PUBLIC Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth on Thursday, following the favourable decision in the Surrey police transition judicial review litigation said: “People in Surrey want this to be over. I am hopeful that today’s ruling is the time to come together to complete the transition to the Surrey Police Service.

“The safety of people in Surrey and across British Columbia has always been my main priority. Every action I have taken has been rooted in ensuring safe and effective policing so that when people call 911, help is on the way.

“This ruling helps to provide certainty for the future of policing in Surrey, and I look forward to continuing that work.”

BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo said in his ruling: “The provincial legislature is entitled to enact legislation even where its intention is to overcome a legal proceeding, as in this case.”

Full ruling:

www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/24/08/2024BCSC0881.htm

ON Wednesday, Premier David Eby, when asked about his thoughts on the Surrey Police Service controversy in an interview to The VOICE that covered a raft of issues, said the following:

“Well, it’s a very frustrating thing. We’re very clear that we are going ahead with the transition that was started by the mayor [Brenda Locke] and her colleagues on Council to the Surrey Police Service. It’s too far along to go back without causing serious problems. And so we’ve been trying to work with Surrey, guaranteeing to cover the costs of transition. If the costs were more than we expected, we offered them a guarantee of millions more dollars to ensure that taxpayers were protected. The mayor turned down that deal. She’s decided to spend money on lawyers fighting us in court on a case that she’s going to lose. And we all know where this is going. So let’s take a step back and reflect on the fact that Surrey is the fastest growing city probably in Canada and certainly in British Columbia that needs big support on challenges that growth brings where we have to work closely together, and to fight this battle when it’s over. And she raised some important issues about costs of transition which we have addressed as government. But now it’s deeply personal for her and I hope that when the court case is concluded, that we’re able to come back together and do some work for the people of Surrey at the local government and provincial government level.”