SURREY: On January 27, 2020, Surrey Councillor Brenda Locke put forth a Notice of Motion outlining the lack of consultation with First Nations in the proposed police transition.
The Semiahmoo and Katzie First Nations advise that there has been no real consultation with them regarding any possible transition to a Surrey Police Force by the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia or the City of Surrey.
Locke said: “It is unconscionable that in 2020, after all work that has been done by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), that the City of Surrey would overlook the Coast Salish people, the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen First Nations.
The Semiahmoo and Katzie lands are policed by the Surrey RCMP and the Semiahmoo and Kwantlen FN have a tri-partied agreement with them.” In the prepared police transition plan, no specific consideration was given to how the policing relationship would progress with Surrey’s First Nations. This should have been of significant concern as not only does the Surrey RCMP police two FN lands, Surrey is also home to the largest urban indigenous community in British Columbia.
Locke’s notice of motion resolves that the process by the Federal and Provincial government and the City of Surrey to transition from the RCMP to a Surrey Police Force immediately stop until a proper, respectful and transparent process that includes the Coast Salish Peoples and the Surrey urban indigenous peoples takes place.
The motion will be debated at the next Council meeting on February 10
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