SURREY – This week another bullet hit a Surrey school, continuing the wave of ongoing gun violence in the city. Meanwhile, Christy Clark’s government is rejecting proposals to tackle the violence, choosing instead to play political games and simply change the name on the solicitor general’s door.

“New Democrats have been taking the initiative in Surrey to bring forward concrete ideas, and have repeatedly asked the premier to take major steps to end the gun violence in Surrey,” said New Democrat public safety spokesperson Mike Farnworth. “So far, Premier Clark’s only action is to change the name on her solicitor general’s door, and to outright reject our concrete proposals.”

John Horgan and the New Democrats have asked the premier to:

• Live up to the promise of 100 new RCMP officers on the ground in Surrey on top of the reported 30 vacancies. So far 75 have arrived according to the RCMP, meaning Surrey may still be short by up to 55 RCMP officers.
•  Ask the RCMP, as provided for in the 2012 RCMP Agreements, to redeploy resources from throughout the country to respond to the Surrey crisis. The agreement, signed by the B.C. Liberal government, lists “having RCMP members available for redeployment” as a selling point for the deal.
• Call for a dedicated internal RCMP task force to work full time on ending this epidemic of gun violence.

Instead of acting on any of these proposals, the Christy Clark government has simply switched solicitor generals, putting a new face to who’s in charge of her government’s neglect when it comes to Surrey violence.

“The Clark government isn’t there for Surrey and surrounding area residents who have been living with this violence for far too long,” said Farnworth.

To read the original September letter to the premier, click here.