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Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke announced Monday that the city will be taking another step forward to stop the police transition to the Surrey Police Service.
“Today we are taking a significant step to stop the NDP police service,” Locke said at a press conference.
“As a result of the province’s attempted police takeover, which would require a double-digit NDP tax hike on Surrey taxpayers, we are challenging the constitutionally of the province’s latest legislation.
“Surrey voters deserve to have their voices heard.”
Last week, British Columbia’s public safety minister and solicitor general put the Surrey Police Board on ice, in the latest move to force the city to complete its transition to a municipal police force.
Mike Farnworth announced that he had suspended all of the board’s members, and that former Abbotsford police chief Mike Serr has been appointed as administrator to fulfil their functions on the Surrey Police Board.
In October, Farnworth introduced legislation to force the city to complete its transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) from the RCMP. The legislation comes with provincial powers to appoint an administrator to replace board members and act in their stead.
Locke said she and her team ran on a platform that was clear that they would stop the police transition and keep the RCMP in Surrey.
“We said the original estimates regarding the transition timelines and costs were completely unrealistic and we were right,” she said.
“After the municipal election, the province said that we had the option to put forward a plan to keep the RCMP.
“It is now clear that the province had other plans in mind. This government does not have the right to run roughshod on every local government that doesn’t bend to their way.”
The province has not yet responded to Locke’s announcement Monday.
More to come.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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