The Mounties are known for “always getting their man,” but they might not always get their way — a situation that’s unfolding in Surrey, where the province wants the RCMP to hand over its responsibilities to the newly formed Surrey Police Service.
This hotly contested and highly controversial move by the B.C. government — the Surrey mayor is vehemently opposed and wants to retain the RCMP — has made its way to the province’s Supreme Court. The case will likely have implications on how the Canadian Constitution applies to police reform.
It will also raise questions of national and practical importance: Should the RCMP be involved in municipal contract policing? Or is that role better left to the municipalities under provincial policing models? These questions illustrate an ongoing struggle between modern police reform and the old guard.
That’s some heavy spin on the situation. Surrey was the subject of a multimillion dollar campaign to get rid of the RCMP, which the previous mayor was a part of. When the citizens realized (too late) what was happening, they elected a new mayor on the platform of bringing back the RCMP, but the process was already in motion to replace them.
Surrey was for years the largest RCMP detachment in Canada, but for the past 20 years, they’ve struggled to staff it. The situation is even trickier now, because it’s many of the same people who used to work for the RCMP who now work for the Surrey Police. Re-hiring people who quit the RCMP while still offering continuity to the city is not something that’s simple to do.
I see this as being the Surrey/RCMP equivalent of Brexit.