SURREY Mayor Brenda Locke on Thursday told the media following the ruling by BC Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo that dismissed the City’s petition for judicial review in connection to the police transition: “The fact is that the court challenge has revealed huge holes in this transition to the [Surrey Police Service] on multiple levels and the true cost will have an extremely, extremely onerous impact on the City of Surrey and especially on Surrey taxpayers.”
Locke said: “As you all know, the judicial challenge did not go the way that we in Surrey had hoped it would, but as I have said all along I would respect the decision of the honourable Justice Loo and I do.”
However, she added later: “We are all still looking and our legal team is still looking and considering the decision that was rendered today.”
She also pointed out: “We only just received the decision hours ago. There’s a lot for us to fully understand and look at and understand.”
Answering questions from the media, she said: “I haven’t said we are going to appeal and I haven’t said we are not going to appeal.” She also said: “Hopefully we’ll have some information for you in the coming week.”
Addressing the media, Locke noted: “[Justice Loo] did find in his reasons for judgment that the court has confirmed it will be more expensive for Surrey to transition to the Surrey Police Service when compared to maintaining the RCMP both by way of transition cost and incremental annual cost.”
She said that was made clear in the government’s own commissioned third party report that was done by Deloitte “that found that the cost will be more in the range of $75 million per year based on 900 officers, not the $30 million that had been based on 734 officers, and that [SPS] Chief [Norm] Lipinski was not being forthright when he told Council that he did not know how many SPS officers would be needed to staff up.”
She added: “Clearly he had a figure in mind when he gave that information for the Deloitte report. All this information only came to light as the result of the City’s court challenge.”
Locke said: “The tax burden facing Surrey residents is the reason why the majority of the members of this Council and I have fought so very hard to put an end to this transition and, to be clear, if there had been no transition there would have been no — zero — tax increase in the City of Surrey in 2024.”
She said: “Next, there will be a decision that Council as a whole will be making. The fact remains that the majority of Council continues to be concerned with the financial burden this transition is placing on our taxpayers. The Deloitte report clearly states that the extra cost upon the transition will be in the range of $75 million more every year and frankly that massive cost increase will result in some very difficult choices to be made ahead not only for taxation but for other infrastructure projects as well in our very rapidly growing city.”
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