Editor:
Re: Rally focuses on overcapacity schools, Nov. 1.
The amount of political amnesia some people think Surrey residents have is jaw dropping.
In January 2016, Surrey DPAC hosted an open-invitation information night to all political parties to talk about school overcrowding and look for solutions. Only the NDP MLAs, candidates and then education-critic Rob Fleming attended. They have long known about the issues facing Surrey students.
The Surrey Schools Coalition “rally” was a farce, which is too bad because the goal is sound.
But it leaves a host of questions. Where was DPAC’s advocacy on these issues when the BC Liberals were in power? Would the event have been better attended if DPAC had been upfront with members and spent more time on communications, and less time ‘fundraising’ for a food truck and Paw Patrol?
And lastly, after only 100 days into their new mandate, how is our new government expected to wave a magic wand and undo 16 years of systemic, catastrophic failure across policy and funding models created by the BC Liberals?
Mayor Linda Hepner – if school overcapacity is truly a concern for you, will you stop continuously revising NCPs and OCPs as a concrete action council can take to stop exacerbating an already dire situation? You could look at advocating for more public transit – now, not just waiting for LRT – safer roads, parking and mature tree life around school lands.
Trustee Laurae McNally’s April 2016 motion to stop development until you can adequately provide public infrastructures would also be welcome.
MLA Marvin Hunt (Surrey-Cloverdale) – you have sat across three levels of government in Surrey; now that you are an opposition member in the House, can you be more effective in delivering capital funds and a needed change in policies to Surrey so we can build schools?
I think you will, but only because the NDP views education as a priority and your party, as you are rightly quoted, does not.
Mary-Em Waddington, Surrey