Surrey council acts to keep promise to end RCMP contract

The City of Surrey has served notice that it is terminating its contract with the RCMP and starting the process to create a municipal police force.

“I believe very strongly that Surrey has outgrown the RCMP,” Mayor Doug McCallum said on Monday, at the city’s first council meeting following the Oct. 20 municipal election.

It was the first of two major campaign promises that McCallum and his new council set in motion after they took their oaths of office. The second was scrapping the Surrey-Newton-Guildford at-grade light rail line.

“Our commitment is strong, it’s solid and we intend to fulfil all the promises that we’ve made in the past three or four months to you,” McCallum said.

McCallum said during the election campaign that he wants the city to have a municipal force that is governed by a local police board. A motion that passed unanimously directed staff to immediately create a Surrey Police Department and notify the federal and provincial governments that the city is ending its RCMP contract. Surrey RCMP’s officer in charge, Assistant Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, said the motion was expected and he sees it as a business or political decision. Until a new force has been established, McDonald said the RCMP will continue to provide “top-notch” policing services.

After the meeting, McCallum told reporters that he had met with Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, whose responsibility it is to ensure adequate and effective policing in B.C., and read a statement from Farnworth.

“I accept the City of Surrey wants their own police force, therefore I’ve instructed my staff to work with the City of Surrey staff as they create their transition plan, and I’m looking forward to receiving it.”

On the transit front, the $1.65-billion light-rail line had approval and funding from three levels of government. TransLink has already spent $50 million on planning for light rail, and the city has spent $20 million in pre-construction work.

A motion, which also passed unanimously, directed city staff to stop all work on the project and start working with TransLink on a SkyTrain extension.