Legal action 'possible' following Surrey police decision

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke has remained silent over what her next move will be, following the announcement the city must move forward with the Surrey Police Service. 

Solicitor General and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth made the announcement on Wednesday, directing the city to continue the transition from the Surrey RCMP to the SPS.

While it may provide relief to taxpaying residents who’ve been in limbo for years, lawyer Kyla Lee says Locke still has options.

"Judicial review is a process (in which) a B.C. Supreme Court judge will determine whether or not to approve the Surrey Police Service over the RCMP was made in a manner that was reasonable,” said Lee.

Farnworth quoted section 2 of the Police Act during his announcement, which states that the Ministry of Public Safety must ensure that adequate and effective law enforcement is maintained throughout the province.

“The Police Act does give a lot of power to the minister to essentially be the decision-maker but that doesn’t mean that the decision can be arbitrary or unreasonable, and because it’s made under the Police Act, it’s reviewable in court,” said Lee.

Locke has previously hinted at legal action, should the RCMP not become the chosen police force in Surrey.

In a statement following Wednesday’s announcement, she said: “In the coming days, I will be meeting with council, colleagues and city staff to explore our options.”

Locke has previously accused Farnworth of bullying and misogyny. According to Lee, those accusations could help to prove her potential case in court.

"If Brenda Locke is able to prove the allegations of bullying and gender-based discrimination and that interfered with (the) decision-making process, even if the decision was the right one, on the evidence, it may render the decision itself unreasonable,” said Lee.

Former Attorney General Wally Oppal authored a report about how to effectively transition to the SPS years ago.

He believes Locke’s chances in a courtroom aren’t strong.

“Where I see it, everybody had enough opportunity to be heard, all the material is filed, the reports were filed, and both sides had an opportunity to be heard," Oppal told CTV Morning Live Thursday. “The Solicitor General considered this and he took a lot of time to do it and I think he made the right decision.”

“This is a case, really, (where) Surrey thought they were too big to have the RCMP, they wanted a local police force that’s governed locally with a local police board, local committees, instead of the RCMP which is governed from Ottawa,” he said.

Premier David Eby was asked Thursday about his thoughts on the decision.

“The minister for public safety looked at the materials provided by the city and made a determination that public safety, that 911 response, could not be guaranteed unless we continued to move forward to a municipal force in Surrey,” Eby told reporters.