Thursday November 21, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 94)
V O I C E
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W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
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Ladies’ man: Six-year-old Keian Blundell, who has acute lymphoblastic leukemia, is the focus of a South uth Surrey fundraiser. Next week’s annual Ladies es Night Out will donate funds to help Keian and other BC Children’s Hospital patients. i see page A21
Waterfront rail route estimated to cost $350-$400 million to relocate
Mayors probe moving tracks inland Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Tracy Holmes photo
Waterfront visitors stroll White Rock’s promenade – a few feet from the BNSF tracks under discussion for relocation – Tuesday afternoon.
A case is being made to relocate the BNSF train tracks off of the Semiahmoo Peninsula’s waterfront, White Rock’s mayor announced this week. Citing incidents that have intensified discussions on rail safety over the past six months – including the tragic July derailment in LacMégantic, Que., a week after a jogger fatality in White Rock – Wayne Baldwin said a joint community forum is to be held next week to share information gathered to date by Surrey and White Rock officials, including possible options for relocating the century-old line. Council attendees applauded Baldwin’s announcement Monday evening, which preceded unanimous approval of a motion by Coun. Larry Robinson to call on federal Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt to develop a policy that mandates fire departments be pre-advised of trains coming through their communities with dangerous goods. Baldwin told Peace Arch News that the costs of moving the line are estimated at $350-400 million, not including any work south of the border. Staff from the two cities have been researching the plan’s feasibility and preparing a business case for it since August, he said. i see page A4
Solutions sought as city looks to introduce Bar Watch and school programs
Task force to tackle Surrey’s high homicide rate Kevin Diakiw
and come up with remedies. Watts noted the city goes through spikes in murders every four years. “It’s not a coincidence, something is occurring,” Watts said in an interview. “We just want to drill down and see what’s behind it. Is it (soft) jail sentences? We don’t know.” The task force will analyze fouryear cycles of crime. In addition, the city plans to identify known drug houses and conduct an analysis of police and city bylaw depart-
Black Press
Surrey’s mayor is striking a special task force to examine drug houses, the effect of mental illness on policing and the introduction of Bar Watch, after the city’s yearto-date homicide rate hit 22 this week – an all-time record. Mayor Dianne Watts is creating a task force of police, Surrey School District educators and criminologists to examine what is occurring
ment resources. As to how the city or police would stop a murder, Watts said therein lies the dilemma. “Well you can’t, and that’s the problem,” she said. “What we can do is make sure that whatever’s around it, that we’re doing everything we possibly can.” That could involve more schoolbased prevention programs aimed at deterring youth from choosing a high-risk gang-related lifestyle,
she said. On Monday morning, police found the body of a man in front of a home near 99 Avenue and 120 Street. Police say the home is known to them, being partly related to drug activity. Investigators have yet to name the victim, but say he was not a resident of the home. On Tuesday, Watts sent out a joint release with Surrey’s top cop, RCMP Chief Supt. Bill Fordy, who addressed criminals directly.
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“For those who choose to engage in criminal behaviour, we want you to know that you are not welcome in Surrey… If you choose to embrace the criminal lifestyle, you will end up dead or in jail,” Fordy said. Out of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team’s 36 files (some that include multiple victims) being handled this year, 21 of them are in Surrey – or 58 per cent of IHIT’s total caseload in the region. i see page A4