Should Surrey have a Rita Johnston statue?

Stuart Parker, who is running for a seat on Surrey city council in the upcoming election, believes his hometown has an inferiority complex.

He says residents don't realize how extraordinary their city is, partly because they've been the butt of "Surrey jokes"for so many years.

"When we build new stuff and when we try to look like a grown up city, we're often busy trying to copy other cities," he said.

"We should honour our own and recognize our own heritage."

Parker says he'd like to start honouring Surrey's own by putting up a statue of Rita Johnston outside city hall.

Before Johnston replaced Bill Vander Zalm as B.C.'s premier in 1991, becoming Canada's first female premier, she was a Surrey city councillor.

"I didn't agree with her policies but I think it's absolutely scandalous that Surrey produces the first female premier in Canadian history and she's recognized nowhere in town," Parker said.

"We've got all this new public space around city hall plaza, and we should be honouring people like Rita Johnston and Bill Vander Zalm."

Bose bridge

Parker also wants to honour another fixture in Surrey politics.

Bob Bose, whose family settled in the city in the 1890s, spent nearly 30 years as a Surrey city councillor and mayor.

Parker says the Pattullo Bridge is about to be replaced and the new crossing should get a new name.

"Dufferin Pattullo was a great premier, but he represented the riding of Prince Rupert," he said.

"Maybe, it would be nice to have a Bob Bose Bridge and recognize one of our own."