Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, back right, listens as Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski speaks during a news conference at Surrey Police headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Image Credit: The Canadian Press / Darryl Dyck)

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Battle against extortionists will be a long fight

Sep 18, 2025 | 6:00 AM

I DON’T WANT TO BE A PARTY POOPER, but a move by the City of Surrey to try and catch gangs extorting protection money from businessmen is not likely to work.

Here’s why. The chain of command among these gangs is such that the footmen doing the dangerous extortion work often don’t know who they are reporting to — or if they do know the guy above, that’s about as far up the chain as it goes. So, you ask yourself, am I prepared to risk my life for a share of a quarter of a million dollars? Not bloody likely.

And that’s where the plan fails. You almost never get the big guy. Except for TV, where they get the bad guys in under an hour, and that’s including commercials.

These extortion schemes have been going on literally for centuries. The Vikings extorted goods and services from those they conquered, early Roman and Islamic peoples had theirs, feudal lords allowed people to farm the lord’s land for a fee. The Black Hand in the U.S. The Mafia, biker gangs, they are everywhere.

And now that the cartels are heavily involved in some areas, local gangs are trying to get in on the action. The victims are mostly small businesses and they are scared for their lives. Are they going to name names? I guess not. Many other versions of the “protection racket” exist. And if you don’t pay when you should, retribution is quick and violent.

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So while I applaud Mayor Locke, her council and Surrey police for taking this initiative, it’s only value likely would be to create more attention to the problem. Maybe that’s the best we can expect at this stage.

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.