Surrey council endorses framework for a plan to retain the RCMP

Surrey city council has approved the next step in its bid to reverse the transition to a municipal police force and retain the RCMP.

Council endorsed the framework for the development of a plan Monday night.

The vote came after Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, the officer in charge of the Surrey RCMP, delivered a presentation to council.

"We are proud to serve the city of Surrey," he said. "We look forward to serving for some time to come." 
    
In his first public address to council in three years, Edwards said the RCMP can meet staffing challenges and stay on budget.

The city has approved a joint project team to oversee the development of the plan, which will be submitted for council's approval on Dec. 12, prior to being forwarded for approval to B.C. Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.

The team will consist of senior leadership from the City, the RCMP and consultants Dr. Peter German and Tonia Enger.

German served with the RCMP for 31 years and is best known for being hired by the province to review allegations of money laundering in casinos.

Enger served with the RCMP for more than 29 years and is known as an expert in RCMP contract policing.

Mayor Brenda Locke says she will speaking with Premier David Eby and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth over the coming weeks to provide updates.

With the Surrey Police Service still needing hundreds more officers to scale up, Edwards says he is confident the RCMP can find the officers it needs to meet current staffing challenges.

The Surrey Police Union, which represents Surrey Police Service officers, says it will also be sending a report to the province. The union's Ryan Buhrig says this week, seven of 14 shifts were below minimum RCMP staffing levels.

"We really need to look at this from both sides, and the residents deserve the facts," he said.

Gurpreet Singh Sahota of Wake Up Surrey, a group that had called for a municipal police force to deal with crime and gang activity in Surrey, says he wants to see more numbers.

During the recent civic election campaign, Locke claimed a municipal police force would cost taxpayers $520 million over the next four years.

"But now there is no mention of a so-called saving. Where is it gone?" Sahota said. "People want to know because they voted on this platform."

Robert Gordon, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University, says it's time for the province to end the fight over policing.

"I think it needs to be addressed, promptly and decisively, one way or the other, by the province to stop the bickering."

Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum issued a statement following Monday's council meeting, calling it an affront to transparency and accountability that only Surrey RCMP were invited to speak to city council.

Locke says she will meet with the Surrey Police Board next.

Ethics commissioner returns

City council also voted Monday to re-establish the position of ethics commissioner.

As part of her mayoral campaign, Locke promised to reinstate the office created in 2019 to ensure transparency in city business.

The contract for the job ended in July when council under McCallum directed city staff not to appoint a new commissioner.

Council voted to establish a selection committee to recruit an ethics commissioner instead of reappointing the former commissioner.