Editor:
Re: Campaign promises kept, Nov 25 letters.
The letter by Ms. Olafson in reference to campaign promises kept by Mayor McCallum is full of praise for the mayor.
Her letter also has a second issue which comes across with a very negative attitude towards the RCMP.
Ms. Olafson states that Mr. McCallum made promises and he kept them.This is in reference to Mr. McCallum’s platform of getting Surrey its own police force.
Ms. Olafson asks the question, isn’t this something that we citizens desire in our politicians?
In this case I would say no, unless the issue is in the best interests of the majority of citizens.
Mr. McCallum has been in opposition to the interests of the majority for a very long time and disregarding the important point of increased taxes which increased again in this tax year.
Mr. McCallum, for some reason, is disregarding the obvious, which is to stay with the police force we have had in Surrey for the last 70 years and has served this city since it was a frontier.
Let Mr. McCallum come up with one valid reason why we need to switch to a police force that will take years to adjust with rising taxes in the coming years.
Ms. Olafson has made her point, or should I say her opinion in trying to discredit the RCMP. She cites many examples over the years and goes back to 2007 and refers to Robert Dziekanski as an innocent citizen who died after being tasered by the RCMP at Vancouver Airport.
The facts are Mr. Dziekanski arrived from Europe and roamed the airport for several hours while in a state of confusion. Mr. Dziekanski needed help but eventually caused a disturbance, resulting in RCMP attendance.
He was subsequently tasered by RCMP, but did not recover.
Ms. Olafson states that the city of Surrey needs its own police force built from the ground up, which will be held accountable to the city, not a system which is under direction from Ottawa and its dysfunctional hierarchy.
Surrey detachment is not under control by Ottawa, but at one time from a sub-division and now from E Division, B.C.
Bill Parrott, Surrey