First Convictions Don’t Mean Surrey’s Extortion Crisis Is Over

A conviction is accountability after the fact. Surrey families still need safety before shots hit another occupied home.

Surrey has finally seen the first convictions and sentences tied to what police and the province have called an extortion crisis. That is welcome news. It is also a brutal measure of how far the crisis had to go before residents saw courtroom results.

CityNews Vancouver reported on June 10 that three men were sentenced in Surrey Provincial Court in connection with a February shooting and arson at a Crescent Beach-area home. The report said Taranveer Singh, who pleaded guilty to reckless discharge of a firearm, received five years less time served. Dayajeet Singh Billing and Harjot Singh, who pleaded guilty to throwing an explosive substance, received 27 months and 25 months respectively. Surrey Police Service spokesperson Ian MacDonald told CityNews these were the SPS’s first convictions and sentences in the extortion crisis.

That milestone matters. But it does not mean the danger has passed. On June 4, Surrey Police Service said officers were investigating an early-morning shooting outside a South Newton residence near 57 Avenue and 148 Street. Police said the home was occupied at the time, no one was injured, and the file was believed to be extortion-related because of previous threats and a May 20 shots-fired incident at the same residence. Those are police statements, not court findings.

Another SPS release on June 1 shows how serious the pattern remains. Police said additional Criminal Code charges had been approved against two men after an alleged April shots-fired incident at an occupied residence where the resident had allegedly been the victim of extortion threats. Both accused were originally charged with firearms offences; police said the later approved charges included two counts of extortion. These charges are allegations unless proven in court.

The province has known the stakes for months. In February, Premier David Eby and Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger called extortion the government’s “most important public-safety priority” and announced a community advisory group. Later that month, the province urged Ottawa to move faster on Bill C-12, arguing that organized crime groups were exploiting gaps in immigration and border processes. In May, CityNews reported police figures showing 98 extortion reports in Surrey as of May 11, including 16 involving gunfire.

Residents should not have to choose between celebrating first convictions and demanding better protection. Both can be true. The courts can punish offenders after the damage is done, and the NDP government can still be judged on whether its “Number 1” priority is producing safety on the street.

When occupied homes keep getting targeted, the standard cannot be press releases, roundtables and future reforms. The standard has to be whether families can sleep without wondering if their house is next.