Letters, Nov. 26, 2019: Surrey police force transition comes at a great cost
Credit to Author: Carolyn Soltau| Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:00:54 +0000
As a longtime resident of Surrey, it was with rising horror that I read Randy Shore’s article about what the transition to a municipal police force will mean to our city, and the drain it is placing on the needs of our citizenry.
We’ve read that Coun. Linda Annis has “condemned the plan as a threat to public safety” and rightfully so. No new firefighters, no new police officers are to be hired in 2020, this despite the fact that both departments have demonstrated the need for more recruits, and the fact that our city’s population grows by 1,000 people every month, which demands a need for more safety officers.
Even as Mayor Doug McCallum decries the problem of crime, he chokes off the very funds meant to engage youth with productive alternatives to gang life.
Ellie King, managing artistic director of the Royal Canadian Theatre Company, points out in the article that the pittance allotted the arts in the next five years is “disastrous.” Doing the math, the pathetic $850,000 for the five-year plan works out to just over 30 cents a year per person living in Surrey. It’s not enough for a family of four to buy a single burger to share; certainly not enough to run effective arts and athletic programs.
The irony here is that over 5,000 residents, through 15 open house events and online consultations, created a Master Plan for the Arts, a plan that had been scheduled to go before council this month. Obviously, that exercise in active democracy was merely token lip-service and a waste of people’s time.
Despite having three of his elected Safe Surrey Coalition councillors dropping that affiliation in reaction to some of his actions, McCallum continues to claim that the people are behind him and that he’s fulfilling his campaign promises.
What he fails to point out is that while he was elected with 41 per cent of the mayoralty vote, his two closest rivals for mayor polled 51 per cent between them — indicating that over half of Surrey’s electorate did not choose him. Clearly not “everyone” is behind him.
As our neighbours to the south are showing us, there are ways to clean house when an unacceptable person attains office. Maybe it’s time for us to explore similar plans for dealing with our seemingly out-of-control mayor before he can cause any more harm.
Heidi Greco, Surrey
Preserving farmland and maintaining food sustainability are definitely very important as we face a future that includes climate change and environmental challenges. There is also a desire to keep the price of farmland affordable for those wanting to get into farming. Restricting the size of houses on ALR land, limiting housing options for farm families, and satellite surveillance on ALR land are all fairly strong measures the government has implemented to achieve these goals.
Thankfully satellite surveillance has been put on hold, despite the support that a Kwantlen University director offered, encouraging a “small army” of ALC inspectors to assess the condition of every parcel inside the ALR. There really appears to be a double standard when you compare how we approach all other land in our region.
The government is not bringing in regulations to keep the price of commercial property artificially low to make new businesses more affordable. Developers are given all kinds of incentives and assistance to provide low-rental market housing so they don’t have to lose money building such projects. Regulations to preserve agricultural land is now adding to the challenges facing farmers struggling to make a living off their land, to say nothing of retiring farmers, with no work pensions, wanting to get out of the industry and still wanting a secure retirement.
Saving farmland, preserving green space and keeping the price of farmland affordable all come at a cost. Unfortunately for farmers, they are the ones that bear that burden, and it’s time we question whether that is fair.
Tom Barichello, Langley
Letters to the editor should be sent to sunletters@vancouversun.com.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.