The City of Surrey says it will file a petition with the Supreme Court of British Columbia for a judicial review of the provincial government’s order forcing it to continue the transition to a municipal police force.
The city was in the process of reverting to the RCMP when the provincial government ordered it to resume the shift to the Surrey Police Service.
The court filing is the latest in a series of years-long disagreements over which force should police the city east of Vancouver.
Surrey was in the process of moving to the municipal force from the RCMP when Brenda Locke was elected as mayor on a promise to stop the transition.
Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s solicitor general, ordered the process stopped earlier this year, citing public safety as a concern and noting the RCMP had 1,500 vacancies.
In a letter advising Farnworth of the court petition, Locke says the city can’t accept the extraordinary burden that taxpayers will face because of the province’s order.
“While the Police Act states the minister is responsible for ensuring an adequate and effective level of policing and law enforcement throughout B.C., it does not authorize the minister to choose the model of policing for a municipality,” the letter says.
The petition being filed with the court asks it to quash the provincial government’s decision directing the city to continue the change to the Surrey Police Service.
It also asks the court to declare the provincial government is “without lawful authority” to assign which force polices the city when the province hasn’t provided the resources needed to fulfil the responsibility.
When Farnworth made the policing announcement in July, he committed $150 million to Surrey to help with the transition to the independent force, saying he didn’t want those costs to be passed on to residents and businesses.
However, the petition to the court says the transition costs will be much higher.
“The minister ignored those higher costs and how they could compromise the adequacy of the policing in Surrey,” the petition says.
Farnworth said he was extremely disappointed in the Surrey’s decision to “spend significant taxpayer dollars on lawyers, trying to further delay the transition to the Surrey Police Service, by taking legal action against the province.”
He said in a statement that the people of Surrey want the uncertainly to end over their police force.
Farnworth says he’ll introduce legislation on Monday that will “provide clarity” and will set out a clear process for any municipality that wants to change it’s police force.
“This legislation won’t be a surprise to the City of Surrey, we’ve discussed our intentions publicly over the past few months and city staff have been thoroughly briefed on its contents.”
