Surrey council directed city staff on Monday to ask the provincial government to bring forward legislation to B次元官网网址渃ombatB次元官网网址� catalytic converter theft throughout B.C.
Mayor Brenda Locke brought the motion forward on Sept. 11 and council voted in support of it on Oct. 16.
The mayor noted there is B次元官网网址渃urrently an absence of robust province-wide regulations to address the problemB次元官网网址� and called for a B次元官网网址渓egislative frameworkB次元官网网址� to deal with it.
In April council tweaked the cityB次元官网网址檚 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.
SurreyB次元官网网址檚 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.
Coun. Doug Elford told council he B次元官网网址減ersonally chased a guy down the street stealing a catalytic converterB次元官网网址� from his neighbour. B次元官网网址淚t can be done easily on bikes, very quick and very painful to the victims so I fully support this motion, but knowing how the Province works it may sort of drag this out and IB次元官网网址檓 wondering if we have done something or we can do something within our own bylaws to assist, just expedite things.B次元官网网址�
Acting city manager Rob Costanzo replied that city bylaws were amended earlier in the year to B次元官网网址渁ddress the situation.
B次元官网网址淭he issue beyond our municipal borders would require the municipalities to enact similar bylaws which could be very difficult given the vast number of municipalities beyond Surrey,B次元官网网址� Costanzo said. B次元官网网址淪o the concern is you can steal a catalytic converter in Surrey and sell it in Langley, for example, so the purpose of this motion would be for the Province to enact its own legislation to ensure itB次元官网网址檚 aligned with our bylaw that would allow us to more readily move forward and ensure that we can prevent this sort of issue from arising across B.C., not just solely in Surrey.B次元官网网址�
Coun. Linda Annis said sheB次元官网网址檚 hearing from B次元官网网址渟everal reputable recyclersB次元官网网址� who are B次元官网网址渞unning into difficultiesB次元官网网址� with SurreyB次元官网网址檚 bylaw as currently written B次元官网网址渂ecause theyB次元官网网址檙e getting massive truckloads of scrap that may have a catalytic converter or two in the mix and theyB次元官网网址檙e losing a lot of business because those trucks are being re-diverted to other jurisdictions.
B次元官网网址淚 know thereB次元官网网址檚 several major recyclers here in Surrey that are quite concerned about that so the sooner we can encourage the provincial government to get this fixed the better it would be.B次元官网网址�
