What happens now to Surrey’s police transition court challenge?

Now that B.C. has introduced legislation to force Surrey to accept the transition to its municipal police service, what happens to the city’s court challenge of Victoria’s order to dump the RCMP?

Mayor Brenda Locke says the city is reviewing the proposed legislation but has made it clear her position has not changed.

Saying the case is still before the court, Locke isn’t speculating on what will happen to the city’s recent BC Supreme Court petition, challenging Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth’s attempt in July to use the province’s powers to order Surrey to continue its police transition.

However, one expert predicts it may be the end of the road for the legal challenge.

“It’s difficult to say at this time but one thing is for sure,” said Gurinder Mann, an instructor at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. “The fact that there is now [a] clear legal apparatus in place that is supporting the transition, it will probably be quite difficult to put a roadblock in front of this.”

As Locke and the province continue to butt heads, Mann feels it is no surprise Farnworth has raised the stakes.

“The ministry found themselves in a situation where they were cornered and the only way they could make this transition happen was by introducing this legal apparatus, so they took that approach and this will basically put them in the driver’s seat,” he told CityNews.

“Clearly this saga has been continuing for a very, very long time. The residents of Surrey have not received the clarity they deserve, so I think the minister found himself in a situation where he had no other option but to seek a legal approach.”

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.”

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

After the legislation was tabled, 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 more than five years.