Vaughn Palmer: Don't be surprised if Surrey's plan to transition back to the RCMP is rejected again
Opinion: Farnworth is echoing publicly what some New Democrats are saying privately: that too much time has elapsed to go back
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VICTORIA — Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth dropped a hint this week about where he’s leaning in the lengthy back and forth over policing services in Surrey.
It happened as Farnworth fielded Opposition questions — more like accusations really — about the time it is taking to vet Surrey council’s plan to abandon its stand-alone police force and transition back to the RCMP.
Farnworth sent back the initial plan for restaffing Surrey’s RCMP detachment, finding it “lacking” in terms of providing adequate policing services.
A revised plan was received just last week and is now being assessed by his ministry.
“But I’ll tell that member this,” said Farnworth, pointing across the floor to Opposition MLA Shirley Bond, herself a former solicitor-general. “If a plan came forward that said, ‘We’re going to restaff Surrey by taking members from Prince George or taking members from Coquitlam or taking members from the North Shore,’ it would not pass muster on this side of the house.
Nor, “I expect, on that side of the house,” he added, again gesturing toward Bond and her B.C. Liberal colleagues.
Not a coincidence that Farnworth mentioned Prince George, because Bond is also a longtime MLA for that city.
I expect it was also a calculated move by Farnworth to refer, in a backhanded way, to the possibility that the RCMP detachment in Surrey would be restaffed with officers transferred from other parts of the province.
If that were indeed the proposal, Farnworth would be well within his rights as solicitor-general to reject the plan because of the impact on policing services elsewhere in B.C.
He is looking for a plan that will ensure adequate policing services in Surrey without impacting the rest of the province.
Against that backdrop, not surprising that he would have seized on an example of where the transition back to the RCMP in Surrey could have a spillover effect elsewhere in B.C.
Farnworth faced a second line of questioning about the cost of shutting down the Surrey Police Service (SPS) with its 400 officers and civilian staff already hired.
The B.C. Liberals say the police contract contains a “poison pill” in the form of a provision of “18 months severance for as little as six months work.”
The source for that accusation was Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke. As a councillor, she was an initial supporter of the move to the SPS. As mayor, she is now leading the drive to reverse direction.
Locke cited the looming severance tab as justification for her projection — announced on a Saturday — of a 17.5-per-cent property tax increase to pay for the reversal on policing services.
The B.C. Liberals say the New Democrats must have known about the severance provision because they approved the initial transition plan for moving from the RCMP to the SPS.
“This government and this premier signed off on it,” fumed Trevor Halford, B.C. Liberal MLA for Surrey-White Rock. “Now, Surrey residents are stuck with it.”
Farnworth denied having any hand in the terms of the contract with the police force.
“Contracts are negotiated between the police board and the City of Surrey and their police department.”
When Halford repeated the accusation, Farnworth replied in shorthand: “Do some homework, member. I didn’t sign off on the contract.”
The New Democrats can be faulted for not ordering an independent audit of the cost of sticking with the SPS or going back to the RCMP. They had time to do so in the wake of last October’s civic results in Surrey.
But I don’t see how the provincial government can be blamed for the terms of a contract that Surrey itself negotiated when it moved to set up the stand-alone police force.
Nor is it surprising that Surrey’s provisions had to be generous to attract officers and staff, given that there was talk of going back to the RCMP almost from the moment the SPS opened its doors.
Besides, as one cabinet minister said recently, does anyone seriously think that an NDP government would repudiate a labour contract that was negotiated and signed in good faith? The B.C. Liberals broke contracts and they were slapped down by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Farnworth dropped another hint about his leanings when he referred to the time that has lapsed since Surrey first embarked on the transition from the RCMP to the SPS.
“They subsequently, after almost three years of transition, decided to move back to the RCMP,” added Farnworth, echoing publicly what some New Democrats are saying privately: that too much time has elapsed to go back.
For now, his ministry is vetting the latest transition proposal with an eye to ensuring that it provides adequate policing services, and not just in Surrey — “for the entire province,” emphasized Farnworth when the Liberals raised the issue again on Wednesday.
Asked how long before a decision, Farnworth suggested it was a matter of weeks, not days, but also not months.
However, as things stand today, don’t be surprised if, for the second time, Farnworth rejects Surrey’s plan to transition back to the RCMP.
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