Rarely-used petition law could force referendum on Surrey police transition
Advocates wanting to keep the RCMP in Surrey are hoping a last-ditch effort will stop the city from transitioning to a municipal police force.
Elections BC has approved a petition under the Recall and Initiative Act. If it garners enough signatures, it could force a binding referendum asking whether Surrey should keep the RCMP or transition to a police force.
The campaign is being led by Darlene Bennett, a Surrey resident whose husband Paul was shot and killed in 2018 in a case of mistaken identity.
“I am very excited, hopeful,” Bennett said in a Zoom news conference on Thursday to announce the launch of the petition.
“I hope this gives the residents of Surrey a voice. I hope they will be heard and I hope everyone is able to make an informed decision.”
Bennett has long been an advocate against the Surrey Police Service, even telling Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth the move was “putting lives in danger.”
Despite this being a Surrey-focused issue, for the petition to be successful, Elections BC requires “at least 10 per cent of the registered voters in each of British Columbia’s 87 electoral districts.” The deadline to submit the required signatures is Nov. 15.
Since 1995, there have only been 14 similar petitions launched, and only one has been successful.
On Thursday, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said the petition was a “waste of money,” adding the most recent municipal election was, in essence, a referendum on the transition.
“Cities should be governed by the people who live in them, not from other cities around the province,” McCallum said.
No firm date has been set for when the transition to the Surrey Police Service will be complete. A Surrey Police Transition Trilateral Committee is currently looking at some time in the fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer filled with relief and grief following acquittal in death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.