B.C. suspends Surrey police board, Brenda Locke out as chair

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Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has suspended the entire Surrey police board and removed Mayor Brenda Locke as chair.

It is the latest salvo in a battle between the province and the City of Surrey, which has resisted the government’s efforts to force through the transition from the Surrey RCMP to the Surrey Police Service.

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Farnworth appointed former Abbotsford police chief Mike Serr as the administrator of the police board to assist with the transition to the Surrey Police Service. Serr will be the sole member of the police board.

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“It’s no secret that this has been a complex issue. It is the largest policing transition in history in this province,” Farnworth told reporters in Victoria on Thursday afternoon. “The mayor has her views on this transition, and I’ve made it clear that the transition will continue.”

“Once again, the province is demonstrating that their approach is nothing short of a provincial police takeover in Surrey,” Locke said late Thursday. “The move to suspend the Surrey Police Board and replace it with an administrator completely removes civilian oversight and governance of policing, and was done without any consultation with the city. In effect, the minister has removed checks and balances.”

Locke went on to say the province is attempting to force Surrey into an “expensive police transition and a double-digit tax hike, but now they are taking control of policing away from the duly elected government to force through their expensive, disorganized, and flawed plan.”

Former solicitor general Kash Heed said he was “dumbfounded” by the “draconian measures” taken by Farnworth. By removing the arms-length, civically appointed oversight of the police department and installing a one-person “dictatorship,” Heed said the decision will further inflame an already heated situation.

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“The smouldering ashes have now turned into pouring gasoline on the fire,” said Heed, who now sits as a councillor in Richmond.

Farnworth made the decision to remove the police board following a recommendation by Jessica McDonald, the former B.C. Hydro CEO who was appointed this summer to oversee the transition. Farnworth made clear that the suspension is temporary and board members will resume their roles when the administrator’s work concludes.

He insisted the board members did nothing wrong, but the move will speed up the process and ensure a more efficient transition.

“This is not a reflection on the board members, whom I think have worked incredibly hard and done outstanding work on what has been a very challenging issue,” Farnworth said.

The Surrey Police Union, which represents SPS officers, backed Serr’s appointment. Serr retired as chief of the Abbotsford Police Department in 2023 after a 33-year policing career.

“The decision to suspend the Surrey Police Board should not overshadow their commitment and diligence to our members and the residents of Surrey. The board members have done an outstanding job in shepherding Surrey Police Service through an unprecedented policing transition,” union president Rick Stewart said in a statement. “However, the time has come for this policing transition to be expedited with a more streamlined process that will allow all parties to work toward the completion of the project.”

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The move comes a month after Farnworth introduced changes to the Police Act that will force Surrey to continue its transition to a municipal force and prevent similar battles in the future.

The legislation gave the province the power to remove members of the Surrey police board and appoint an administrator to carry out the police transition. In July, Farnworth ordered Surrey to continue with the transition to a municipal force, despite protest from Locke who said she was elected on a mandate to keep the RCMP.

Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley who has been closely following the saga, said the dismissal of the entire police board is “unprecedented”.

“We have seen school boards removed before, but I can’t think of a police board being removed,” Telford said.

Surrey’s experiment to replace its police force and the subsequent attempt to reverse that decision is a first in Canada, Telford said.

“Clearly, it has not gone well,” he said. “And we’ve seen a series of escalating steps” between the province and the City of Surrey.

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The city filed a lawsuit last month in an effort to halt the transition from the RCMP to a municipal police force. This came after a terse letter from the provincial director of police services to Locke, scolding her and Surrey officials for dragging their feet on the transition.

Glen Lewis said the transition to the Surrey Police Service has been hampered by “lack of leadership and engagement by city council and city staff.”

The province has offered $150 million in provincial cash to help with the transition, but Locke has said that is nowhere near enough to cover the ballooning costs, which the city estimates will be $464 million over 10 years.

The province has been skeptical of those figures which is why Serr will have the ability to analyze police budget documents.

kderosa@postmedia.com

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