Peace Arch News, March 24, 2015

Tuesday March 24, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 24)

V O I C E

O F

W H I T E

R O C K

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S O U T H

Silver linings: Danika Pasqua and her Surrey Falcon lcon teammates had plenty to celebrate recently, after the female hockey squad uad finished second at the BC Hockey bantam championships in Castlegar. ar. i see page ge 22

S U R R E Y

w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m

Nearby network a ‘one-stop location for those with complex needs’

$24.3M expansion for Surrey courts Lauren Collins Black Press

As first promised by the province last year, Surrey will be receiving a multi-milliondollar expansion to its courthouse, B.C.’s attorney general has announced. At a news conference Thursday in Surrey, B.C. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton confirmed Surrey Provincial Court will undergo a $24.3-million

expansion that will include three additional courtrooms and two more hearing rooms. Construction will start in early 2016 and is set to be completed in 2017. In April 2013, five municipalities, including Surrey, Abbotsford, the City and Township of Langley and Chilliwack, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the province for the provision of more courtrooms over 20 years. The long-term plan

for Surrey includes a total of eight more courtrooms. According to Anton, the top priority was expanding Surrey’s provincial courthouse. The city’s population has grown 60 per cent since 1991 when the courthouse was first built, she said, and is expected to double in the next two decades. “With these kind of numbers come all the benefits and challenges that big cities

encounter,” Anton said. “Some of these challenges involve the justice system, where Surrey’s tremendous population growth has put pressure on the courts. We want to change that.” The Surrey courthouse, which hears a high volume of provincial civil small claims cases, is second only to Vancouver Provincial Court in terms of caseload. i see page 2

Luxury vehicles

Charges in fiery freeway crash Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter

Street-racing charges have been approved against two drivers in connection with a fiery South Surrey crash last December involving a Lamborghini. The charges – announced last week – stem from a Dec. 21 incident on Highway 99 near 152 Street, which police say could easily have ended in tragedy. “Luckily, no one was seriously injured, however, the consequences of such a high-speed collision on a major arterial roadway in our city could have been catastrophic,” Sgt. Dale Carr said in a news release Wednesday afternoon. On the day of the incident, police were called just after 11:30 a.m., after a northbound 2007 Lamborghini Murcielago spun off the road just past the 152 Street overpass and caught fire. When police arrived, firefighters were extinguishing the blaze and the Lamborghini’s occupants were standing nearby unhurt. Occupants of another vehicle, a 2013 Dodge Viper, were also at the scene. i see page 4

ING NN 2nd I G BE RIL 2 AP

Melissa Smalley photo

Bill Vigars speaks to a crowd of more than 100 gathered at city hall Monday to protest White Rock’s privatization of multifamily garbage pickup.

Garbage pickup to become responsibility of stratas on July 1

Condo residents trash city’s decision Melissa Smalley Staff Reporter

More than 100 angry White Rock residents gathered on the lawn of city hall this week to call on the city to rescind its decision to halt to garbage pickup for multifamily homes and businesses. Signs reading ‘Don’t dump us!’ and ‘White Rock Council No Ethics,’ were scattered

throughout the enthusiastic crowd that gathered at noon Monday to call for “transparency, truthfulness and equality for all citizens.” “Today we’re here because city hall does not communicate with the people, they show us no respect and they’re stripping us of our dignity,” rally MC Bill Vigars said. “Today we’re here because city hall is trying to shut down the voices of democracy.”

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The rally was spearheaded by a group of condominium residents who were unhappy with the way city council chose to make changes to the garbage-pickup services. The decision was made at an in-camera meeting in December; the public was informed of the changes – set to take effect July 1 – by a news release the city issued the following month. i see page 4