Peace Arch News, February 24, 2016

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Wednesday February 24, 2016 (Vol. 41 No. 15)

V O I C E

O F

W H I T E

R O C K

A N D

S O U T H

Dogged pursuit: After losing their beloved family pooches to old age, a South Surrey couple has found a new way in retirement to fulfil their love of four-legged friends. i see page 17

S U R R E Y

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Conservative MP focuses on freight, access and erosion on Semiahmoo Peninsula route

Rail safety – not relocation – on agenda Alex Browne Staff Reporter

MP Dianne Watts has won a call for a federal study of the safety of the BNSF line through White Rock and South Surrey – but acknowledges relocation of the contentious waterfront route is on a back burner for now. The South Surrey-White Rock MP’s motion was approved in Ottawa Monday, by the Standing Committee for Transport,

Infrastructure and Communities. Watts, Conservative critic for infrastructure and communities, confirmed that consideration of relocating the railway inland is not on the table at present. “We are not discussing the realignment at this time,� the former Surrey mayor told Peace Arch News by email Tuesday. “It is about rail safety and the access to Crescent Beach and the erosion of the foreshore. That

is the priority at this point in time.� Relocating the rail line inland has long been discussed by local politicians, including Watts during her three terms as mayor prior to her election as MP last fall. Watts told PAN the scope of the study would be determined by the committee at its next meeting and that she expected witnesses would be called “in the near future.� In the motion passed by the committee,

Watts outlined long-standing issues about the line, including increased freight traffic, the carrying of dangerous goods, population density near the tracks, soil erosion and landslides during periods of heavy rainfall and environmental concerns. She also highlighted lack of emergency access to Crescent Beach when a train is blocking the road crossings, citing a major i see page 4

Gord Goble photos

Friends, family and supporters of Hudson Brooks – including (below) mother Jennifer and brother Beau – call for justice, during a march along 152 Street in South Surrey Sunday.

Community rallies seven months after man was shot dead outside South Surrey police station

Our leaders haven’t reached out to me: mother Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter

Seven months after the shooting death of her son outside the South Surrey RCMP office, Jennifer Brooks says it’s time to put pressure for answers on local politicians. “Where are our leaders?� Brooks said Monday, the morning after leading a march in memory of her son, Hudson. Brooks said she has heard nothing from Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner or Surrey-White Rock MLA Gordon Hogg in the months since Hud-

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son, 20, was killed. “Our son was shot down in the streets of Surrey – they haven’t reached out to me. “Where is the compassion? A young man loses his life and we’re not contacted.� Hudson was fatally shot by police last July 18, in an early morning altercation outside the district police office; an officer was also wounded. No specifics of what transpired have been publicly disclosed, though officials with the Independent Investigation Office – which investigates police-involved incidents that

result in serious injury or death – confirmed shortly after the shooting that only police-issue weapons were found at the scene. Monday, Hepner declined to comment on the matter to Peace Arch News, citing the ongoing IIO investigation; Hogg’s office responded that he is out of the country until Friday. IIO spokesman Marten Youssef said by email that his office still awaits “third-party� reports. “However, our investigation is fully underway to ensure that when these reports come back to i see page 4

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