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The Surrey Civic Coalition supports a Wards system in Surrey and believes voters should have the choice.

With more than 400,000 people in Surrey, the current at-large electoral system is ineffective and the majority of existing City Councillors represent only one part of the City. This has resulted in consistent complaints from Surrey citizens who feel their city council is not accessible to regular citizens.

The Surrey Civic Coalition believes fair, balanced representation on Council can be achieved with a a Wards system. With a Wards system, each community in Surrey would have a voice on Council. Ward Councillors will be accessible and accountable for all issues faced by that particular local community.  Although each Councillor will be elected to represent a specific area, Councillors will continue to work collectively for the greater good of Surrey city-wide.

Currently, only one-third of the population votes and based on 2005 elections, a candidate needs about 25,000 votes to be elected. This gives huge advantages to candidates who are incumbents and have name recognition. As well, it is challenging for a strong candidate to run an election campaign city-wide unless they are part of a political party that has huge financial backing, most often from the development industry.

The Wards system will encourage more candidates to come forward, more community involvement, and will likely increase voter turnout. The community will have a better chance to get to know the candidates running in their area and the all-candidate meetings would have a reasonable number of candidates, as opposed to 20 to 40 candidates running city-wide, none of whom are afforded an opportunity to leave an impression.

There are electoral districts at the Federal and Provincial governments level; why not at the Civic level?

Surrey and Vancouver are the only two major cities in Canada without a Wards system. This system is democratic and has proven its success elsewhere. Therefore the SCC supports a Wards system for Surrey.

A “straight” Wards system would have a number of Councillors representing dedicated areas in Surrey. (we suggest eight would be appropriate, and boundaries could be established along provincial boundaries). A “mixed” Wards system would have the addition of at-large Councillors who would serve the entire city.

The Surrey Civic Coalition would like the public to decide: 1) whether they want a Wards system or not  2) whether they want a straight Wards system or mixed.

SCC incumbent Councillor Bob Bose, brought forward the issues of Wards at a City Council meeting and proposed the Wards question should appear on the November 15 election ballot as a referendum question. His motion was defeated eight to one. The other City Councillors claimed the public wasn’t educated enough on the subject to make a good decision.

The Surrey Civic Coalition wants the public to decide whether they’d like to implement a Wards system, or not.  But the current City Council does not want to give the public that opportunity. Surrey citizens should be consulted on matters such as the Wards system and they should have the right to decide whether they want it or not.

Quick Facts:

- six out of eight Councillors live in South Surrey or White Rock
- Only about one-third of Surrey electors vote
- Surrey and Vancouver are the only 2 major cities in Canada that do not have a Wards system
- Surrey had a Wards system in the past

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