B.C. to roll out new legislation amid Surrey police saga

UPDATED ARTICLE: B.C. amends Police Act to avoid future transition troubles

After years of back and forth, the provincial government is taking action when it comes to the rules around changing police jurisdiction in B.C.

This comes after last Friday’s announcement from the City of Surrey that it’s going to the B.C. Supreme Court to fight the transition away from the RCMP to a municipal force.

Monday’s legislation will be three-fold, explains CityNews’ Legislative Reporter Liza Yuzda.

“The first one… is rules to lay out how this will work. If you want to change your police of jurisdiction, how exactly it’s going to work so we don’t end up with the same years-long saga that’s happened in Surrey — clarifying for any municipality how this is going to work,” said Yuzda.

“There’s also expected to be some sort of limitation on how once the process has started, that’s it. … And I don’t know if it’s going to be a limitation that once it has started, that’s it [for] forever and ever.”

She adds the third key to this legislation will be clarifying the definition of “police of jurisdiction” and what that really means.

It’s unclear if there are other municipalities considering transitioning to or from the RCMP, but the new legislation is expected to lay out a blueprint, should this happen again.

“You also wonder if there are cases where there’s a number of municipalities in a small region, that they might make a decision at some point, to amalgamate. [The province] sure saw what a bananas mess it was this time, so, I think there is a real desire to not have that happen again because not only is it expensive but it’s been such a saga for the City of Surrey.”

On Friday, Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth admitted he was disappointed Surrey was taking the issue to the courts.

“People in Surrey want the uncertainty over who will police their city to end. They want this debate to be over. They want government money spent on protecting their communities instead of on legal fees to continue old fights that have dragged on too long. The decision has been made, and it’s time for the city to accept the decision and move forward with the police transition.”

Farnworth added city council had yet to accept $150 million in financial assistance to offset the costs of the transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS).

In July, Farnworth told the city to move ahead with the SPS, saying at the time, that going back to the RCMP could cause a “crisis in policing” in the city. That followed a recommendation in April to stick with a municipal force, but because the recommendation wasn’t binding, it allowed the city to move ahead with its plans to retain the RCMP.

Talk of the transition started in the fall of 2018 when former Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum terminated its contract with the RCMP.

On Oct. 15, 2022, current Mayor Brenda Locke won in a landslide civic election largely on a campaign promise to keep the RCMP.

-With files from Dean Recksiedler and Hana Mae Nassar