Latest news with #LindaAnnis
CTV News
6 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
‘Pie in the sky': Critics question Surrey mayor's plan for 10,000-seat area
Critics are raising concerns about Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke's plans for a 10,000-seat arena in the city's downtown core, arguing residents' tax dollars could be better spent elsewhere. Plans for the 'world-class' facility were highlighted in Locke's State of the City address last month, when the mayor pitched the arena as a cornerstone of a new entertainment district for Surrey. Coun. Pardeep Kooner, from Locke's Surrey Connect party, said it's time the city had an area akin to Vancouver's bustling Granville Street. 'The property taxes that would come in from those businesses would be huge for the city,' Kooner told CTV News. But not everyone is sold on the idea. Surrey First Coun. Linda Annis said there are more pressing issues for elected representatives to address, and questioned the viability of the project. 'It's just pie in the sky,' Annis said. 'We don't have funding in place. Over the next five years, we've got $4 million only set aside, and we don't have an anchor tenant. I think we need to be investing in more recreation centres rather than projects like this.' Surrey has not provided a cost estimate for the arena, but Annis estimated it would be well over half a billion dollars. 'When you look at the cost of the Newton Rec Centre, which is going to be over $300 million, it would be safe to say that a 10,000-seat arena would be at least twice that,' she said. The Canadian Taxpayers' Federation agreed the funding would be better spent on smaller community projects, such as parks and playgrounds. 'Every dollar that goes toward this stadium is a dollar that's not going toward essentials for taxpayers. It's money that's not going toward cutting taxes to make life more affordable,' said Carson Binda, the CTF's B.C. director. Kooner noted that the city is asking for provincial and federal funding, as well as corporate sponsorships, to help deliver the project without the need for a property tax increase for residents. 'There is no way we want this stadium to affect people's property tax bill,' she added. There has also been tension between Surrey and the B.C. government since Locke took office, with a protracted battle over the city's policing transition ending on bitter terms. Surrey Connect expects to have an update on the feasibility of the arena by the end of 2025.
CBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Metro Vancouver councillors call for better oversight after alleged misspending and fraud
A Surrey, B.C., councillor is calling for more oversight of city finances in light of allegations that a finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million. Coun. Linda Annis said she wants the city to hire an independent auditor general. "It's very critical," Annis said. "The expertise that comes with an auditor general will go a long way to ensuring our taxpayers can have confidence in how city hall is managing and protecting their tax dollars." Annis first put forward the idea of an auditor general in 2021 and is revisiting it in light of a police investigation into allegations that a former City of Surrey finance clerk defrauded the city of more than $2.5 million by cutting hundreds of cheques to accounts associated with herself and her boutique cake baking business. According to a search warrant obtained by CBC News, the woman — who the CBC is not naming as she has not been charged — quit her job in the finance department in January 2024 after she was questioned about what appeared to be a forged signature on some paperwork. That irregularity allegedly led to the discovery of 183 fraudulent cheques written out to the woman's former legal name, her mother and her side business — drawing on funds kept in accounts that had been dormant for years. A warrant issued in March to search the woman's work computer claims Kam Grewal, the City of Surrey's chief financial officer, told police the woman "had been committing fraud since 2017, by exploiting her position and had defrauded the city of more than $2 million." Annis said cities that have an auditor general, like Vancouver and Toronto, "generally do find significant savings and waste through the processes." "I want to make sure we have the best policies and procedures in place now and going forward," Annis said. Coun. Pardeep Kooner, who chairs the audit committee, dismissed Annis's call for an independent auditor general, saying Surrey already has its finances scrutinized by an internal audit and compliance manager. "I'm not sure why we would spend close to $300,000 when we have two positions — one filled, one open — for internal audit," Kooner said. Metro Vancouver area councillors call for more provincial oversight Other city councillors in the Metro Vancouver area say they want the province to boost oversight of municipal spending following revelations of a police investigation into alleged misuse of a city hall gift card program in Richmond, B.C. Richmond's Kash Heed, New Westminster's Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas, and Burnaby's Richard Lee co-signed an open letter to Premier David Eby urging the province to either reinstate an office to oversee municipal spending or expand the mandate of B.C.'s auditor general to include municipal and regional government expenditures. B.C.'s Office of the Auditor General for Local Government stopped operations in 2021. Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province has no plans to revive the office. "At this point we're not bringing in additional measures," he said. Kahlon said that in the cases of Surrey and Richmond "the system is what caught the issue and brought it to light." Heed disputes that, saying Richmond's gift card controversy only came to light after reporting by Global News. "The minister might want to check his facts," Heed said. The City of Richmond said it purchased approximately $446,000 worth of gift cards from 2022 to 2024 as part of an employee recognition program, but found in a recent review that around $295,000 of them were unaccounted for. Richmond RCMP's serious crimes section is investigating. "We would be investing multimillion dollars to set up a system — that would cost a lot of money to the province — in the case of Richmond, to identify where $300,000 went," Kahlon said. Heed says it's much larger than $300,000, pointing to cost overruns at the Metro Vancouver waste water treatment plant, with a price tag that has ballooned to $4 billion. "This is the taxpayers' money," Heed said. "They want some confidence it's being handled with some accountability." Kahlon said "we know there's oversight needed," which is why the province requires local governments to make public their audited financials every year. Michael Favere-Marchesi, an associate professor of accounting and auditing at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business, said a provincial auditor general for local governments must be notified of any financial irregularities, which is why a robust internal audit system is preferable. "My preference is always to have a city auditor because they get very familiar with all of the operations of the city," he said. Favere-Marchesi said a provincial auditor, by contrast, is brought in on a case-by-case basis and lacks the expertise about each municipality.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
New waterfront entertainment district in Surrey, B.C., could be gateway to city, supporters say
The City of Surrey is undertaking a feasibility study on a new waterfront entertainment district near the entrance to the city by the Pattullo Bridge. Currently, a small area near the bridge linking Surrey and New Westminster, B.C., has two city parks, a trailer park, and industrial areas — with landowners that include the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and CN Rail. A city staff report asked for a consultant to look at the feasibility of a waterfront entertainment district there, including restaurants, shops, park and plaza areas "to create a memorable gateway into Surrey." It passed council last Monday. Proponents of the plan say the waterfront district would be fitting for the rapidly growing city, B.C.'s second-largest by population, which is set to outpace Vancouver in population over the next decade. "Surrey will soon be the biggest city in British Columbia ... and we don't have any really iconic place for people to go and to, you know, spend their leisure time, and this will be that," said Coun. Linda Annis. Annis said the feasibility study would look to speak to all the stakeholders involved, including residents of the RV park and the federal and provincial governments, but called the proposal "great news for the City of Surrey." A city spokesperson says the comprehensive feasibility study would look to properly define the geographic area of the waterfront district, and is expected to be complete next year. "Surrey has some great parks and public spaces," the spokesperson wrote. "A waterfront district could complement these existing amenities with a landmark type waterfront destination that could blend with active industry such as Granville Island or North Vancouver Shipyards, creating a more memorable gateway into Surrey from across the Fraser River." Plan could face opposition The plan could face opposition, with the port authority indicating in the staff report that it would prefer land adjacent to the port to be designated for industrial use only. In addition, hundreds of people live at the trailer park within the study area, which is close to the Scott Road SkyTrain station and between Brownsville Bar and Tannery parks. The city spokesperson said that the trailer park site was currently zoned for tourist accommodation, and any changes would require rezoning on the part of the landowner. It said the public would have an opportunity to weigh in on any rezoning of the site at council, and residents there may have rights under the provincial Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act when it comes to tenant compensation. Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University's City Program, said that Surrey was a city that could afford to have several more public spaces, and the proposal spoke to the "urban ambitions" of the city's residents and council. However, he cautioned that there were already issues in the area regarding flooding and said it was important for the city to engage with residents before proceeding. "With the latest provincial guidelines, there are some sizeable, I think, challenges towards ... developing infrastructure, developing a road network that is, I think, really meant to move the amount of people that would not be possible now," he said.
