Environmental champion named Surrey’s Good Citizen of the Year

Deb Jack is the recipient of the 2012 Good Citizen of the Year award from the City of Surrey.

File Photo / The Leader

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If there’s a matter of environmental importance in this city, you’ll find her there.

She may be tucked in a corner, scribbling notes about a meeting, or leading a presentation herself.

The fact is, Deb Jack has been a leading powerhouse pressing for protection of Surrey’s environment for years, and for that, she was named the city’s Good Citizen of the Year on Wednesday night.

Those who know Jack well say she’s a tireless worker who refuses to give up on issues she sees as important.

“If there’s any issue in the City of Surrey that involves environmental protection, Deb Jack is there,” said John Werring, a fisheries biologist with the David Suzuki Foundation. “God bless her for all that she does.

“Seriously, she raises awareness and keeps issues on the front burner, and she forces council to act,” Werring added. “We need more people like her.”

When she appears before city council, Jack will have researched the issue extensively, making counter arguments next to impossible, according to friend and environmental advocate Darlene Bowyer.

Bowyer said she has an abundance of respect for Jack.

“We actually have become very good friends,” Bowyer said, adding Jack is involved in numerous local activities and has raised to an art the technique of getting her point across.

“The way she presents herself, it’s like she’s your grandmother, she’s not sarcastic, she’s not mean about it, she’s just factual, scientific (and) well-read,” Bowyer said.

“When she’s talking to some of these people, she refers to the latest books that have been written and the latest facts, and they cannot argue with it.”

Bowyer also describes Jack as a nice, honest and caring individual.

Some of her involvement includes:

• President and founding member of Surrey Environmental Partners;

• Vice President of White Rock/Surrey Naturalists;

• Surrey’s Friends of Forest volunteer; and

• Atira Women’s Resource Centre Board of Directors.

The Good Citizen of the Year Award recipient is chosen by city council and is presented to a City of Surrey resident who has provided outstanding services for the betterment of the community.