Surrey council directed city staff on Monday to ask the provincial government to bring forward legislation to 害羞草研究所渃ombat害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所渃urrently an absence of robust province-wide regulations to address the problem害羞草研究所� and called for a 害羞草研究所渓egislative framework害羞草研究所� to deal with it.
In April council tweaked the city害羞草研究所檚 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.
Surrey害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所減ersonally chased a guy down the street stealing a catalytic converter害羞草研究所� from his neighbour. 害羞草研究所淚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 I害羞草研究所檓 wondering if we have done something or we can do something within our own bylaws to assist, just expedite things.害羞草研究所�
Acting city manager Rob Costanzo replied that city bylaws were amended earlier in the year to 害羞草研究所渁ddress the situation.
害羞草研究所淭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,害羞草研究所� Costanzo said. 害羞草研究所淪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 it害羞草研究所檚 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.害羞草研究所�
Coun. Linda Annis said she害羞草研究所檚 hearing from 害羞草研究所渟everal reputable recyclers害羞草研究所� who are 害羞草研究所渞unning into difficulties害羞草研究所� with Surrey害羞草研究所檚 bylaw as currently written 害羞草研究所渂ecause they害羞草研究所檙e getting massive truckloads of scrap that may have a catalytic converter or two in the mix and they害羞草研究所檙e losing a lot of business because those trucks are being re-diverted to other jurisdictions.
害羞草研究所淚 know there害羞草研究所檚 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.害羞草研究所�
