Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says she refuses to take marching orders from a bureaucrat in Victoria after the provincesa国际传媒檚 director of police services fired off a sa国际传媒渞udesa国际传媒� letter to her on Oct. 4 protesting that a lack of leadership and engagement at Surrey City Hall is causing concerning delays to the citysa国际传媒檚 policing transition.

sa国际传媒淭he letter was disappointing but itsa国际传媒檚 inaccurate and itsa国际传媒檚 obviously trying to point blame but itsa国际传媒檚 completely inaccurate, his statements are completely inaccurate, he doesnsa国际传媒檛 know the picture on the ground and I guess the other piece is I have no idea why Glen Lewis would be writing me,sa国际传媒� Locke told the Now-Leader Tuesday (Oct. 10).

sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 a bureaucrat, he should be writing bureaucrats. If the minister wants to say something to us hesa国际传媒檚 welcome to say something but itsa国际传媒檚 a little off protocol for a bureaucrat to be writing.sa国际传媒�

Assistant Deputy Minister Glen Lewis in his Oct. 4 letter to Locke lists sa国际传媒渟ignificantsa国际传媒� work that has been taken at senior levels of government since the city was advised in July that it must continue its transition to the Surrey Police Service, but says little has been done at the municipal level.

sa国际传媒淚t is my observation that this lack of progress and delay is due in large part to a lack of leadership and engagement by City Council and City staff,sa国际传媒� Lewis, also director of police services, writes.

sa国际传媒淚n my view, City staff have been only minimally engaged in select aspects of this work to date and are seemingly constrained by a lack of clear direction from the Mayor and Council to progress the transition.sa国际传媒�

City staff sa国际传媒渃onsistently state to its partners that they are instructed not to engage meaningfully in any worksa国际传媒� on the transition until council directs them to, Lewis adds.

Lewis in his letter to Locke writes sa国际传媒淚 strongly urge that the City rectify these matters forthwith and assume the leadership required to carry out its transition. To this end, I request a report back on the remedy of these items, in writing, from the City by the end of business day, October 13, 2023.sa国际传媒�

This rankles Locke. sa国际传媒淗e picks a short week, first of all, so he gives us basically five business days to respond to something thatsa国际传媒檇 theysa国际传媒檝e taken literally almost, what, eight, nine months to come to a conclusion on,sa国际传媒� she replied. sa国际传媒淚 think itsa国际传媒檚 rude and as I said, hesa国际传媒檚 a bureaucrat, hesa国际传媒檚 not going to instruct the mayor of a city what to do. Isa国际传媒檓 certainly not going to jump for a bureaucrat in Victoria.sa国际传媒�

Last month, following questions to SPS Chief Constable Norm Lipinski and Surrey RCMP Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards, Locke said the sa国际传媒渓eadership ballsa国际传媒� was in the provincesa国际传媒檚 court and that the province sa国际传媒渘eeds to make suresa国际传媒� that there is a path forward.sa国际传媒�

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sa国际传媒淭his council has done everything asked of us and within our authority to follow through on our obligation to determine the policing model for our city,sa国际传媒� Locke said at the time. sa国际传媒淢uch of the issues that we are dealing with are provincial and federal issues and that has become a lot of the stall.sa国际传媒�

A corporate report that came before council Sept. 11 concluded that although Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth had directed Surrey to forge ahead with the SPS, sa国际传媒渙utstanding challenges remainsa国际传媒� and development of a sa国际传媒渃omprehensive framework and planning documents is necessary for any transition to SPS.sa国际传媒�

Farnworth ordered city council on July 19, 2023 to carry on with the transition to the SPS from the Surrey RCMP, despite council having voted 5-4 in November 2022 to maintain the Mounties as the citysa国际传媒檚 police of jurisdiction.

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Locke and her Surrey Connect five-member majority campaigned on keeping the RCMP.

Other claims Lewis made in his letter include:

sa国际传媒� Cost-increase concerns expressed by Locke to Premier David Eby sa国际传媒渕ay be inaccurate and/or misrepresented.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒� The city failed to rectify its budget for the SPS following Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 July decision (in March 2023, the city allocated just $49 million to the first two quarters of the fiscal year, despite a 2023 provisional budget of approximately $160 million submitted by the Surrey Police Board last fall).

sa国际传媒� While Locke has sa国际传媒渟tated publicly to the mediasa国际传媒� that she had no input on formal terms of reference for the independent facilitator who was appointed to help facilitate the transition process, as of the lettersa国际传媒檚 date, she did not take opportunities that were provided to do so.

