Editor:
Re: Surrey unanimously drops RCMP, LRT, Nov. 7.
I have had a hard time since our recent Surrey election with Mayor Doug McCallum claiming the citizens have spoken.
Yes, he was voted in for mayor, but that doesn’t give him the right to ram down our throats his idea of changing our police force.
When you look at the results, you will see Surrey did speak but not in the way McCallum thinks.
There were 337,289 eligible voters – 110,902 people voted which leaves 226,369 whose voices were not heard. Out of the 110,902, McCallum received 41.08 per cent of votes, which gave him the position of mayor. Which leaves 58.19 per cent of votes that did not agree with his platform changing LRT to SkyTrain or having a city police instead of RCMP, a total waste of money.
He is deluded if he thinks having our own police force is going to stop this gang violence, it isn’t.
The City of Abbotsford has their own force and their gang violence is no better than ours. There were two recent gang related murders this last week, one in each city; what does that tell you?
When he was mayor before, he wasn’t interested in improving or assisting the RCMP, only in development. That’s why we voted him out.
God help us.
Hilary Thomas, Surrey
• • •
I voted for Mayor Doug McCallum and his team, wanting more than anything to see the last of Surrey First.
That is not to say that I supported his notion of a municipal police force. After all, there were no yes/no boxes on the ballot form for this option.
Anyone who thinks that crime and gangs in Surrey will be made to disappear by changing to a new police force is naïve, to say the least.
The RCMP have always provided dedicated service to the people of Surrey, and comment to the contrary is both egregious and disrespectful.
Only the people have the right to decide if the RCMP should be allowed to continue the service.
The City of Surrey should immediately initiate a referendum to decide the matter.
David Peelo, Surrey