‘I was not surprised’: Critics of Surrey mayor ‘cut out’ of Police Transition Advisory Committee

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Only city councillors who have supported Surrey’s mayor will sit on his new Police Transition Advisory Committee.

Those who have criticized Doug McCallum or ditched his slate are being kept out of the loop as the city looks at next steps in its hope to transition away from the RCMP to a municipal police force.

“The appointment to the committee include councillor (Allison) Patton, councillor (Mandeep) Nagra, councillor (Laurie) Guerra, councillor (Doug) Elford, and mayor McCallum, who will chair the committee,” the mayor said on Monday.

The appointments leave no space for any of the three councillors who have left the slate in recent weeks: Brenda Locke, Steven Pettigrew, and Jack Hundial, who served with the RCMP for 25 years.

Hundial isn’t entirely shocked by the mayor’s decision.

“I’d emailed the mayor last week, asked for consideration to be a part of this new committee, but he did not reply back or get back to me on whether he would like me to be a part of it or not,” Hundial told NEWS 1130.

Last week McCallum dissolved the city’s public safety committee — which all councillors were part of — in favour of the committee which will support the policing transition.

“The mandate of this standing committee will be to support the policing transition process, leading up to the establishment of the police board,” McCallum said.

Linda Annis, the only Surrey First Councillor who has been vocal about the lack of public consultation on a new force, has also been left without a role on the committee.

“I was not surprised that I was left out of the Police Transition Committee, nor was I surprised that three of my colleagues were,” she said. “Again, the mayor keeps making these kinds of decisions behind closed doors and without consulting with people who actually have some experience in the world of public safety.”

She added she’s very concerned by the moves being made by McCallum.

“I think, first of all, the Police Transition Committee should not have been formulated — it’s far too early, it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, the report has not yet approved in Victoria,” she explained. “We don’t know if the province is even going to approve it or if they’re going to come back with amendments.

“Clearly, I think at this point in time, there’s really no work for the Police Transition Committee to be doing,” Annis said.

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