Surrey police referendum petition fails

Those hoping to keep the RCMP in Surrey by triggering a referendum on the controversial police transition have hit a major roadblock.

Elections BC says the petition launched by opponents of the switch to a municipal force has failed. The agency says the petition was submitted to Elections BC on Monday, but that “it was clear” it did not gather signatures from at least 10 per cent of registered voters in each of the province’s 87 electoral districts.

“As a result, Elections BC will not be counting or validating any of the signatures submitted,” a release from Elections BC reads.

Darlene Bennett, who is described as the proponent of the initiative, now has until Dec. 13 to file a financing report with the chief electoral officer.

.⁦@ElectionsBC⁩ says petition for a referendum on Surrey police has failed to get signatures required. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/DkN3icceZE

— LizaYuzda (@LizaYuzda) November 16, 2021

Bennett, who lost her husband in a case of mistaken identity in Cloverdale in 2018, has been outspoken about her opposition to ditching the RCMP for the Surrey Police Service.

Critics of the police transition were given the green light to try to get a referendum in June of this year.

In the months since, Bennett has said Surrey residents have been seeing costs of the plan increase, pointing to rises in taxes as an example.

“Surrey voters have been asking for a definitive say on this with no response, and now we’re asking government to hold a referendum,” she said earlier this year.

Bill Tieleman with the group behind the petition says they knew chances were slim and the real goal was always to pressure the province to force a local referendum.

“We knew from the beginning that Elections BC would not validate the referendum on a regional basis, because the initiative legislation is flawed, it doesn’t allow for a regional referendum. But what we want and what we’ve succeeded in doing is collect … well over 10 per cent of the signatures of Surrey voters in all nine ridings. And so what we’ve always asked for is under the BC Referendum Act, a binding referendum on Surrey policing that can be ordered by the provincial cabinet at any point in time.”

He says if a referendum isn’t held, Surrey voters will likely show their displeasure in the next election.

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Related articles: 

• Surrey murder victim’s widow pushes for referendum on city’s police transition

• Surrey mayor accused of intimidation in complaint to Elections BC

• Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum under investigation for public mischief

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The Surrey police transition is very much underway, with SPS officers already being deployed in the city.

The transition has been a contentious issue in Surrey, with Mayor Doug McCallum and those working to keep the RCMP in the city finding themselves tied up in multiple controversies.

Most recently, the RCMP announced McCallum was being investigated for a potential public mischief charge related to an incident outside a grocery store involving a pro-RCMP group.

There are questions about a report the mayor gave police officers, with McCallum alleging someone from that group drove their car over his foot.