FOLLOWING Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth’s announcement on Tuesday that the Surrey Police Service will become police of jurisdiction in Surrey on November 29, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said in a statement: “Aside from setting an aspirational date, nothing else has changed. Minister Farnworth’s “announcement” today is simply another desperate attempt by the Province to demonstrate some kind of progress on this issue, mere days before the matter is heard in court.”

She added: “Everything Minister Farnworth stated today confirms why the City of Surrey has consistently and repeatedly chosen to retain the RCMP. The reality is that despite the claims of transition progress over the last five years, substantial plans for this transition have never been completed. Minister Farnworth’s comments today raise more questions and doubts about the Province’s ability to responsibly navigate this matter in the best interests of public safety and the people of Surrey.”

The Mayor said: “The Solicitor General has set many dates and deadlines to push through the police transition in Surrey. Today, he has set a date when the police of jurisdiction will be transferred. The original transition concept from 2019, which Minister Farnworth approved, has consistently missed its own targets and is three years behind schedule. Now he is anxious to switch the police of jurisdiction saying that SPS will have the complement of officers needed by the end of November. Like many of his announcements, there are sparse details on how this “milestone” will be completed.”

Locke asserted: “The reality is that despite several public gestures of transition progress over the last five years, substantial plans for this transition have never been completed. There was no clear path forward then, and there remains no clear path forward now.”