Despite being banned from Surrey Canada Day event, volunteers grab 2,000+ signatures in support of RCMP

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Despite being barred from having a booth at Surrey’s Canada Day event, volunteers spent the day garnering support to keep RCMP.

Merle Scott and her husband are head of the campaign, and collected 2,655 signatures from people attending the festivities.

She says when they attempted to enter the site, her husband, Ivan, was held back by security, saying their signs and banners weren’t welcome.

“They said no, he’s not allowed in with his petition boards, or anything to get signatures,” she says. “Ivan just said to them, I’m allowed to be here. I’m going. I’m walking through. And that’s exactly what he did.”

Scott says the support from those at the event shows people don’t want a municipal police force.

“It’s not hard getting signatures. People were just coming up, lining up to sign. People are really annoyed and ticked off, why is our taxpayer money getting paid for something we already have?”

Support wasn’t just seen at the event.

“There are so many people out there, we got home to messages from people on the phone from people saying I’m sorry I couldn’t come, where can I come and sign, where are you going to be next?”

In total, the campaign has raised more than 6,000 signatures to date which will be sent off to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, who is overseeing Surrey’s transition to a municipal police force.

The City of Surrey had said booths and activities at the Canada Day event were to “focus on family activities and community celebrations”, and that the event did not “include any booths with political messaging or canvassing of event attendees on-site.”