A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved his decision on the City of Surreysa国际传媒檚 judicial review petition aimed at quashing Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 July 19, 2023 order that the RCMP must be replaced by the Surrey Police Service.

Justice Kevin Loo did this after hearing final submissions May 3, concluding a five-day hearing that began April 29 in Vancouver.

sa国际传媒淚 am aware of the urgency of the matter,sa国际传媒� Loo said. sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檒l make no specific promises except to say that I will do my best to get you a decision as quickly as reasonably possible. In conclusion Isa国际传媒檒l just say that the excellence of counsel this week is not surprising, but Isa国际传媒檓 grateful for it nonetheless, and Isa国际传媒檓 thankful for your thoughtful, very considered and eloquent submissions.sa国际传媒�

During final submissions, Craig Dennis, the lawyer representing the City of Surrey, said the sa国际传媒渆nd resultsa国际传媒� was that Farnworth imposed the SPS on Surrey sa国际传媒渨ith nobody, nobodysa国际传媒� having done a comprehensive assessment of the impacts.

sa国际传媒淚n my submission, this is too large an undertaking to impose without those impacts having been assessed,sa国际传媒� Dennis told Loo.

Dennis said the provincial governmentsa国际传媒檚 position involved a sa国际传媒渞ecastingsa国际传媒� of the Citysa国际传媒檚 arguments. sa国际传媒淚t shifts the terms of reference away from what the Citysa国际传媒檚 actually argued. Again, respectfully, in doing so it hasnsa国际传媒檛 grappled with the crux of the positions,sa国际传媒� Dennis said.

Trevor Bant, representing the provincial government, argued that concerning any meeting between Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and Premier David Eby regarding the policing transition, sa国际传媒渢heresa国际传媒檚 no suggestion here in the evidence that there was any agreement about the substance of the decision the minister was going to make.sa国际传媒� At any rate, he added, nothing discussed between the premier and mayor sa国际传媒渃ould fetter the ministersa国际传媒檚 discretion.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he statutory power of decision was the ministersa国际传媒檚 and the administrative law required him to exercise, to make that decision independently. It would not be lawful for the minister to implement the decision that had been made by someone else in government and communicated to him.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 say that the ministersa国际传媒檚 decision is reasonable and the City has not shown that it is unreasonable,sa国际传媒� Bant said. sa国际传媒淭he fact that all of the details werensa国际传媒檛 yet worked out for Phase 2, that doesnsa国际传媒檛 make the decision unreasonable.sa国际传媒�

Bant told Loo that while the minister is sa国际传媒渁ppropriately sensitivesa国际传媒� to costs, ultimately his statutory responsibility is to ensure sa国际传媒渁n adequate and effective level of policing is maintained throughout British Columbia.

sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 fundamentally focused on public safety, and after he reached the conclusion that the plan was not safe, that was really the end of the analysis, for him,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 understand the City to take the position that cost is a sufficient reason to set aside the decision. That is, I donsa国际传媒檛 understand the City to be saying even if the minister was right, that the plan was dangerous, still he should have approved it because of cost. Rather I take the City to be saying that the additional cost is not justified by any public safety benefit.sa国际传媒�

Bant argued that the $75-million difference per year between the cost of the SPS versus the RCMP is based on an sa国际传媒渁pples to orangessa国际传媒� comparison of 734 Mounties compared to 900 SPS officers.

sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 not a like-to-like comparison,sa国际传媒� he said, nor does it take into account severance obligations at $113.3 million for SPS officers and management, according to the Citysa国际传媒檚 estimate.

Meantime, Dennis turned to Bantsa国际传媒檚 argument that the statutory authority Farnworth possessed was the power sa国际传媒渕erely to approve, or not, the Citysa国际传媒檚 plan to keep the RCMP.

sa国际传媒淓ven if that were so, thatsa国际传媒檚 not the decision the minister made, and it is not therefore the statutory authority the respondents have defined,sa国际传媒� Dennis maintained. sa国际传媒淭he minister did not merely disapprove the Citysa国际传媒檚 plan, which would entail presumably sending the City back to the drawing board. Instead, the minister purported to order that the SPS be the method of policing in Surrey.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淎nd as I listened to my friend,sa国际传媒� Dennis said, referring to Bant, sa国际传媒淚 did not hear an attempt to argue the minister had that power.

sa国际传媒淢y friend, however, in his submissions was at pains to describe a different, lesser power sa国际传媒� all the minister could consider was public safety and all he could do was approve the Citysa国际传媒檚 plan, or not,sa国际传媒� Dennis continued. sa国际传媒淚f my friend is right about that, and even on my friendsa国际传媒檚 terms, the minister exceeded his jurisdiction because he did much more than simply approve or not the Citysa国际传媒檚 plan.sa国际传媒�

Dennis said Surrey has never claimed or implied that a policy is entitled to charter protection but rather sought for protection of the integrity of the civic election, sa国际传媒渋n which Surrey voters, having been given a choice over policing, exercised that choice through voting, saw their representatives seek to implement that choice, and then saw the Province nullify that choice through legislation.sa国际传媒�

Dennis argued that Farnworth only has the powers sa国际传媒渃onferred to him by the statute; he cannot exercise powers beyond what the legislation conferred.sa国际传媒�

Last week, Loo sealed information related to SPS operation plans and policies concerning covert and undercover operations, precise RCMP/SPS staffing levels and RCMP contingency plans, finding sa国际传媒渁n important public interest at stake.sa国际传媒�

The judge heard about a deal reached between Locke and Eby, contained in an affidavit from a political advisor and note-taker for the mayor, before Farnworth sa国际传媒渞enegedsa国际传媒� on it. Bant argued itsa国际传媒檚sa国际传媒渋rrelevantsa国际传媒� whether they struck a deal on the citysa国际传媒檚 policing transition before Farnworth issued his edict July 19, 2023.

Dennis argued Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 order to press on with SPS is akin to replacing the sa国际传媒渨inner with the runner-upsa国际传媒� by overriding Surrey councilsa国际传媒檚 desire under Locke to keep the RCMP and enforcing the previous councilsa国际传媒檚 desire, under former mayor Doug McCallum, to install the SPS as the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.

Bant argued that Surrey councilsa国际传媒檚 mandate to keep the RCMP is not protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the City understood Farnworth had the power to make a decision on the future of policing in Surrey but only objected when it didnsa国际传媒檛 get its way.