Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke criticizes Metro Vancouver governance reforms as inadequate

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says Metro Vancouver's decision to reduce the size of its governance board does not address what she describes as longstanding inequities in the regional voting system.

According to a statement from Locke, Metro Vancouver's decision to reduce the number of board directors from 45 to 34 will make the board smaller but will not resolve what she called an unfair distribution of voting power. She said the Village of Belcarra, with a population of fewer than 1,000 residents, holds one full vote on the board, while Surrey, despite having a population hundreds of times larger and continuing to grow rapidly, has only 29 votes, which she argued does not reflect its share of the region's population.

Locke said the governance model should provide representation that more accurately reflects the communities served by Metro Vancouver. She also criticized the regional district over what she described as unnecessary spending and duplication of services, alleging the organization has failed to address those issues effectively.

The mayor said Metro Vancouver should remain focused on its core responsibilities and should not interfere with Surrey's development priorities. She added that she will continue advocating for governance reforms that she believes are necessary to ensure fair representation.