B.C. amends Police Act to avoid future transition troubles

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has tabled legislation to avoid future troubles if and when any municipalities want to transition to a new police force.

On Monday, Farnworth announced changes to the Police Act that he says will ensure that once a “transition plan is approved by the minister, that the municipality has a legal obligation to complete the transition.”

He says changes will also require that cities provide relevant information to the province when requested.

The B.C. government explains the changes address “a lack of clarity in the Police Act that was exposed during the police transition in the City of Surrey.”

Following the introduction of the legislation Monday, Farnworth doubled down that Surrey must move forward with its transition from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service — a back-and-forth process that has been playing out for years.

“Amendments to the act will specify that the City of Surrey must provide policing services through a municipal police department,” he said.

Introduction of the bill came after last Friday’s announcement from the City of Surrey that it had launched legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of B.C., asking for a judicial review of the province’s order to continue with the municipal police force transition.

The city cited affordability concerns associated with the police transition, saying it would result in a “significant additional tax burden.”

The petition, which names Farnworth as the respondent, seeks to have the court declare that “the Province of British Columbia is without lawful authority to assign to the City the responsibility to transition the City’s police of jurisdiction from the police force established by the City,” under the Police Act.

Related video: Surrey asks court for review to stop police transition, but province adamant it will continue

This is the latest chapter in a more than five-year-long saga over policing in one of the Lower Mainland’s largest cities.

The police transition began in 2018 by then-Mayor Dough McCallum. It was halted last year when Mayor Brenda Locke was elected, leading to a back-and-forth between the city and province.

On July 19, 2023, Farnworth directed Surrey to continue the transition to the SPS.

Locke remains opposed to SPS transition despite legislation: ‘We’re not changing that position’

In response to the proposed legislation, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke remained steadfast in her opposition to the transition to a municipal police service.

“The City of Surrey has made a position, we’re not changing that position, and so we’ll be reviewing the legislation and see what happens as we move forward,” she told reporters about two hours after Farnworth’s announcement.

Locke reiterated that the cost of the SPS is too large, even with the $150 million offered by the province to help with the transition.

“We are here to protect the taxpayers of this province. We know that the cost of this transition is extraordinary. The offer of $150 million that the province gave us absolutely pales in comparison to what the ultimate costs are going to be for the city,” she said.

During her address, Locke stood in front of a bar graph that showed the $150 million provincial offer compared to the city’s estimates of policing costs for the SPS.

“Let’s be really clear: The legal fees and the fees right now, absolutely pale in comparison to what we’re going to see with this. As you can see, $464 million, and that is on the very, very conservative side of the dollar figures, not including capital costs and any other additional costs (or) any increase in the number of members. So yes, we are very concerned,” the mayor said.

Locke also accused Farnworth of further delaying the city’s police transition through the legislation tabled Monday.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that this minister has taken so long to make a decision and now he has delayed another. Since the July 19 date, he’s delayed another three months … A lot of what he’s saying today, he could have said it way back in December,” she said.

-With files from Charlie Carey and Hana Mae Nassar