VANCOUVER — A long-running and fractious dispute between the British Columbia government and the City of Surrey over its police department has ended with a cash agreement.
Solicitor General Mike Farnworth says the deal sees the RCMP being replaced by the independent Surrey Police Service on Nov. 29 as part of a $250-million, 10-year agreement.
Farnworth says the deal ensures safety for the residents of the Metro Vancouver city and comes with a guarantee that the local government will not levy a police tax to cover transition costs over the next decade. It ends a bitter two-year process of name-calling and court action as Surrey's council attempted to go back to the RCMP amid a transition to the independent force.
The final agreement was reached after Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said last month she accepted a judicial review that ruled the province has the authority to complete the transition from the RCMP to the local force. Farnworth says Surrey council has accepted the government's $150 million transition offer, including an additional guarantee of $20 million over five years if Surrey Police Service salaries are higher than what the city would have paid RCMP officers.
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