Editor:
Mayor McCallum does not appear to be able to differentiate between true public consultation and issuing loose political statements during an election campaign.
Public consultation on an issue of this importance should have included details of how the proposed replacement of the RCMP was going to make Surrey a safer place, with the details being made available to all eligible voters, in addition to realistic cost estimates prepared by experts rather than politicians, with requests for feedback or with an open debate.
Since the election, the question of safety for the people of Surrey has taken a back seat to “a question of governance.”
So does that mean that we are going to pay even higher taxes for “increased governance by municipal politicians of a locally owned police department” with no guarantee of increased safety?
There is no evidence to prove that installing a local police force improves safety.
I believe that for the majority of those people that voted in the election the main issue was not about replacing the RCMP it was about attempting to stop the out of control residential development, which was probably why the vote was split the way that it was.
However, if Mr. McCallum wishes to think that it was about replacing the RCMP, then he should consider that based on the election results, 41.43 per cent voted for replacing them and 58.57 per cent voted against. It is all a question of interpretation.
Les Murrell, South Surrey