NDP MLAs meet to discuss crime in Surrey

Well this shatters another sterotype. NDP Leader Adrian Dix, along with Surrey MLAs Harry Bains, Sue Hammell and Bruce Ralston met in Newton today to propose strategies to address challenges facing Surrey that support progress towards a safer, healthier community.

The stereotype is that the right cares about crime and fiscal responsibility while the left doesn't. However, we are now seeing the opposite. Bruce Ralston has always shown up at meetings in Surrey where the public have gathered to express their concerns about crime in Surrey. Penny Priddy and Sue Hammel were at Dianne Watts crime prevention coalition meeting when Dianne Watts was first elected and promised us the moon.

I spoke with Penny Priddy at that previous meeting and was mentioning my past affiliations with some trade unions. She just raised her hand in the air for me to stop and said I am here today as a mother who cares about crime in her community just like any other parent. When it comes to crime, I'm more right wing then my political opponents. Even Adrian Dix was concerned about crime in his community when a mugger was targeting older Asian woman at the 29th Street Sky Train Station in his riding years ago. Harry Baines was at the recent rally in Newton.

No doubt politicians will exploit opportunities to promote themselves. Just look at the Party Quebecquois in Quebec. They supported all the striking University students when they were in the opposition, then turned around and did the exact same thing the ruling party did when they were in power. The kids were all left saying wft. Yet saying something about crime when it is a public concern is better than saying nothing or in Dianne Watts' case saying it's not my fault and not my problem. That sure isn't what she said when she ran against Doug McCallum. Quite the opposite.

This is what was said at today's Press Conference:

Today three Surrey MLA's held a press conference at the Newton Cultural Centre along with opposition leader Adrian Dix to launch their proposals to help reduce crime in Newton called the Surrey Accord. There was no mudslinging, name calling or finger pointing. They simply raised some very constructive ideas to help address the increased crime in Surrey.

Harry Baines stepped up to the plate and talked about how under Wally Oppal there was a lot of talk about establishing a Surrey Community court to help expedite the overloaded court system but nothing ever happened with it. He said he felt that was a good idea that should be followed up on.

Sue Hammel raised the very real concern about the deregulation of recovery homes. That was done ten years ago and that has created a huge problem with shady business owners running recovery homes and exploiting the patients. There was media coverage about that in the past. It is a huge problem that has progressively gotten worse. Once again, people's complaints about the problem have been falling on death ears. She was told there are at least 67 unregistered recovery homes in surrey. I think everyone would agree that helping people get off drugs is a good thing. The problem is the deregulation of these homes which has seen drugs turn up in the homes where tax payers are once again getting fleeced while patients are getting exploited.

This was a very positive, proactive proposal. Sadly, the first question from the media scrum was where is the money going to come from for all this? In fact that was the second and third question as well. In fact the third person that asked the question would not let up. The question got answered and they kept asking it again. It was pathetic to see journalists feeding stereotypes.

Finally I asked Sue Hammel, as a former city councilor how she felt about the new $59 million City Hall being built after 19 million was just spent on upgrading the old city hall. I find out now that it's much more than $59 million. Everyone claims the NDP like to tax and spend but you mentioned priorities, isn't that an example of missmanaged priorities in government spending?

Brunce Ralstron answered the question claiming he was the one that used to be on city council. Actually I has Sue Hammel mixed up with Penny Priddy who used to be on Surrey City council then became an MLA. Bruce was very positive and said he supporting business development in the City Centre and talked about SFU and other projects which I also support. He said as for the city spending that's best brought up with the City itself. No doubt but it is a huge concern with voters in Surrey. Especially when the price tag for the new city hall that we dont need is much more than $59 million. Everyone claims the NDP will tax and spend but Dianne Watts is doing a great job of that herself only she's not spending it on police. Global, The Globe and Mail as well as the Vancouver Province are also reporting on the press conference.

Deregulation of recovery homes has been a disaster and is a huge concern. It's like deregulating the banks which opened the door for banking fraud that caused the S&L crisis in the States. Or how deregulating Wall Street opened the floodgates wide open for investment fraud which taxpayers had to bail out. Fraud caused the Greek financial crisis. Deregulation results in increased crime and increased costs to tax payers. Sue Hammel made a good point. I don't care what party she is from. We need to set the left and right stereotypes aside. We all care about crime and fiscal responsibility. It's time we did something about it.

Save the trees

Evidenty they are eagerly butchering the trees in Newton today. I know some people made a call for them to cut down the trees in Newton after the brutal murder of a hockey mom there but we really need to rethink that one. Whenever there is a high crime area cutting back underbrush and adding extra lighting is always a good proactive form of crime prevention. However, these are a tiny pocket of old cedar trees. I really don't think we want to remove them.. They add a sense of serenity to the area.

