PM visits Surrey school

Prime Minister Paul Martin's campaign bus made a stop at Princess
Margaret secondary school on Tuesday and the PM was preaching his
gun-ban message.

Part of the visit was spent fielding questions from students about key
issues on their minds but Martin asked more questions of the students
than they did of him.

Crime, drugs and gang violence were among the key topics and after the
meeting with students in the school's library, Martin continued his
crime-fighting theme.

Surrounded by several of the region's mayors, Martin pledged to help
combat crime by creating a 250-member special police unit to help
cities fight drug trafficking, crystal meth abuse and grow ops.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said the creation of the special unit to
back up local police forces is a positive step, although she admits
Martin shared no details yet about how the program will work.

Watts said the unit will enable cities to tap into the unit to help
battle crime locally such as gang violence which has claimed several
lives in recent times, especially in the Indo-Canadian community.

"It's a piece of the puzzle," she said.

Watts said she was also encouraged by Martin's pledge to beef up
border security to help stem the tide of illegal weapons into Canada
through the American border.

"My issue with the weapons coming across the border is a significant
issue for Surrey because we have two border crossings, so to hear that
there is additional money and resources allocated to the borders is
encouraging, as well as the $50 million for youth and gang violence
initiatives," she said.

"For Surrey, I'm happy to hear that's coming about."

Martin's crime-fighting package, the Canada Handgun Ban and Safer
Communities Strategy, announced last week includes a ban on handguns
and a doubling of mandatory minimum sentences for key gun crimes such
as trafficking and smuggling of firearms and the illegal possession of
loaded handguns in public places.

Youth violence was a key topic among the students, although the
sponsorship scandal was on the mind of at least one student who wanted
to know whether the Liberals had lost the moral authority to govern.

Martin avoided answering the question directly and replied that he
took action immediately by appointing judge John Gomery to conduct an
inquiry into the mess.

Sukh Dahliwal, one of several local Liberal candidates running in the
federal election who showed up for the Surrey campaign swing, jumped
in to stress that Martin was personally exonerated by Gomery of any
blame.

At least one student was impressed with Martin's star power.

Sharn Kang, 15, conceded that the prime minister was probably using
the school as a campaign prop leading up the Jan. 13 federal election.

But she still thought it was pretty cool for the prime minister to
visit PM.

"It was kind of neat that he came here but at the same time he
probably did come here to campaign for votes and stuff," Kang said.

Kang said she likes Martin's proposed gun ban.

"It's good that they're banning guns, that's a good thing because
there's so much violence in our community, right, but he could work a
little more on it," she said.

Intemperate comments made recently by Martin's director of
communications Scott Reid continue to dog the prime minister.

While attacking Conservative party leader Stephen Harper's day care
plan, Reid suggested some parents might use Harper's proposed monthly
cheques for "beer and popcorn."

"What Mr. Reid said was dumb and he's apologized for it," Martin told
reporters.