Surrey residents will have their say on a binding referendum on Surreysa国际传媒檚 controversial policing transition after Elections BC has approved an initiative petition application that has been launched by the widow of a Surrey murder victim.

Darlene Bennett, whose husband Paul Bennett was shot dead in front of their home in Cloverdale in 2018 in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity, must collect the signatures of at least 10 per cent of registered voters in all of B.C.sa国际传媒檚 87 electoral districts, and submit them by Nov. 15, to make it stick.

Darlene Bennett screen shot

sa国际传媒淚 am very excited, hopeful with Elections BC passing the citizens initiative for a binding referendum in Surrey on the policing issue,sa国际传媒� Bennett said Thursday. sa国际传媒淚 hope this gives the residents of Surrey a voice. I hope they will be heard and I hope everyone is able to make an informed decision.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 think the residents of Surrey deserve this. This is their public safety, theysa国际传媒檙e paying for it, they deserve to have a voice, and they deserve to be heard.sa国际传媒�

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, who campaigned on replacing the Surrey RCMP with a city-made police force, said this latest development sa国际传媒渨ill not slow down the building of our independent Surrey Police.

sa国际传媒淭ransitioning to an independent police service was the number one election issue for residents in 2018, and shortly after this council was sworn in, it unanimously voted in support of the Surrey Police Transition,sa国际传媒� McCallum said. sa国际传媒淭he province has said before that it is not interested in a referendum, and this will not change, as they have been supportive of the transition since day one.

sa国际传媒淭he idea of a provincial referendum on a municipal matter is extremely dangerous for every citysa国际传媒檚 democratic process,sa国际传媒� McCallum added. sa国际传媒淥ur residents are clearly in support of this transition, and we are pressing forward everyday, moving closer to fully operating the Surrey Police Service.sa国际传媒�

According to an Elections BC statement issued Thursday, the purpose of the draft bill sa国际传媒渋s to have the provincial government conduct a regional binding referendum in the City of Surrey on the question of whether the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) should be retained as the police service or whether a proposed Surrey Police Service should replace the RCMP.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚f held,sa国际传媒� Elections BC explained, sa国际传媒渢he referendum would be comprised of a single question regarding whether to retain the RCMP as Surreysa国际传媒檚 police service or create a new Surrey Police Service, as proposed. The referendum would be binding under Section 4 of the BC Referendum Act.sa国际传媒�

After the petition will be issued on Aug. 16 Bennett will have 90 days to collect the necessary signatures. Anyone opposed to the initiative who intends to advertise or canvass for signatures against it must register with Elections BC and has until July 19 to do so.

Surrey city Councillor Brenda Locke, who has before council, is elated.

sa国际传媒淚t will be binding,sa国际传媒� Locke said of Bennettsa国际传媒檚 referendum campaign. sa国际传媒淒onsa国际传媒檛 get me wrong, it will be difficult, it will be hard. But I do think there is motivation outside of Surrey.sa国际传媒�

Meantime, Locke plans to pursue her referendum-related motions despite the mayor having found them to be out of order.

sa国际传媒淢y lawyersa国际传媒檚 opinion is just so clean and so clear how in the heck we ever got the opinion from our lawyer, at least the way the mayor described it, I donsa国际传媒檛 know. So I definitely will be bringing it up at the next (council) meeting.sa国际传媒�

Councillor Jack Hundial called Elections BCsa国际传媒檚 decision a sa国际传媒済reat step forward in having the taxpayers getting a say.

sa国际传媒淲ith the engagement process approved at the last council meeting, the true test will now be to see if the mayor and his team will actually stand by allowing citizens to have a voice,sa国际传媒� he said.

Councillor Doug Elford, of the Safe Surrey Coalition, said of Bennettsa国际传媒檚 campaign and Election BCsa国际传媒檚 decision, sa国际传媒渢his is just a part of a process that the governmentsa国际传媒檚 going through.

sa国际传媒淭o be honest I think itsa国际传媒檚 going to be more symbolic than anything else,sa国际传媒� he said, considering her timeline and the number of signatures she must collect. sa国际传媒淭o me, Isa国际传媒檇 really like to see a referendum on myself, that is my preference, and I think that is more important than trying to turn back something that I believe is already way down the road. Wesa国际传媒檙e hiring constables now and I just donsa国际传媒檛 see this turning around.sa国际传媒�

In February Hundial and LockeSurreysa国际传媒檚 policing transition province-wide, sending out a letter to more than 1,000 elected officials in local governments calling for a feasibility study and warning them that this unprecedented transition will come with financial consequences for all B.C. cities that are policed by the RCMP.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a lot of local governments that are not happy with this,sa国际传媒� Locke said.

Meantime, Bennettsa国际传媒檚 is the second initiative petition application to be approved this year and the 14th since the Recall and Initiative Act came into force in 1995. She is being helped by Bill Tieleman, who helped former Social Credit premier Bill Vander Zalm conduct a referendum campaign that defeated the Harmonized Sales Tax in 2011.

Bill Tieleman screen shot

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 very excited to be involved in this campaign because I think it is what is democracy at its best sa国际传媒� itsa国际传媒檚 local citizens, in this case in Surrey and also in other parts of the province, saying that they want to have a say, they want to have a voice in who polices them in Surrey,sa国际传媒� Tieleman said. sa国际传媒淭his is a very expensive decision, a very controversial decision, and itsa国际传媒檚 only right that the voters of Surrey have the final say, not politicians, not bureaucrats.sa国际传媒�

Tieleman said they will be focusing particularly on Surreysa国际传媒檚 nine provincial ridings because sa国际传媒渢his is a Surrey issue, itsa国际传媒檚 not a provincial issue. And thatsa国际传媒檚 one of the flaws in the Initiative Act, it doesnsa国际传媒檛 allow for a regional referendum in a regional initiative.sa国际传媒�

However, he noted, the BC Referendum Act allows cabinet to designate a regional referendum and it could decide sa国际传媒渁t any point in timesa国际传媒� that Surrey deserves to have a referendum.

sa国际传媒淚 think what wesa国际传媒檙e attempting to show here is that there is strong support in Surrey for a actual referendum on the policing issue and we believe and hope that when citizens come out and show their support for this initiative that the government will have to listen.sa国际传媒�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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