Surrey councillors accuse mayor of censoring public feedback on future of policing

Two Surrey councillors say Mayor Doug McCallum is burying public feedback on the future of the city's police force.

Almost two dozen public engagement sessions were held in the spring for input on the city's plans to transition from the RCMP to a municipal police force.

The resultsover 11,000 survey responseswere then made confidential, Coun. Brenda Locke said.

Alongside Coun.Jack Hundial, she has written a letter expressing concern about the ability to move forward with a major decision if the information isn't made public.

"I think it's absolutely being hidden," she said."I think thepublic needs to know the truth.

"I think it's important to the discussion. If the publicwants or does not wantthis process, that should be a significant part of the consideration."

In August, the province gave the city the go-ahead to transition to its own police force. A joint Surrey-B.C. committee headed by former attorney general Wally Oppal was created to facilitate the transition.

The committee is working toward an April 2021 deadline, but Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworthhas said he is not putting a timeline on the committee's work.

McCallumhas said Surrey residents are ready for the switch. But a poll last fall showed 64 per cent of respondents would support keeping the RCMP and creating a local police board instead of transitioning to a municipal police force.

McCallum did not immediately return CBC's requests for comment Monday.

The report on the public feedback was supposed to be forwarded to council in mid-July, Locke said. The report was completed, but was never forwarded and classified as confidential.

Locke said she has seen a redacted version of the raw data collected from the public but could not comment on what it showed.

She said she will be asking for an FOI inquiry to ensure the data is released.

"It's absolutely timely," she said.

"This whole transition process is predicated on a lie that the public wants it. It'spredicated on a lie because it's not going to deliver better public service and better public safety to the City of Surrey."