Mayor Brenda Locke
SURREY – Surrey City Council is taking a decisive step in addressing ongoing governance concerns within the Metro Vancouver Board by unanimously approving a motion to withdraw from the Metro 2050 Regional Growth Strategy. Councillor Pardeep Kooner tabled the motion at Monday’s Regular Council Meeting, driven by significant apprehensions around the efficacy and equity of regional strategies that do not align with Surrey’s priorities.
“Today, we are standing up for the interests of Surrey residents,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “The Metro 2050 strategy imposes unfair costs and expectations on our community, which do not reflect the unique needs of our growing city or Surrey Council’s vision for our city. It’s time for us to take action, ensuring that local governance truly serves our residents.”
Coun. Kooner’s motion cites several critical issues with the Metro 2050 plan, including a misalignment between the strategies contained within it and the city’s own vision, along with a lack of emphasis on fostering healthy human settlements that make efficient use of public resources.
“This motion focuses on fairness and equity, as Metro 2025 places an undue burden on our residents while failing to deliver equivalent benefits,” stated Kooner. “The City of Surrey is dedicated to ensuring that our residents have access to the services and resources they rightfully deserve, without facing an unreasonable financial strain.”
Surrey Directors on the Metro Vancouver Board have been raising the issue of cost, equity, accountability, governance and scope creep of MVRD.
“Surrey and some other cities, predominantly South Fraser, have stressed that MVRD move to delivering the core functions of water, sewer and solid waste cost effectively, keeping taxpayers at the forefront of decision-making,” noted Mayor Locke. “To address this, it is my intention to coordinate a South Fraser Summit to bring Mayors, Council members and Senior Management together. This summit will determine next steps in ensuring regional service and corresponding costs to our taxpayer are fairly allocated. By working collaboratively, I hope we can bring greater balance, transparency and equitable service delivery by MVRD to all of our communities, in particular South of the Fraser River, without unfair financial strain on our residents.”
Surrey staff have been directed to organize this summit, aiming for constructive discussions that will lead to more equitable regional governance.
Source: City of Surrey
