Surrey Councillor Pardeep Kooner was appointed on April 28 as chairwoman of the City of Surrey’s Environment and Climate Change Committee for a two-year term, making this the fourth committee the Surrey Connect councillor is currently on.
She is the lone councillor on this committee. Surrey Connect’s four councillors running with Mayor Brenda Locke have each been appointed to one or more of the Select Committees in this latest roster that was struck on April 14, before Kooner’s ECCC appointment, with Surrey First and Safe Surrey Coalition councillors Linda Annis, Mike Bose, Mandeep Nagra and Doug Elford shut out.
Kooner is also vice-chairwoman of the Liveability, Social Equity and Public Safety Committee (Rob Stutt is chairman), chairwoman of the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee and vice-chairwoman of the Parks, Recreation and Sport Tourism Committee (Gordon Hepner is chairman).
Harry Bains was appointed chairman of the Agriculture and Food Policy Committee and the Investment, Innovation and Business Committee.
Council on April 30 also approved the Environment and Climate Change Committee’s terms of reference. The mayor was designated as an ex-officio, non-voting member, as she is with all Select Committees. Volunteer members can serve a maximum three terms.
Joey Brar, Surrey’s general manager of corporate services, noted in a corporate report that the committee’s mandate is “to provide a community perspective and advice to council on actions to protect the environment, reduce greenhouse gases, foster sustainability and climate resiliency.”
It is composed of the chairwoman and six community volunteers