Premier David Eby said there will be no more money for the City of Surrey beyond $150 million that was promised by Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth this past summer to help the city shoulder the cost of transitioning to the Surrey Police Service from the Surrey RCMP.
鈥淭here is no more money,鈥� Eby told reporters in Victoria on Monday. 鈥淭here is no more money. There is $150 million on the table Surrey hasn鈥檛 taken us up on. They have a surplus in their policing budget, they have a surplus overall, there is no more money.
鈥淗aving that shadow-boxing discussion about money on line items that we don鈥檛 have awareness of, don鈥檛 know what the mayor鈥檚 talking about when she says there is more costs, it鈥檚 just impossible.鈥�
But Mayor Brenda Locke maintains those 鈥渓ine items鈥� can be found in the city鈥檚 Oct. 13 petition to the Supreme Court of British Columbia seeking a judicial review of Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth鈥檚 July 19 order for the city to continue with the transition to the SPS, contrary to the wishes of council鈥檚 majority.
鈥淗e needs to look at the petition, it鈥檚 outlined in the petition,鈥� Locke told the Now-Leader on Tuesday. 鈥淢aybe he hasn鈥檛 had a chance to look at it yet.鈥�
鈥淚 find it pretty disrespectful on behalf of both the premier and his solicitor general that they don鈥檛 lift a phone and call, they would rather do this through the media,鈥� Locke said, 鈥渁nd I don鈥檛 comply to that.鈥�
鈥淚 think they don鈥檛 know what to do and they are trying to pressure me into withdrawing the petition,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淭hey want to have a simple solution to a very, very complicated situation and they鈥檙e having a hard time proving their case. I have asked them many times to tell me why they鈥檙e doing this.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got 72 years of RCMP doing a great job for the City of Surrey, we鈥檝e got a crime severity index that has declined for over a decade and all of a sudden now we鈥檙e saying they鈥檙e no longer keeping Surrey safe? I beg to differ.鈥�
The court petition claims the promised $150 million 鈥� which the city has not yet received 鈥� would leave Surrey with a shortfall of $85.4 million from fiscal years 2023 to 2027 鈥渆xclusive of anticipated capital costs.鈥�
Locke maintains the $150 million being offered toward the cost of the transition is not nearly enough to avoid massive tax increases for Surrey residents and would leave a funding shortfall of more than $314 million. The city estimates that, excluding costs of the transition, the SPS will annually cost $31.9 million more than keeping the RCMP and that dissolving the SPS to retain the Surrey RCMP would save Surrey about $235.4 million over the next five years.
鈥淟et me be very clear again 鈥� I will not sit on the sidelines and accept a provincial plan that will cost Surrey taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, lead to significant tax increases, and that will deliver no public safety benefit,鈥� she said during council鈥檚 regular meeting on Oct. 16.
The following day, Eby told reporters that the provincial government 鈥渉as committed to Surrey that we will support them, we understand their additional costs here, we will be working with that and I鈥檓 happy to have those discussions with Surrey.鈥�
Meantime, Locke sent a letter out to fellow mayors on Oct. 20 stating Surrey鈥檚 case, charging the provincial government with 鈥渃reating an environment for policing instability in the region鈥� and that it鈥檚 鈥渢rying to take power over policing away from local governments.鈥�
She added in her letter she will be seeking 鈥渉undreds of millions more from the Province to protect Surrey taxpayers鈥� if it has the ability through 鈥渦nprecedented legislation鈥� to force the transition ahead.
If Surrey doesn鈥檛 maintain the RCMP as its police of jurisdiction, she told the mayors, Surrey鈥檚 share of division adminstrative costs 鈥� $32 million per year 鈥� will 鈥渘eed to be absorbed by all other municipalities across B.C. that continue to have RCMP provide policing services.鈥�
Locke told the Now-Leader she sent the letter 鈥渓etting them know that this is not just something that鈥檚 going to impact Surrey, that if you鈥檙e an RCMP jurisdiction you鈥檙e going to get hit with significant costs.鈥�
