SURREY, B.C. — An ethics report has found that a Surrey, B.C., councillor with two children working for the RCMP breached ethics rules when he voted to halt the transition to an independent police force.
Surrey's ethics commissioner found Coun. Rob Stutt broke the council's code of conduct on Nov. 14 when he voted at a meeting to decide the fate of the transition.
The city's code states that councillors "must disclose any conflict of interest … and, if conflicted, must refrain from participating in a meeting."
The move to the Surrey Police Service was rejected in a 5-4 vote.
The report said that one of Stutt's children was a Surrey RCMP officer at the time, and another was a civilian employee.
While the officer was seeking an RCMP transfer at the time of the vote, ethics commissioner Peter Johnson found that was not enough to overcome the perception of potential bias and thus Stutt had contravened the code of conduct.
It said the transition would have resulted in the elimination of a "substantial" number of policing positions in the Surrey RCMP detachment, and Stutt therefore had a "personal interest" in the vote's outcome.
The commissioner, though, found Stutt had "acted in good faith, and had participated in the meeting with the intention of fulfilling a promise he made to voters during the 2022 City Council election."
A summary of Johnson's report said that because Stutt affirmed the officer no longer worked in the Surrey detachment, the conflict "would appear to have been eliminated."
But it said that "moving forward Coun. Stutt will need to be mindful of the potential for a conflict of interest in respect of council decisions that could affect the employment of" members of his family.
The report said the investigation did not uphold a conflict complaint in relation to the civilian RCMP employee because they would have been offered a job with the Surrey Police Service on the same terms if the transition had gone ahead.
Rick Stewart, president of the Surrey Police Union, said in a news release that Stutt should apologize to city residents for "his disrespect to his office and compromised integrity at city hall."
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth have been in a fractious debate over the fate of policing in the city, with Locke accusing Farnworth of bullying and misogyny after Farnworth said the city had been playing "games."
The B.C. government recommended in April that the city continue with its transition to the independent Surrey Police Service and offered $150 million in funding to help.
Locke announced Friday that council had voted again to go back to the Mounties, saying it would be far less costly than continuing with the independent force. But Farnworth must sign off on the decision.
Union spokesman Ryan Buhrig said in an interview that the commissioner's findings aren't necessarily a victory for the union and its members.
Buhrig said the policing transition process in the city has been "mired in politics," tainting what could be an important step for public safety by casting a "dark cloud" over a policy issue that has taken a personal and professional toll on the union's members.
"I know many of our members, myself included, have had our families attacked online by various supporters of the RCMP and Mayor Locke and it's unfortunate that people can't focus on the policy issues and focus on what's the best policing model for the city and have that healthy, constructive dialogue," he said. "It's really shameful that it's become so personal."
Buhrig said the new police service had officers from all over the country join because of the challenges in Surrey, such as gang activity, and to work with the city's youth in schools.
"People really came over here because they could put their mark on something new and for this whole cloud to be over it, it's just been so unfortunate and I don't think it serves public safety well in the city either," Buhrig said.
Moving forward, Buhrig said the union's members are waiting on Farnworth's decision, which he expects to be handed down in the coming weeks.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 21, 2023.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