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Meantime, Surrey First Coun. Linda Annis issued a press release Oct. 6 suggesting Lewissa国际传媒檚 letter also reinforces that sa国际传媒減olitical egosa国际传媒� is playing a role in stalling the policing transition.

sa国际传媒淐learly, just like local taxpayers, the provincial government has had enough of the political foot dragging from Mayor Locke,sa国际传媒� Annis says, noting the inaction is costing taxpayers an extra $8 million per month, through having to pay for two police forces at the same time.

sa国际传媒淭he decision to move forward with the transition to the SPS has been made, and regardless of how Brenda Locke feels about it, she has a responsibility to get on with it. Instead, we are seeing a serious and calculated lack of progress that has its roots in political ego rather than doing whatsa国际传媒檚 good for Surrey.sa国际传媒�

Also last week, Safe Surrey Coalition councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra issued a press release attacking Locke.

sa国际传媒淢ayor Lockesa国际传媒檚 leadership has been marred by inaction and a lack of clear direction. We can no longer accept excuses for the delays she has caused. Itsa国际传媒檚 time for her to step up or step aside,sa国际传媒� Elford says.

Nagra echoed him.

sa国际传媒淲e understand the complexities of the transition, but Mayor Lockesa国际传媒檚 shocking refusal to meet with Public Safety staff to discuss Minister Mike Farnworthsa国际传媒檚 offer of $150 million in provincial cash to help with the transition is inexcusable,sa国际传媒� Nagra charged.

In reply to Annis, Elford and Nagra, Locke said the sa国际传媒渓evel of disrespect they have shown towards not only me but to council is enormous but Isa国际传媒檓 not going to respond to their comments, itsa国际传媒檚 all just political. I wish they spent more time trying to be ambassadors for this city, not constantly acting the way they do, but they choose to.sa国际传媒�

Meanwhile, Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman sent a letter to Farnworth on Oct. 4 concerning local businesses being saddled with a bigger tax bill in 2024 on account of two police forces operating in the city with no second-phase plan for replacing the Surrey RCMP with the Surrey Police Service.

Huberman also charged that since Jessica MacDonald was appointed as the liaison between the Provincial Government and the City of Surrey in the summer, sa国际传媒渘o public comments or materials have been released highlighting the work done thus far. We are deeply concerned with the lack of transparency and communication.sa国际传媒�

On that, Locke said she last met with MacDonald in August. sa国际传媒淚 believe shesa国际传媒檚 talked with some of the staff here but she hasnsa国际传媒檛 provided us with, at least that I know of, anything concrete so Isa国际传媒檓 not sure, but I do understand what the Surrey Board of Trade and Anita is talking about, and Isa国际传媒檓 concerned about it too. There is no question that the predicament that the minister has put the City of Surrey in is a very, very costly one and he may be doing it for the balance of the province, but for the City of Surrey, his decision is going to cost our residents significantly and all our taxpayers, including our business community.sa国际传媒�

Locke has on occasion complained that Farnworth isnsa国际传媒檛 contacting her personally. She said she last received a letter from him in mid-September. sa国际传媒淗esa国际传媒檚 finally admitting he doesnsa国际传媒檛 have a plan so fair enough, but somehow he wants us to create the plan and thatsa国际传媒檚 difficult,sa国际传媒� Locke said Oct. 10.

sa国际传媒淚 find it interesting they had been saying well there is a plan, we kept talking about it and now hesa国际传媒檚 saying there isnsa国际传媒檛 a plan, we need you to create the plan. Well, we have a plan sa国际传媒� our plan was to keep the RCMP and he said our vision isnsa国际传媒檛 his vision so he needs to share his vision.

sa国际传媒淚t seems to me Victoria has a pretty tough time picking up the phone,sa国际传媒� Locke said. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 know why they donsa国际传媒檛 have the courtesy of talking to a duly elected mayor and council. I donsa国际传媒檛 understand it. Itsa国际传媒檚 surprising, the behaviour is very surprising.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒� with files from Tracy Holmes.