New Surrey mayor Doug McCallum sticks with plans for RCMP and rapid transit

The Surrey Board of Trade hopes to have an open discussion with the city’s newly-elected council, but will tell senior levels of government that Surrey might be heading in the wrong direction.

“We will be doing our own advocacy… about why we think the RCMP should stay in Surrey, why we need LRT,” Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman said.

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Mayor-elect Doug McCallum says he’s been working ever since his election win on keeping those two key promises during his first business-oriented council meeting in mid-November. He says he will put forward motions to bring in a municipal police force and scrap the light rail plan in favour of SkyTrain.

McCallum doesn’t believe the provincial or federal governments will oppose the will of Surrey voters considering they’ve proven to hold power in those elections as well.

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The Mayor-elect says the city of Surrey can simply give two years’ notice to opt out of the current RCMP policing contract but believes both parties can agree in ending it earlier.

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When it comes to paying for a SkyTrain line from King George Highway out to Langley, McCallum says the project is a simple duplication of the Evergreen line, which cost $1.4 billion. He says with inflation, the $1.65 billion being used for the light rail project will be enough to cover the cost of the new project.

TransLink has stated about $50 million has already been spent on the light rail project.

“South of the Fraser rapid transit is a priority for TransLink and we are looking forward to working with the new mayor and new council in Surrey, as well as the Mayors’ Council to achieve this,” TransLink wrote in a statement.