National Police Federation slams B.C. over Surrey policing transition
Their job is to keep Surrey’s streets safe – but their future employment remains tangled up in politics.
“It’s unfortunate that policing in the City of Surrey and the province of B.C. has become politicized,” said Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation.
The NPF, which is the largest police union in Canada, representing more than 20,000 RCMP officers, is slamming the provincial government.
Sauve said, “This is just an example of how not to do a police transition.”
The federation is accusing B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth of “misleading” statements, and demanding to know details of the transition plan that will see the Surrey Police Service replace the RCMP.
“We’ve been asking the province for a long time for that plan. So, if there is one, which the minister alluded to, where is it? What is it? And can we help you get there?” asked Sauve.
“We’ve asked for numerous meetings with the ministry since this transition started and we have had radio silence,” he said.
But Farnworth said in the legislature Thursday that he’s made no misleading statements, and there’s no question “when it comes to Surrey, and in fact policing and the structure of policing in British Columbia” that the province has the final say.
Earlier this week, Surrey rejected the B.C. government’s offer of financial help – to the tune of up to $250 million – with the transition to the SPS.
“The package the City of Surrey rejected was not about whether the transition should continue. That decision’s been made,” Farnworth said.
CTV News has repeatedly asked Mayor Brenda Locke for an interview on the reasons behind the refusal, but so far she has been unavailable.
However, a city spokesperson said a major stumbling block for Surrey is that the city has not seen a transition plan.
“The City of Surrey has maintained the position that it needs a plan. It needs a transition plan. It needs to find out, for example, can RCMP officers continue to work for the Surrey Police Service board? That is highly unlikely, but that is necessary if this transition were ever to take place,” said Peter German, a consultant for Surrey.
He said there are no markers in terms of deadlines for the transition and too many unanswered questions about how the transition would unfold.
“If you end up in a scenario where you have two police chiefs – if that’s what’s contemplated, that the RCMP cover part of Surrey and the Surrey police Service covers another part of Surrey – I mean, does that make any sense?” German asked.
Meanwhile, the NPF has called the work environment for RCMP members in Surrey “unstable.”
“We’ve heard loud and clear from our members in Surrey that they are apprehensive about working under the command of the Surrey Police Service,” said Sauve.
Farnworth has promised that more details on the transition plan for Surrey will be revealed next week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.