Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says no more public consultation needed on move to municipal police force

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says there will be no more public consultation on moving to a civic police force, saying that’s exactly what happened in last fall’s municipal election campaign.

“We did the ultimate public consulting, saying that if you agree with us and elect us, then we will bring in Surrey’s own police force on day one,” McCallum said.

“We feel we completely have the mandate of certainly the majority of people of the city of Surrey for our own police force and we will be continuing to develop that.”

And he says support continues to be strong for getting rid of the RCMP.

“I get approached every day, even by RCMP officers in Surrey, who tap me on the shoulder if they see me at a soccer game or coffee shop, to say, “We can’t wait, when is the new police force going to start because we want to join it.'”

Asked if voters will have a chance to see the report before it goes to the solicitor-general in coming weeks, McCallum says no.

After that, he says it’s up to the province if it wants to release the report.

In terms of costs associated with a municipal force, McCallum says those numbers are still being finalized.

“We are continuing to work through the costs associated and certainly that would be part of the report that we also give to the province.”

On Tuesday, Councillor Jack Hundial said if there’s no public consultation, he’s not in support of the transition, even though he voted for the change at the first meeting of the new council.

The mayor fired back, saying “the voters entrusted us to deliver on our promises and that is a trust that Coun. Hundial is now breaking.”

The lone opposition councillor, Linda Annis, is calling for a public referendum on the issue.

Anita Huberman, the CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, is calling on the provincial government to say “no” to phasing out the RCMP.