Mounties can't work for SPS: union
Minister disputes need to change federal law for Surrey transition
The union that represents RCMP officers says that without a change in federal law, its members cannot work under the Surrey Police Service if the city department takes over as the command force later in the transition from the Mounties.
If true, it could present an obstacle to the changeover.
Just a day after Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke rejected $250 million in aid from the province this week for the transition, which her party opposes because it wants to keep the RCMP, the National Police Federation issued a statement saying there is no mechanism for any member of the RCMP to work under the command of a municipal police force.
The B.C. government said this week it wants to set a date for the command takeover by the Surrey Police Service, with more details to be released soon. SPS officers have been working under the command of the RCMP for more than two years during the controversial transition.
The union said it was misleading for B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth to say this week that it could happen without federal legislative changes. Farnworth disagrees with the union's assessment.
Brian Sauvé, president and CEO of National Police Federation, said Thursday that having RCMP officers work under the SPS is simply more complicated than the province is making out and cannot take place under the existing rules without each individual Mountie's informed consent and voluntary participation.
He said he has yet to see a plan for how it is going to work, for example, how RCMP officers would be given work assignments under a municipal force or what rules for use-of-force they would follow.
“Let's be clear. I'm not saying there's going to be any red flu,” Sauvé told Postmedia, referring to the Mounties' red serge dress uniforms and a refusal to work under the SPS. “I'm not saying they can't and I'm not saying they won't, but it's more complicated than just saying tomorrow the SPS is police of jurisdiction and all RCMP will work for them.”
Sauvé added that RCMP members have expressed concerns about working under the command of the SPS and the union cannot, in good conscience, allow its members to work in such a politically charged and unstable environment.
Farnworth has said a transition plan is in place and that last month the province and the federal government agreed in principle that the transition plan would not require federal legislative amendments and would ensure the RCMP can support the SPS as the police in command, often called the police of jurisdiction.
On Thursday, in response to the RCMP union's concerns, Farnworth told reporters at the B.C. legislature that the structure of policing in British Columbia is decided in British Columbia, not in Ottawa or in Surrey.
“The law in the province of British Columbia is that Surrey will be policed by the Surrey Police Service and it is the responsibility of management and union to work within that,” said Farnworth.
The province passed legislation in 2023 to require the transition to the municipal police force in Surrey.
On Thursday, neither the federal Public Safety Department nor the RCMP would immediately respond to the National Police Federation's concerns and what is needed for the RCMP to work under the SPS.
Almost 400 police officers and support staff have been hired by the SPS during the transition, while the RCMP Surrey detachment is authorized for just over 1,000 people, but has been dwindling as the SPS ramps up.
The Surrey police dispute is entering its 18th month.
Locke and her majority council have been fighting since their election in the fall of 2022 to keep the RCMP, largely because the force is less expensive. Under former mayor Doug McCallum, a 2019 transition plan argued Surrey was the largest city in Canada without its own municipal force, which would bring oversight to the local level instead of Ottawa and be more responsive to changing conditions and demands, and more representative of the community. The increased cost of the SPS over the RCMP has been estimated by the province at up to $30 million a year, or about 15 per cent more than the RCMP.
Initially, the B.C. government offered $150 million over five years to offset costs of the transition and then added an offer of $20 million annually in the succeeding five years to cover the difference in cost between RCMP and the Surrey Police Service.
The B.C. NDP government has pushed to continue the transition, in part because it argues returning to the RCMP in Surrey would be at the expense of staffing other RCMP vacancies in the province. The City of Surrey has a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court trying to overturn the government's decision to force the transition. A five-day hearing is scheduled for April 29.