Grand Central Park in New York City was at one time famous for crime and muggings. The New York Model didn't involve clear cutting the park. It involved arresting the drug dealers that was causing all the associated violence. If we cut down every tree in Surrey, that will not stop any crime there as long as we let drug dealers sell drugs in public. We need to cut out the crack dealers not cut down the trees.

Charges laid in 2012 Kamloops murder

The Vancouver Province is reporting that charges have been laid in the 2012 Kamloops murder of 16 year old C.J. Fowler. "Damien Lawrence Taylor, 22, has been charged with murder. Taylor had been dating Fowler at the time of her death. The two were both from the Terrace area, and had traveled to Kamloops to meet friends. Summer Star Elizabeth Krista-Lee Fowler, a member of the Gitanmaax First Nation, was last seen leaving a Kamloops hospital in the early morning of Dec. 5, 2012, and walking down a street to catch a bus back to Terrace."

Kamloops this week posted a picture of the girl and the accused. Last seen walking home from the hospital? Another tragic case of domestic violence. I'm concerned that the first homicide of the year in Surrey will slip through the cracks like the Jammie Keyhoe murder and the Kyle Yellowbird murder. That would be the third obscene travesty of justice in Surrey.

The name of the 19 year old woman that fell from the Tower in Surrey 1:00 AM New Years Day was Maurine Arogie. There have been several reports that the police were responding to a 911 domestic assault call when she fell to her death. There have been reports that the police had visited the apartment before for domestic violence calls. The Surrey Leader reported that Maurine had called her father earlier saying she was being beaten. A family member then called the Surrey RCMP.

On the initial post one blog reader was quite rude and was sluffing the case off as a suicide. I deleted the comment because I don't want to entertain that kind of offensive disrespect. I saw the sorrow in her fathers eyes the next morning when he came to see the spot where his daughter died. He was a good man who genuinely cared about his daughter. The sorrow in his eyes haunts me like the expression on Britney Irving's face when she was found dead from being shot in the back by someone she cared about and trusted. It takes me time to process those kind of images.

I'm going to post the follow up interview with Kerri Krysko and take some time off. I still have to catch up on stories from Victoria and PEI but with all these murders it's easy to become desensitized to the tragic senselessness of it all. These aren't numbers these are people. Lives cut short. Families left to mourn. Something has been taken from them that can never be returned. Life does not end at death and justice will not sleep forever. Yet I want to take some time to pause and emphasize the brutality of murder and once again point to a much better place. I'm working on another story that will become the climax of the kaleidoscope for the Surrey Winterfest. Peace.

Tax payers getting scammed

Front page of today's' Vancouver Province was an interesting article that claims: "In sophisticated frauds, a number of provincial government workers have teamed up with dodgy businesses and contractors to steal from you, the taxpayer.

"The government has so heavily obscured these files, Bateman said, that it is impossible to know how much money was stolen in these cases, how many public servants are guilty, and what consequences they face. In The Province’s estimation, more than 20 public servants are implicated in these schemes, and not a single identity is revealed."

This is really serious and really important. Let us not forget that according to Al Martin investment fraud was used as a way to raise funds for Iran contra. Let us not forget that as we saw in Operation Fast and Furious, the Iran contra scams never stopped. Just look at the Wall Street bailout and the Greek financial crisis. These were the result of fraud that stole from taxpayers at an unprecedented level. Just like the Canadian bank bailout they didn't need and deny happened.

Tax dollars spent on advertizing is another huge concern. It's called propaganda.

Harper government spent $2.5M on ads for non-existent Canada Job Grant.

Richmond Homicide

The Richmond Review is confirming a scan BC report a blog reader sent in about Richmond RCMP investigating a homicide after a male was found dead in the driveway of a house at 8300 Steveston Hwy. CTV is also reporting on the incident. In addition, Vancouver Police are on scene at 429 W Pender St with 1 male stabbed in the chest and a second male shot.

Red Scorpions still in Business

The recent murder of a member of the Red Scorpions in Abbotsford has been fairly big news. However, it certainly doesn't sound like they're done regardless of their ridiculous red lobster logo and their unpopular affiliation with the Bacon brothers.

Kim Bolan reported that another member of the Red Scorpions was arrested on Vancouver Island after he left a meeting with a few Red Scorpion associates in Mission the day after the murder. In October CBC reported that 5 tied to the Red Scorpions were arrested in a Nanaimo drug bust on the Island. They were caught with crack, heroin and crystal meth.

The Nanaimo Daily news pointed out that was the second bust that year involving the Red Scorpions in Nanaimo forcing them to conclude that the Red Scorpions are still in business for the Hells Angels of course. The Red Scorpions have new aprons now instead of support shirts.

