City of Surrey removes controversial light rail signs

City of Surrey crews were out Friday removing light rail project signs that ran afoul of Elections B.C. advertising rules.

The signs are part of a city communications plan intended to educate the public about the proposed 10.5-km, $1.65-billion Surrey Newton-Guildford LRT project.

The signs bore the logos of the project funders — the federal and B.C. governments, TransLink and the City of Surrey — and were placed near future light-rail stops.

“At the direction of Elections B.C., the City of Surrey has voluntarily complied and has removed all the signs for the duration of the election period,” City of Surrey deputy city solicitor Philip Huynh said in a statement.

Last week, Safe Surrey Coalition mayoral candidate Doug McCallum and council candidate Bableen Rana spoke out against the city’s draft LRT communications plan, saying the timing and content raised “serious concerns regarding bias and interference in the election.” They suggested the city might have to register as a thirdparty advertiser.

Under the Local Elections Campaign Financing Act, third-party election advertising rules can apply to “a communication that takes a position on an issue associated with a candidate or elector organization.”

Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson said in an email “the LRT vs. Skytrain debate is a campaign issue associated with specific candidates” in Surrey’s election.

“We reviewed the signs in question after receiving a complaint about them. While they do not directly or indirectly support a candidate or party, they do directly support LRT in Surrey, which is an issue associated with specific candidates.”