Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 order to press on with the Surrey Police Service 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 Mayor Brenda 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.
Thatsa国际传媒檚 what Justice Kevin Loo heard Wednesday from lawyer Craig Dennis, representing the City of Surrey in its petition for a judicial review aimed at quashing Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 July 19, 2023 order to replace the RCMP with the SPS.
The provincial government, Dennis argued, sa国际传媒渉as nullified the mandate to keep the RCMP delivered to council by voters.sa国际传媒�
The five-day hearing began April 29 in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
sa国际传媒淚n purpose and effect, it controls the electoratesa国际传媒檚 attempt to convey meaning by significantly interfering with the vote, specifically by nullifying the electoral mandate that city council keep the RCMP in Surrey, and in the process it undermined the confidence Surrey residents can reasonably repose in their future elections. Where Canadians perceive elections to be unfair, voter apathy follows shortly thereafter,sa国际传媒� Dennis argued.
sa国际传媒淭he Province characterized councilsa国际传媒檚 resolutions as moves to revert to the RCMP. This ignores a fundamental point sa国际传媒� the SPS has never become Surreysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction. Surrey has only ever sought to keep the RCMP as its police of jurisdiction.
sa国际传媒淭he status quo then is the RCMP. Surreysa国际传媒檚 not meaning to revert to anything,sa国际传媒� Dennis noted. sa国际传媒淪urrey voters delivered a mandate in the 2022 municipal election for keeping the RCMP as Surreysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction. Access to the voting platform has already occurred. Far from seeking access to a platform, Surrey seeks to implement that mandate free from provincial interference.sa国际传媒�
Surrey never displaced the RCMP as police of jurisdiction, he pointed out. sa国际传媒淎s public opinion soured to the transition the 2021 citizenssa国际传媒� initiative first proposed a referendum being held. The 2022 election was then fought not on whether Surrey should revert to to the RCMP but whether it should keep the RCMP as its police of jurisdiction.sa国际传媒�
This, he said, was the sa国际传媒渞aison dsa国际传媒櫭猼resa国际传媒� of Lockesa国际传媒檚 Surrey Connect slate and was the central issue in the citysa国际传媒檚 2022 civic election, in which she defeated McCallum. sa国际传媒淭his only confirmed what should have been clear to all observers, that the election was centrally about the fate of Surrey policing and Surrey voters had spoken in favour of keeping the RCMP.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淪urrey voters delivered a mandate to keep the RCMP which is inextricable from the vote itself and the integrity of that electoral result, not the policy outcome, is what Surrey seeks to protect from provincial interference,sa国际传媒� Dennis told Loo.
sa国际传媒淭his is no small matter for municipal democracy,sa国际传媒� he said, noting that election results that fail to deliver results are bound to damage public confidence.
sa国际传媒淲hy vote if policies are not implemented? Why run for office, why participate?sa国际传媒�
