Recent changes to police governance in Surrey, and now similar requests emerging from Vancouver, underscore just how badly Premier David Eby’s approach to public safety has failed. After promising British Columbians he would keep families safe, the Premier is now reacting to crises of his own making, forcing municipalities to compensate for a lack of provincial leadership, capacity, and planning. Macklin McCall, Conservative Critic for Public Safety and Solicitor General, issued the following statement in response:

“In Surrey, the police board appointed entirely by Premier Eby was not working. It was a broken governance model where the mayor was barred from contacting the board or the chief, and public safety paid the price. That failure is now being addressed through positive yet reactive structural changes without provincial accountability.

“In changing the Surrey Police Board mid-crisis, the NDP has set a clear precedent that while provincial oversight remains necessary, police governance and operational direction must reflect local community needs rather than centralized control from Victoria.

“Mayor Ken Sim’s request for the same authority in Vancouver once again underscores a broader provincial failure. When city leaders are forced to demand basic control over police governance, it is because the province has failed to deliver stability, capacity, or results.

“Training capacity is at the heart of this issue. Outside of the RCMP, police training is limited to the Justice Institute of British Columbia, where fixed seats shared among municipal forces remain insufficient to meet vacancies and retirements. Allowing Vancouver to open its own police training academy would be a proactive public safety step compared to the NDP’s slow, reactive approach, freeing up JIBC seats for other agencies, particularly the Surrey Police Service, and putting more officers on the street faster.

“What both Surrey and Vancouver are proposing is responsible local leadership stepping in where the province has failed, and that approach should be supported.

“Police boards must reflect the needs of their communities and should never become a monopoly controlled by the Premier’s Office, especially at a time when policing shortages exist across British Columbia.”