Surrey council is expected to ask the provincial government to set up a “cohesive” B.C.-wide strategy to tackle catalytic converter theft throughout the province.
A notice of motion, to be voted on at council’s Sept. 25 meeting, was presented by Mayor Brenda Locke on Monday, Sept. 11. It notes there is “currently an absence of robust province-wide regulations to address the problem” and calls for a “legislative framework” to deal with catalytic converter theft.
In April council tweaked the city’s Scrap Metal Dealer Regulation Bylaw, Business License Bylaw and Surrey Municipal Ticket Information Utilization Bylaw and Surrey Bylaw Notice Enforcement Bylaw in an effort to curb local thefts. Among actions taken were to raise the maximum fines under the scrap metal bylaw to $50,000 from $10,000.
Surrey’s plan was conceived in January, when catalytic converter theft was significantly on the rise and made up almost 45 per cent of thefts from autos in this city.
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Monday’s notice of motion asks city staff to discuss with the provincial government the possibility of enacting provincial legislation to “combat catalytic converter thefts throughout the province.”
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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