Surrey Police Union calls for ethics investigation of city councillor

The Surrey Police Union is calling on the city’s ethics commissioner’s office to investigate a city councillor.

In a statement released Monday, Surrey Police Union claims Coun. Rob Stutt breached conflict of interest rules during council votes pertaining to keeping the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction in Surrey.

The union claims Stutt has voted on several motions to stop the transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) without disclosing that his son works for the Mounties and his daughter is a civic worker who has been seconded to a job with the RCMP.

“The future of policing in Surrey will impact the public safety of residents for generations to come and it is critical that elected officials presiding over the policing transition process are above reproach,” SPU President Rick Stewart said in a statement.

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According to the City of Surrey Code of Conduct, council members are required to “rigorously avoid situations which may result in claims of pecuniary interest, conflict of interest or bias,” while Section 32 provides that “[a] Council Member shall not attempt to obtain a benefit from the City for a Family Member.”

Speaking with CityNews, spokesperson for the SPU, Dryan Burhig says the union believes Stutt should no longer be involved in votes regarding policing and the Surrey RCMP.

“We don’t think that he should be involved in votes around policing, specifically involving the RCMP. This is an organization that is literally signing his children’s paychecks, and to ensure transparency throughout this process, it’s only appropriate that he recuses himself from decision-making,” he said.

“These are major decisions being made for the City of Surrey, and the citizens should know that the decisions are being made for ethical and transparent reasons and we don’t believe that to be the case here.”

In addition to recusing himself from policing-related votes, Buhrig also says Stutt should step down from his position as chair of the city’s public safety committee.

This comes as the city is currently in search of a new ethics commissioner after former Mayor Doug McCallum disbanded it.

In a statement to CityNews, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke did not address the SPU’s request to the commissioner but did say that the position will be filled in the next 30 days.

“Complaints to the Ethics Commissioner are treated equally and, under my watch, the Commissioner will have full independence in their investigation without interference from any member of Council,”  she said.

“I have full confidence in Councillor Stutt and will not be commenting further while this complaint is active.”