Briefly:Inside the $250 million deal, announced just 10 weeks before the election kickoff
Bob Mackin
As the provincial election loomed, the NDP government set three red lines for Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and city council to accept a $250 million deal for ending the dispute over who would police B.C.’s second biggest city.
It also demanded secrecy.
Premier David Eby’s government offered $150 million in July 2023 over a five-year period to switch from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service (SPS). Early this year, another $100 million was on the table for the five-year period from 2029 to 2034.
Talks broke off while the city challenged the province’s edict to switch to the SPS, arguing in court that it would cost taxpayers an extra $75 million a year. In May, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Kevin Loo upheld the province’s supremacy over municipal councils. Locke and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth eventually announced a settlement on July 10, just 10 weeks before the official start of the election campaign.
Premier David Eby (left) and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth at the Dec. 7, 2022 cabinet swearing-in (Felipe Fittipaldi/BC Gov)
“Surrey fully supports the transition, agrees that a separate police tax is not necessary and will provide space, funding and payroll for the SPS,” the Surrey news release said.
The main financial terms of the agreement were published on the city website, but not the finer details contained in the province’s secret, four-page draft term sheet seen by this reporter.
The March 7 document defined the three ways that City of Surrey could default and trigger termination: Running a public relations campaign after the effective date, failing to provide capacity funding for the Semiahmoo First Nation to fully participate in the transition and failing to provide SPS with access to required space.
The document itself was banned from public disclosure.
In bold, red letters, it states: “without prejudice and subject to settlement privilege” and “the entirety of this document is protected by settlement privilege and must not be disclosed pursuant to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.”
Asked about negotiations with the province, the term sheet and the province’s demands, Locke refused to answer any questions.
“I can only speak to the announcement,” Locke said.
Farnworth has not responded to an interview request from theBreaker.news.
Settlement privilege became a new tool in 2017 for public bodies to withhold information from citizens after a B.C. Supreme Court judge quashed a 2015 ruling from an Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner adjudicator. The adjudicator had ordered the release of the total amount paid by City of Richmond to settle disputes with two former employees and the total legal fees Richmond incurred.
Justice Victoria Gray agreed that the solicitor-client privilege clause in the freedom of information law was not enough to block release of the information, but wrote: “the common law settlement privilege over the amount of a negotiated settlement applies and, as a result, the settlements information is protected from disclosure.”
Quoting from previous cases, Gray explained that settlement privilege is intended to promote agreements by wrapping a “protective veil” around negotiations.
Back to the term sheet.
It said Surrey would be required to take all necessary steps to complete the full transition to the SPS, plus “cease all public relations campaigns and activities against the transition.” Additionally, “city mayor and council will publicly support the completion of the policing model transition to the Surrey Police Service, including in communication with Surrey RCMP, the SPS and other related policing and staff representative bodies.”
If Surrey could not follow the terms and keep the secrets, the province threatened to tear up the agreement and send Surrey the bill.
“In the event of termination for breach of the agreement, at B.C.’s option, the city to repay all or a portion of B.C. contributions,” the document said.
In April, Farnworth set Nov. 29 as the date SPS would become the police force of jurisdiction. It is scheduled to become the exclusive police force by the end of 2026.
Elenore Sturko is the Conservative candidate for Surrey-Cloverdale and the former Surrey RCMP public information sergeant. She said province used the deal to gag Surrey because it is really about making sure Eby and Farnworth “can save face, instead of what is in the best interest of our community.”
“It really takes away from that accountability that the residents of Surrey were promised, and that is a direct result of David Eby, Mike Farnworth and his absolutely dictatorial government and the way that they’ve treated the City of Surrey over the past seven years,” Sturko said.
Since 2020, the NDP has held seven of the nine existing seats in Surrey. A 10th riding was added for the Oct. 19 election due to population increases.
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