Surrey, B.C. (March 24, 2025): Surrey First councillors Linda Annis and Mike Bose are calling on City Hall to cancel a high profile consulting contract with Hunden Partners of Chicago.

 

"Every contract has a cancellation clause. They need to terminate this contract with Hunden and stop sending Surrey tax dollars to Chicago," said Annis. "These are very different times, and the American tariff threat is real. That means we should be buying closer to home and working with British Columbia and Canadian companies that can carry out this kind of planning and consultation work."

 

Councillor Mike Bose had asked for details about the Hunden contract but was told by city staff that he needed to file a Freedom of Information application. "City councillors need access to all city information in order to do their jobs," said Bose. "That said, I'm glad this contract has now been made public because the people of Surrey need to know more about who their city is doing business with. We are asking the people of Surrey to shop closer to home and City Hall needs to do the same thing."

 

Annis said there are too many secrets and behind-closed-door meetings at City Hall,  with taxpayers sidelined and kept in the dark about city decisions. "This council needs to be more transparent with the people and taxpayers of Surrey," said Annis. "Taxpayers are paying the bills and need to be more involved and better informed."