British Columbia's Public Safety Minister says the B.C. Supreme Court has quashed a court bid by the City of Surrey to halt a transition to a municipal police force. A Surrey Police crest is seen on the side of one of the force's vehicles in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.A Surrey city councillor is slamming the municipality’s ultimately unsuccessful legal fight to keep the RCMP as a “huge waste of taxpayer money.
In a media release announcing the deal with the province, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said the deal would “help lessen the financial impact of the transition to Surrey.”“We should have taken the $250M earlier in spring when the province provided it to the city,” Annis said. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the entire transition process had become a “boondoggle for taxpayers since day one.”