‘Not my intent’: Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke speaks on misleading RCMP comments in council

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said in a council meeting Monday that it was “certainly not my intent to make a misleading statement,” after she suggested the mayors around the region unanimously agreed the B.C. government should allow the city to stop its police transition, and bring back the RCMP.

This was Locke’s first council meeting since the suggestion came on April 5.

Locke says, “It is possible, even though the vote was unanimous, that there was no consensus in the room.”

“The motion reads as follows: That the MVRD (Metro Vancouver Regional District) board provide the City of Surrey with a letter of support requesting a provincial decision forthwith, on the city’s request to have the RCMP provide policing services for the City of Surrey,” she said.

“I interpreted this based on the context of my conversations. My understanding of the motion is that the mayors were in support of a letter being sent to Surrey, asking for the province to expedite the decision on Surrey’s request to retain the RCMP. After all, Surrey council voted in December 2022, almost six months ago, in favor of maintaining the RCMP, as the police of jurisdiction.”

Locke adds that she “made that in very good faith.”

This comes after Locke said in a statement that the Metro Vancouver Mayor’s Committee “unanimously supports retaining Surrey RCMP,” following a motion that was brought forward by Delta Mayor George Harvie.

However, it has since been clarified that that was not the case, with many councillors pointing out the committee instead had only agreed to pressure the province to make a quick decision about the police transition.

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Since then critics have been blasting Locke and calling on her to apologize. Some have also called for her resignation.

The latest call came at the beginning of Monday’s meeting when Coun. Doug Elford said she “intentionally misled the public.”

“The mayor’s actions violate the city of Surrey Council Code of Conduct bylaws, which requires council members to align their conduct with the city’s values of integrity,” Elford said.

“Therefore, be it resolved that the mayor violated her vote, or oath, to carry out her duties with integrity and must resign from her position as mayor of Surrey, effective immediately.”

Although this was met with an outcry of reactions, Locke’s response was, “Okay, are you finished? Great.”

She then called the regular council meeting to order, with her statement regarding the matter coming later in the meeting.

Locke has been steadfast in her desire to scrap former Mayor Doug McCallum’s plan to switch from the RCMP to a municipal force. It was a major pillar of her 2022 election campaign.

The transition to the Surrey Police Service is already well underway and has been for the past couple of years.

In a statement to CityNews earlier this month, B.C.’s Ministry of Public Safety said a decision on the police transition would be announced by the end of this month, “before City of Surrey tax notices are issued.”

Surrey city council approved a 12.5 per cent property tax hike this month to help pay for policing services.

-With files from James Paracy, Sonia Aslam