No Time for ‘Games’: BC Solicitor General Gives Deadline for Surrey Policing Report

B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on April 11, 2022. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

British Columbia’s solicitor general accuses the City of Surrey of playing games around its decision to retain the RCMP as its policing agency.

Mike Farnworth issued a statement saying he became concerned last Wednesday after learning a report on the future of policing in the city that hadn’t been shared with the province was nevertheless going before council.

Farnworth says he asked Mayor Brenda Locke to give them the report and delay the vote until they could agree on what was safest for the people of Surrey.

Instead, he says, council voted on the report before he had a chance to determine if it would ensure safe and effective policing.

Locke announced on Friday that a majority on council had voted to revert to the RCMP well into the transition to the Surrey Police Service, saying the change back would be far less costly than going with the independent force.

The report was supposed to be sent to the provincial government last week, and Farnworth has given the city a deadline of Monday afternoon, otherwise he says he'll be forced to make a determination on safe policing without it.

“It is critical that I receive this report. Now is not the time to play games. The safety of people in Surrey is too important.”