Surrey Police Service officers are being offered a bonus to join the RCMP

FILE - A Surrey Police Service badge on the shoulder of an officer. (CityNews Image)

Posted July 18, 2023 8:05 pm.

Last Updated July 18, 2023 8:06 pm.

The City of Surrey and the RCMP appear to be offering officers from the Surrey Police Service (SPS) a $10,000 bonus to join the Mounties.

This information comes ahead of some kind of decision from the province on who will be the police of jurisdiction in Surrey, as B.C.’s Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says the announcement will come Wednesday.

SPS Union spokesperson Ryan Buhrig confirmed the existence of the offer and says multiple SPS members were made the offer and told it would be open for six months.

“We thought that was extremely strange,” he said. “You have a municipal government, who is essentially recruiting now for a federal organization and they have no control over those members or where they go.”

Buhrig tells CityNews the bonus might not be enough to sway officers to jump ship either.

“No police officer makes a lifelong career decision over a bonus like this,” he said. “To put something like this out on the eve before the decision — I don’t think it’s appropriate.

“There’s way more factors go into it — it’s the organization that they’re joining, it’s the culture, it’s the work-life balance, all those types of factors. So for me, and what we’re hearing from our members is, this would not tip the scale.”

Surrey city councillors most recently voted in favour of retaining the RCMP, while the province has been adamant about transitioning to the SPS. B.C. has promised $150 million to the city to help with transition costs if it goes through with the transition, meaning retention of the Mounties won’t see that kind of financial support.

“Why two days before the decision by the Minister you’re putting out this financial bonus unless the numbers that you’re pointing for and aren’t accurate,” said Buhrig.

“We’ve said 95 per cent of our members would not go over to the Surrey RCMP, and so why two days before the decision by the minister, you’re putting out this financial bonus unless the numbers that you’re pointing toward aren’t accurate. So, we stand by our 95 [per cent], we don’t think 81 Surrey members are interested in joining the RCMP, and we think that these bonuses at the last second validate that claim because they do have an odor of desperation.”

Regardless of what decision is eventually made — or if the decision comes Wednesday — Buhrig says it’s important that all parties involved wait for a final decision and work to implement it.