Light-rail communications plan sparks concern in Surrey
Elections B.C. will be keeping an eye on whether activities outlined in the City of Surrey’s light-rail communications plan and expected to take place before the Oct. 20 municipal election could qualify as third-party election advertising.
This comes after members of the Safe Surrey Coalition, which is running council candidates in the election, raised “grave” concerns that the plan could violate B.C.’s Local Elections Campaign Financing Act.
Doug McCallum, who is running for mayor, and Bableen Rana, a councillor candidate, want the communications plan to be put on hold and thoroughly reviewed.
“The preservation of impartiality of staff is in question here and the perceived interference by (the) city and TransLink raises serious concerns regarding bias and interference in the election,” they said in a media release.
The Safe Surrey Coalition election platform opposes the construction of the planned and financed Surrey-Newton-Guildford light-rail line, and calls for it to be scrapped in favour of a SkyTrain line to Langley.
In an email, Elections B.C. spokesman Andrew Watson said they were aware of the situation in Surrey and were following up with the city and TransLink about their planned communications activities related to LRT.
“If their activities meet the definition of third-party election advertising, they will be required to register as thirdparty advertising sponsors,” Watson said.
Under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, third-party election advertising is defined as “the transmission of a communication to the public during the campaign period that directly or indirectly promotes or opposes a candidate or elector organization, including a communication that takes a position on an issue associated with a candidate or elector organization.”
A memo written by the city’s general manager of engineering, Fraser Smith, lays out a light-rail project communications plan that was “prepared in anticipation of an official project announcement and kick-off in early September 2018.” Such an event took place with Premier John Horgan and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sept. 4.
The plan was intended to cover the six-year period between August 2018 and the line’s expected opening in 2024. The memo said the goals of the plan were to inform about the LRT project status, details and timeline; educate about the need, benefits, technology and how it works; reassure about key concerns such as safety and congestion/traffic management; counter misinformation; and engage the community. Raising awareness, support and confidence were listed as desired outcomes.
The memo talks about a draft 90-day plan, which outlines the activities anticipated to take place in August, September and October. The activities could be undertaken by the city alone or in partnership with TransLink.
Activities include, social media engagement, event kiosks, stakeholder meetings, community celebrations, a media blitz, speeches and presentations.
The city had initially planned to produce “rack cards” that gave reasons “Why LRT is the right choice for Surrey,” and touted the system as quieter, cheaper and less environmentally and visually intrusive than SkyTrain, but after further review that part of the plan was scrapped, according to Jaime Boan, Surrey’s manager of transportation.
Boan said the city and TransLink staff have had discussions with Elections B.C. and believe all of the public outreach and engagement in the communications plan complies with the regulations and does not qualify as thirdparty advertising.
“As we continue to inform the public about this exciting project, we will ensure that we comply,” he said.