Surrey council votes to scrap police transition, B.C. public safety minister responds

Surrey city council voted 6-3 to reinstate the RCMP and to stop the transition to a municipal police force Monday night.

Halting the transition to a municipal police force was a key campaign promise of Mayor Brenda Locke's. With the latest vote by council, that promise is one step closer to being kept. 

“They have been the police for 70 years in Surrey and they have done an extraordinary job,” said Mayor Brenda Locke, adding that the city can’t afford to move forward with the transition.

According to a staff report, stopping the police transition would save taxpayers an estimated $235.4 million over five years. Locke said the price of staying the course and replacing the Mounties with the Surrey Police Service is simply too high,

"For the residents of this city, for the budget of this city, (it's) enormous,” Locke said on Tuesday.

“It is really important to the taxpayer that we do our very best to take care of the taxpayer dollars. And I think this report was very clear that this city is going to, must stick to the RCMP,” she continued.

However, the reports estimate is being disputed, with critics saying it is not accurate.

The SPS, for its part, says that the cost of the transition over five years is $99 million, less than half of the figure Locke cited.

“How many times can you flip flop? And if it's not this issue, is that another issue for a municipality? I don't think it serves the citizens of surrey to go through this exercise perhaps every four years,” said Chief Norm Lipinski .

The SPS said it's disappointed it wasn't consulted, adding that the report doesn’t factor in other costs, including the money already spent on infrastructure as well as severance and firing 375 employees who will be without a job if the transition is stopped.

The plan is slated to be sent to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth by Thursday.

CTV News spoke to Farnworth on Tuesday about what he will be looking for when he reviews the plan.

“The critical priority for me as solicitor general is whatever plan is presented ensures it’s safe and adequate policing remains in Surrey,” he said.

“And also how they would propose to re-staff. And, at the same time, I have to ensure that does not impinge on safe and adequate policing in the rest of the province,” he continued.

Re-staffing may be tricky as a recent survey by the Surrey Police Union found that 94 per cent of its membership are not interested in joining the Mounties.