Surrey’s police chief is hailing “clarity” and “a way forward” on the city’s contentious transition to a municipal force.
The comments come a day after the city rejected a $250 million offer from the province that would have indemnified taxpayers from extra costs of making the switch from the RCMP for 10 years.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Tuesday that the province will still direct $150 million directly to covering transition costs over the next five years. The deal would have also addressed concerns about the transfer of police assets and files, training and union membership.
“We have a plan, we always did have a plan, but now we’ve got even more clarity about that plan, about the way forward,” Surrey Police Service (SPS) Chief Constable Norm Lipinski told Global News, Wednesday.
“There were a lot of unforeseen circumstances that came up, but we worked through that. In spite of all the issues and all of the speedbumps we had to go through, we did accomplish a lot: we have 400 employees and I have 200 men and women on the front line.”
Lipinski said with the provincial funding and Farnworth’s commitment the transition will be completed, the SPS is now set to resume hiring officers.
But the battle over the future of policing in Surrey isn’t over yet.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, who was elected on a promise to scrap the transition from the RCMP to the SPS, is spearheading a court challenge of provincial legislation ordering the switch to go through. That matter is slated to be heard on April 29.
In a statement Tuesday, Locke said the province had refused several reasonable commitments needed to ensure an effective transition, including developing a plan or completion date for the transition.
“It is the City’s position that the Province provided no firm financial commitment that would provide redress to Surrey taxpayers for the full cost of transitioning to a police force they did not vote for,” Locke said.
Farnworth hinted Tuesday that details on a timeline for a change of command from the RCMP to the SPS could come as early as next week.
Surrey, meanwhile, has released a 2024 budget predicated on the city retaining the RCMP, with an estimated 7 per cent property tax hike.