Sandhu Chides Conservatives On Rising Crime In Surrey

SURREY – Surrey-North MP JasbirSandhu, Member of Parliament forSurrey North stood in the House ofCommons this week as Parliamentopened for business to confront the governmenton a number of concerns facingSurrey residents.His primary concern is the high crimerate in Surrey. Surrey had 25 murders in2013, the highest number recorded inyears, and a 120% increase from 2012.“I know RCMP officers work very hard.Every day they dedicate their lives totheir job. In the face of high crime statistics,we should ensure that our officershave all the resources they need to keepour communities safe”, states Sandhu.Surrey recently became home to theRCMP Headquarters for BC, a majordevelopment that would ensure that officersare provided with the resources necessaryfor their work. However, the costsof this new building are being transferredto municipalities. According the RCMPFiscal Plan for 2013-2014, municipalitiescould pay up to $1 200 more per regularmember and $20 000 more per integratedteam member. This means that theCity of Surrey could pay up to $1 milliondollars more for policing.Sandhu places blame on the federal government,stating: “In their election resolutionsin 2006, the Conservative governmentpromised to be ‘tough on crime’. Ifcrime prevention is a priority to this government,why are homicide rates in mycommunity increasing? Why is fundingfor policing being downloaded onto themunicipalities?”The growing crime rate was not the onlytopic at the forefront of MP Sandhu’sconcerns. Sandhu also addressed infrastructuredevelopment in Surrey.Although they are responsible for 60% ofinfrastructure development, municipalitiesonly receive 8% of federal tax revenue.This means that much neededinvestments in public transportation,roads and bridges, are not able to be carriedout without provincial and federalsupport.Sandhu says, “Surrey’s transportationinfrastructure is inadequate. The sky trainonly serves part of the city and many ofour roads and bridges are in desperateneed of attention, including75 year oldPattullo Bridge. All of our new bridgesare tolled, while neighbouring citiesreceive bridges which are not tolled,because of federal funding.”MP Sandhu has spoken on the topic ofinfrastructure development previously inthe House of Commons. Last June, heconfronted the Minister of Transportabout the possibility of tolling the reconstructedPattullo Bridge in the future. Healso held public forums about the bridgeduring the summer. Surrey is home to theonly two tolled bridges West ofManitoba.