A Lower Mainland MLA says he’s hearing that people are increasingly fed up with ongoing extortion attempts targeting the South Asian community.
Acting as Critic to the Attorney General, MLA for Richmond-Queensborough Steve Kooner is speaking out after the latest shootings targeted a home in South Surrey twice in one week.
“We are seeing the community — people that are affected and their allies — they’re organizing more. You see more of these town halls happening. People are saying, ‘Enough is enough,’” he said.
Kooner says more needs to be done. He explains that he’s asked Attorney General Niki Sharma about appointing Crown prosecutors to work directly with the police on extortion investigations.
By latest report, the Surrey Police Service says it is investigating 95 extortion-related reports since the start of the year — 44 incidents have been linked to shots fired.
Kooner says the few charges in extortion-related cases are only a “drop in the bucket.”
“In Surrey, a lot of the intersections are covered with video surveillance. There’s traffic camera footage. I think there needs to be a faster way for the police to be getting their hands on that footage soon after an incident happens. And so we need to invest a lot more in getting the proper evidence so we can actually get charges approved.”
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He says the province also needs to be doing more to encourage victims to come forward.
In September, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke announced that the city had established an extortion tip line and set aside a $250,000 reward fund for information leading to convictions.
“There’s not going to be the one single tool that’s going to solve the problem. It’s going to take many tools,” said Kooner, adding that he is dedicated to the issue.
“We are moving in the right direction, and we can’t stop the work now. We can’t stop the work now. We have to show the community that the government is with them and they’re not alone. And this crisis is being taken seriously.”
—With files from Joe Sadowski