Surrey mayoral candidates take aim at incumbent mayor Brenda Locke during lively debate

All of Surrey’s mayoral candidates were on hand for a debate Wednesday night, with most taking aim at the incumbent mayor.

The Surrey and White Rock Board of Trade, along with the South Asian Business Association, hosted the debate in a packed room of residents at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel.

After the prepared questions, candidates were able to ask one candidate one question of their choosing, with most choosing to question Surrey Connect leader and incumbent mayor Brenda Locke.

Conservative candidate Honveer Singh Randhawa asked Locke about a recent election sign controversy that attracted the attention of several candidates. Some, including Randhawa, claimed Locke’s signs were being placed on public property, which is against bylaw.

“When the bylaws were called by many people, they haven’t acted on taking your boards down. Are you taking advantage over other candidates during this election and is that fair?” he asked.

Locke denied the charge, saying she has only placed signs on private property with the land owner’s permission.

“Every time we put a board up, I’ve noticed you put a board up on that same piece of property, and that goes for many, many of the people sitting up here,” Locke said. “I know the one you’re talking about, and all the boards were taken down except for mine because it was on … a private homeowner’s property. He took the boards down.”

Candidate Mike Starchuk asked Locke what partners she has secured for the city for her plan to make an ice arena in City Centre.

“As anybody knows, with private enterprise, you do not disclose until both partners are ready for that disclosure, Mike. It would be highly inappropriate for the city to do that,” Locke said.

The questions to Locke kept coming, with Troy Van Vliet from Surrey Now asking if she wanted to fire the Surrey police chief when she was first elected.

Van Vliet earlier blamed former police chief Norm Lipinski’s termination on Locke.

“When I was elected, I ran on a platform to keep the RCMP inserted. There was no question about that,” she responded. “We got the vote to keep the RCMP in Surrey, not one-time, not two times, not three, four times. When we got that vote, of course, we’re not going to keep two police chiefs. That would be rather silly, wouldn’t it, Mr. Van Vliet? So obviously, the police chief would not be staying because the goal was to keep the RCMP.”

Former mayor Doug McCallum, meanwhile, asked Locke why she chose to close Fraser Downs in Cloverdale, ending horse racing there after 50 years. McCallum claimed the closure meant the loss of jobs for thousands of people.

But Locke claimed there were “very few” jobs at Fraser Downs that were impacted and horse racing was not very popular, adding that the site could be better utilized.

Candidates were asked questions on Surrey’s biggest issues, involving public safety, housing, transportation and permit wait times. Most regurgitated their platforms, including how many police officers each candidate would hire, what sort of transit infrastructure they supported and by how much they’ll reduce permit wait times for homes and businesses.