New Westminster Councillors say B.C.’s $150M offer for Surrey Police costs should go to other municipalities

If they don’t take it, we gladly will. That’s what some New Westminster city councillors are saying after B.C. offered Surrey $150 million to continue its transition to a municipal police force, Monika Gul reports.

By Cole Schisler

Posted April 30, 2023 4:44 pm.

Last Updated May 1, 2023 10:41 pm.

Despite months of resisting calls to help fund Surrey’s policing transition, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announced Friday that the province would be willing to put up $150 million over the next five years to help with transition costs.

Hours later, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said she wasn’t interested.

But now, two New Westminster city councillors from the New West Progressives are saying they would happily take that money if Surrey doesn’t want it.

Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas released a statement Sunday afternoon calling for the province to distribute the funds to other municipalities in the region that have their own police forces instead.

“This was a Surrey-created problem and Surrey should be mandated with fixing it,” Fontaine told CityNews. “Once the province decided to invest the $150 million — in my opinion and I believe in the opinion, likely, of a number of other civic officials — it opens up the door for other municipalities to ask for additional funding to help us offset some issues that are taking place within our own police forces.”

Fontaine says New Westminster’s Police Board would likely use extra funds to help recruit and retain officers, increase police patrols in the city, as well as help fund outreach and crime prevention programs.

“All of our police forces are funded through municipal tax dollars and we’re all facing — this year in particular — tax increases of sometimes in the double digits. Throughout the Metro Vancouver area, a lot of our expenditures relate to first responders like the police. I know $150 million spread around municipal police forces in Metro Vancouver outside of Surrey would be much appreciated.”

“I’m hopeful that perhaps if the City of Surrey does not take those funds that they don’t disappear and the province makes a commitment to redirecting those funds to communities that have their own police forces and are in desperate need of additional funding to help cover costs.”

The calls for Locke to take the province’s recommendation are also coming from within Surrey city hall.

In a statement Monday morning, Safe Surrey Coalition coun. Mandeep Nagra, says the province’s offer to potentially provide $30 million to help offset costs associated with the SPS is a “unique opportunity to lower property taxes.”

“The Mayor’s refusal to accept the Province’s offer to support the SPS transition and lower property taxes is a betrayal of Surrey residents,” said Nagra in a statement. “Her party’s decision to raise property taxes to a historic high of 12.5 per cent is making life harder for working families and small businesses in our city. We must act now to reverse this decision and use the Province’s funding to lower property taxes to single digits.”

CityNews has reached out to the province for comment on this story.