Tuesday December 3, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 97)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
One-two punch: Last weekend was a successful one for Earl Marriott Secondary, as the school’ ool’s senior boys volleyball team won a provincial championship in Kelowna, na, and the girls placed second in Penticton. cton. i see page ge 21
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Corrigan critical as city bypasses TransLink to pursue federal funding
Surrey’s $1.8-billion transit bid derided Alex Browne Staff Reporter
The City of Surrey is taking the unilateral step of appealing to the federal government for $1.8 billion to pay for three light-rapidtransit lines stretching into the eastern and southern parts of the city. Mayor Dianne Watts acknowledges the city’s request to Ottawa for at-grade light rapid transit (LRT) represents frustration at deal-
ing with a cash-strapped TransLink and the provincial government, which remains committed to more expensive SkyTrain models. But Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, member of the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation, and former chair of B.C. Transit, dismisses the request as “pre-election posturing.” “I don’t know where all this money is going to come from,” he said. “When it comes to
reality, I don’t see anything in the offing.” On Friday, Transportation Minister Todd Stone said he sees “nothing untoward” in Surrey’s action, adding he expects Surrey to be having conversations with different levels of government about the city’s priorities. “I certainly expect that Surrey will be strongly advocating for the projects that they believe are important to their community,” he said, noting he had “six or seven” meet-
ings with Lower Mainland mayors last week alone, all of them with infrastructure priorities for their communities they’re advocating for at “both the federal and provincial levels.” TransLink’s Cindy Bromley commented only that “there is a large need for transit expansion in the entire region and we recognize that Surrey has a vision for its future, including transit growth.” i see page 2
Heroin in luggage
Australian drug bust nets four Sarah Massah Staff Reporter
Tracy Holmes photo
Pamela Smith, mother of plane-crash victim Dallas Smith, listens as Greg Sewell, father of victim Lauren Sewell, speaks at a news conference.
Transport Canada pressured to legislate previously recommended reforms
Parents unite to avert more victims Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
The parents of three victims killed in two separate plane crashes are joining forces to pressure Transport Canada into legislating reforms they say would likely have prevented the deaths of their children – had they been enacted when first recommended. “After seeing the condition of my daughter in hospital, the condition of the passenger com-
partment and in speaking with the Kelowna coroner, there is no doubt in my mind that had this plane been equipped with shoulder restraints, that Lauren in particular and likely Dallas as well, would have survived the crash,” Greg Sewell, the father of victim Lauren Sewell, said during a news conference Thursday morning in South Surrey. “Why hasn’t Transport Canada seen fit to require shoulder harnesses in all private air-
craft, and how many more innocent passengers must die or be seriously maimed?” Lauren Sewell, 24, and Dallas Smith, 30 – who attended school on the Semiahmoo Peninsula and started dating less than six months before the crash – died after the Piper Twin Comanche they were passengers in crashed into a wooded area just west of Kelowna on Aug. 13, 2012. i see page 4
Look inside for the Peace Arch News… TRADITIONAL
BORDER GOLD CORP.
FAVOURITES Carols • Crafts • Recipes
Four Canadian residents arrested last month on drug-smuggling charges in Melbourne have ties to the Surrey/White Rock area. Tyrell Brown, 20, Jason Singh, 21, Madison Trim, 19, and an unnamed 17-year-old were arrested and accused of trying to import 17 kg of heroin into Melbourne. The maximum penalty for heroin smuggling is life imprisonment, according to police. Brown’s Facebook page lists Elgin Park Secondary in his school history while Singh, a Dutch national, attended Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary. On a Nov. 16 Facebook post that has since been deleted, Trim writes: “bye bye thailand youve been very good to us, we will be back.” i see page 2
Facebook image
Tyrell Brown and Jason Singh.