Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke is facing pressure to clarify an “incorrect” statement she made last week regarding the support of Metro Vancouver mayors for keeping the RCMP in Surrey.
On April 5, the committee of mayors voted unanimously in favour of the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board providing the City of Surrey with a letter of support requesting a swift provincial decision on its request to keep the RCMP as the police of jurisdiction in Surrey.
It did not express support for or against the Mounties or the dissolution of the Surrey Police Service (SPS). In a statement that day, however, Locke characterized this motion — made by Delta Mayor George Harvie — as an expression of support for her position on the matter.
“The Mayor’s Committee is sending a clear message to the Solicitor General that Surrey should not only retain the RCMP, but a decision on this matter must be made promptly,” she wrote.
Since last week, however, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has described her interpretation as “incorrect,” as has Surrey Coun. Linda Annis, who spoke directly with Harvie about it.
“The letter that is on its way to me is a letter requesting a decision, not about whether it should be Surrey Police Service or the RCMP,” Farnworth told Global News on Tuesday.
“This has been brought to the mayor’s attention and quite frankly I think her statement to the media should have been removed from our website,” added Annis.
“It’s very misleading to the public, it’s very misleading to the other mayors, and quite frankly, I think when mistakes are made such as this, an apology is owed to all the mayors who voted on it.”
Annis said she has asked city staff to remove Locke’s statement from the City of Surrey’s website, but has not received a response.
Harvie could not be reached for an interview Tuesday. Locke was not available either.
In a written statement, however, Locke defended her position.
“When the motion was introduced at last week’s Metro Vancouver Mayor’s Committee meeting, no objections, concerns or even questions were raised about the Surrey policing situation,” she wrote.
“After the motion passed, there was another motion to have the vote recorded as unanimous. Again, there were no objections, concerns or questions … As for the interpretation of this motion by people who were not in the room, I will not be responding to them.”
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Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who was present on April 5, said Locke chaired the council meeting and “had a lot going on,” but there’s motion’s intent was clear.
“I can certainly understand that there was confusion, but I am not mistaken in knowing what the resolution was. The resolution was to write a letter of support to Victoria asking that they give Surrey an answer to the police in question.”
Don Bradley, division manager for media relations at Metro Vancouver, said the motion will go before the board for final consideration on April 28, and Metro Vancouver does not “typically comment on committee recommendations” until a decision is reached.
Farnworth said he is awaiting a final report on the matter and will issue his decision regarding the future of the Surrey RCMP before the end of the month.
Last week, Surrey’s city council voted to approve a 12.5-per cent property tax hike — 9.5 per cent of which is for costs associated with reversing the police force transition. Locke has said the city would look to use $89.9 million in one-time infrastructure funding from the province to offset some of the hike.
The city has already spent more than $100 million on the police transition so far, and the SPS has hired about 400 officers and staff. However, Locke maintains that despite leaving the city with a $116-million shortfall, keeping the RCMP and unwinding the SPS will still be cheaper than proceeding with the transition.
Since December 2022, when council voted to keep the RCMP in Surrey, staff reported the monthly cost of maintaining the two police forces in the city is around $8 million.
With files from Simon Little
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