Premier Christy Clark pulled popularly elected municipal politicians – Peter Fassbender from Langley, Marvin Hunt from Surrey, and Scott Hamilton from Delta – to win in the recent provincial election. She was counting on their popularity.
Well, if novice Amrik Virk could win in Surrey-Tynehead, Clark underestimated her strength.
Marvin Hunt’s move out of Surrey council to the B.C. legislature may hurt nobody. Most of Surrey’s councillors have their roots in one party – the Surrey Electors Team. There is no critic, no opposition, no meaningful debates.
The painful process starts now. The public has been handed an unfair fait accompli. The honourable thing for Marvin Hunt to do is what his counterpart Scott Hamilton of Delta North has done: Go on, leave. If Surrey had a ward system, a byelection could easily be called in only one relevant ward instead of a financially monstrous vote in an at-large system as it may require now.
Shan Rana, Surrey