Friday April 10 2015
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CITY TAKING DOWN ‘NO’ SIGNS ▶ WAR OVER TRANSIT PLEBISCITE REVS UP AS SURREY PULLS OPPOSITION SIGNS FROM PUBLIC PROPERTY KEVIN DIAKIW
The City of Surrey has been pulling “No TransLink Tax” signs from city property and the group that put them there is crying foul. For about the past two weeks, City of Surrey bylaw officers have been taking down signs opposing the ongoing transit referendum. The city is spending $300,000 in taxpayer dollars to get out the “yes” vote for a 0.5-per-cent hike in sales tax in order to pay for better transit and transportation projects. Jordan Bateman, the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, has been working a spirited campaign against the plebiscite proposal – on a shoestring budget of $40,000. Cities in the region and TransLink are spending upwards of $7 million to promote a yes vote. Bateman says Surrey is being heavy-handed in using bylaw officials to further hammer down his meagre campaign initiative. “All of our signs are gone in Surrey unless they are on private property,” Bateman said. “We had a bunch near the Pattullo Bridge, we had some in the Green
Jordan Bateman, head of the ‘no’ side in the ongoing transit referendum, says his campaign signs have been removed from public spaces in the City of Surrey. The Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation paid $40,000 for the signs; Surrey is spending $300,000 of taxpayer dollars on promoting a ‘yes’ vote. Surrey officials say the no signs violate existing bylaws. EVAN SEAL Timbers park area, a few on King George, a few on Fraser Highway.” He believes the city could be taken to court over the signs’ removal, but he says his group has
SURREY PARKS BYLAW FACES COURT CHALLENGE
neither the time nor the money to take on a publicly funded municipality. Surrey’s Manager of Bylaw Enforcement Jas Rehal con-
firmed that officers had taken down about 20 signs from public property in the city over the past two weeks. Mayor Linda Hepner said the
▶ RESIDENT SAYS LEGISLATION VIOLATES CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS KEVIN DIAKIW
A Surrey bylaw is under attack on the basis that it violates fundamental Canadian rights. Christopher Lewis has been warned and fined for walking in Surrey parks at night. The city has ramped up its enforcement of the bylaw, issuing
signs had to come down because they were in direct contravention of city bylaws. continued on page 8
257 tickets in 2005 and 791 in 2013. Surrey’s manager of bylaws told The Leader that dropped down to 151 last year, but couldn’t explain the decrease right away. Lewis says he likes to walk in the city’s green spaces to decompress after a day’s work, or to pace off sleeplessness.
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