.m. Thursday for a report of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found the injured victim.
The province's online drought map shows most of southern B.C., including east Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver, is now ranked at drought Level 3, which means adverse drought impacts are possible. That's a drop from the most severe Level 5 rating, which covered much of the Island and inner south coast until this week.
It comes two months after Health Canada authorized a bivalent booster from Moderna that targeted the Omicron BA.1 subvariant and the original strain. Health Canada says a bivalent booster triggers "a strong immune response" against both of the more recent Omicron subvariants,as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 virus strains.
Interest rates will still apply on the provincial portion of a student’s loan. While this move is helpful for students graduating, said Rebekah Young, director of fiscal and provincial economics at Scotiabank, it is ultimately relief for interest payments on debt rather than money toward tuition or other post-secondary school expenses.
Mable Elmore, parliamentary secretary for senior services, says changes to the residential care regulation will strengthen the voices of resident and family councils. The councils, which she likened to residential stratas, are groups of people who meet regularly to promote the collective interests of residents and discuss concerns.
The word “inflation” appears more than 100 times in the document, making clear the government's primary economic concern. But beyond the top-line debt projections and the analysis of how Canada seeks to soften the impact of a potential recession, the fiscal update offers key details that shed light on Liberal priorities.
