FROM THE SOUTH FRASER TO THE PEACE ARCH
King of clubs THENOWNEWSPAPER.COM
INSIDE YOUR NOW:
44 PAGES
TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2010
—page 15
DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A BAD PLACE TO YOU?
❚PHOTO/Brian Howell
NEW DIGS FOR RCMP Construction begins on new E Division HQ at Green Timbers 4
MEMORIAL AT RAVINE Weekend crash kills man in wooded area of South Surrey 3
LAYOFF NOTICES Hundreds of Surrey teachers face an uncertain future 3
NO LRB FOR DELTA Municipal officials opt out of the region’s labour relations body 7
‘ALEXA’S BUS’ ROLLS Friends and family to unveil plan for mobile blood-alcohol lab 8
BALDREY’S VIEW Special prosecutor system is not broken, says our columnist 10
LETTERS Feeling shut out in Fraser Heights 11
TRAVEL Behind doors in Canada’s capital 17
A view of Panorama Ridge in Surrey, which didn’t fare particularly well in a survey of Canada’s most livable cities, as conducted by MoneySense magazine. Many of Surrey’s neighbouring cities, including Delta, placed higher in the rankings. ❚PHOTO/Sharon Doucette
❚MAGAZINE SURVEY
Surrey rates 146th on list of Canada’s 179 best cities
Livable Surrey? Tom ZYTARUK Not so much, according Staff Reporter to MoneySense magazine’s Best Places to Live 2010. Its fifth annual survey of 179 Canadian cities and towns with populations over 10,000 placed Surrey at 146th in terms of being the best place to live. The cities were rated based on climate, prosperity, crime rates, lifestyle, access to health care and home affordability. This year, the Canadian personal finance magazine’s survey ranked Ottawa-Gatineau as the number-one best community to live in Canada. Bay Roberts, Nfld., came in dead last at 179. In between those, Victoria was ranked eighth, Vancouver 29th, New Westminster 50th, Langley 60th, Toronto 85th and Delta 110th. White Rock did not appear on the list.
Surrey councillor and acting mayor Judy Villeneuve disagrees with the findings. “I just don’t think it’s an accurate depiction of the city today,” she said. “I think it’s way off track.” Villeneuve is filling in for Mayor Dianne Watts, who is still recuperating JUDY VILLENEUVE from her recent traffic accident. The acting mayor suggested the survey’s findings fly in the face of the city’s continued growth. “People are moving here for a reason,” Villeneuve noted. “Surrey has leapt forward.” Indeed, MoneySense suggests the opposite.
According to its survey, for 2009, Surrey ranked 119 of 154 cities surveyed — or 35 from dead last, as opposed to 33rd in comparison for this year. As for Delta’s ranking 110th, Mayor Lois Jackson was surprised. “I don’t agree,” she said, noting that Delta isn’t known as the sun god for nothing, enjoys a low crime rate, is “fairly” prosperous, and that the West Coast on a whole offers “some of the best lifestyle in the world.” “I thought it would be a lot higher,” she said of Delta’s ranking. “I’m not very happy with whoever wrote it, anyway.” Jackson is especially surprised with Delta’s ranking compared to that of its neighbouring cities, noting “they’ve got way more homeless in these other places.” tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com