News from Mexico

Two kinda stranger stories from Mexico. First there's the group of armed vigilantes seize a town outside Acapulco and arrest local police officers after the leader of the vigilante group was murdered and dumped in the street. It sounds like a complete mess.I can understand the local concerns. Mexico is in chaos right now with the brutal violence related to the drug cartels fighting each other. The same cartels that the US government supplied in Operation Fast and Furious and the HSBC were laundering drug money for.

Equally absurd is the fact that heavily armed marines and government tax agents stormed eight marinas on Mexico's Pacific and Caribbean coasts and initiated seizure orders against 338 boats it accused of lacking a $70 permit. The office says it has four months to decide whether to release the boards or sell them at auction. These weren't boats that had drugs on them, they were tourists who didn't have some crazy permit. You can't get any more corrupt then that. I guess when you look at the rest of the world things here don't seem so bad after all.

Being Uncle Charlie: A Life Undercover with Killers, Kingpins, Bikers and Druglords

Former OPP undercover police officer Bob Deasey has put out a new book called Being Uncle Charlie: A Life Undercover with Killers, Kingpins, Bikers and Druglords available on Amazon. I understand he will be in Vancouver on January 20th and 21st to promote his book.

I understand the book is mostly set in Ontario which would give a good background into the Hells Angels / Outlaws struggle for the drug trade there and the respective alliances with various other mafia groups which as we see are also tied to the Montreal violence.

In Chapter 11 Outlaw Bikers, he states "For people who don’t live in Canada, it’s hard to convey the significance of outlaw biker gangs and the criminal influence they exert here. A biker gang like the Hells Angels is quite possibly the most efficient criminal organization in the history of the world. Their presence in Canada is ubiquitous, which means that they show up in almost every project I’ve ever been a part of."

One old timer who opposed the Para-Dice Riders patch over who had been a biker his whole life, tried to tell the younger guys they had no idea what they were in for; once the HA rolls in. He said it’s all about them and not about you. Very true as we see the slash and burn trail of people they have used and tossed aside like an old shoe.

For me, the most important thing about this book is how it explains the inner working of the Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit which has been very active and successful in dealing with the drug trade associated with the Hells Angels in Ontario. One of the things he says is that a constable walking a beat will get to know his constituency. I cannot emphasize how true and how important that statement really is.

That is one practice the RCMP have generally abandoned. Back in England Bobbies walk the beat. That historical tradition is longstanding. It is the most proactive form of crime prevention known to man. If a drug dealer is selling drugs outside a business and refuses to leave, watch what happens when a cop stands on the corner beside him making a note of every car that drives up and person that talks to him. It makes a huge difference.

I remember one law enforcement officer explaining that the RCMP changed that tradition and adapted a new reactive policy. They distanced themselves from the public and became reactionary. They storm in after the fact to deal with the emergency and then remove themselves from the scene. It's kind of the robocop mentality. Personally I think it's a tragic policy change that weakens public trust as well as police effectiveness. Walking the beat is a good thing. I have seen it work.

You get to know the public and they begin to trust you. If you're not an arrogant prick that is and you do in fact build a relationship of trust with the people you serve. Once that trust is established and maintained, crime is dealt with much more effectively. An increased police presence in Newton and outside the Front Room would do wonders at curbing the drug trade there and the subsequent trickle down violence it creates all over the city.

Alex Tsakumis called Barinder Rasode a whore

On a matter of personal privileged, I will clarify that Alex Tsakumis did indeed call Barinder Rasode a whore. That is a true statement. He defamed her. In my opinion he is a bully because not only did he refuse to apologize for making the statement, he boldy wrote into the paper saying he stands by what he said. I guess since his facebook contains adult content he's going to need to put a Warning attack poodle sign on it. Say Hi to Cameron Ward for me. He did a great job with the Pickton file. He and Grant are getting erroneously sued for defamation by yet another bully.



Step Back Baby G - Let's give it up for New York.

Newton Rally

There was a noon rally at the Newton Exchange today in Surrey in response to the increased crime and the murder of a hockey mom in the area. This one was planned by a regular citizen who said it was the first time she ever planned a rally. Several local residents are concerned about the increased crime in their neighbourhood.



Many local residents expressed their concerns about the cost of the new extravagant city hall and think it's a waste of tax dollars compared to proper policing.



I spoke with Harry Baines and I think I saw Barinder Rasode trying to be inconspicuous.



This stalwart longtime resident of Newton sporting the latest Surrey Shirts design had a lot of concerns about political corruption and was very informed. Surrey Strong is a positive message from people who care about their community.