SURREY Mayor Doug McCallum’s 2019 State of the City Address on Tuesday (May 7) will  be highlighted by the presence of a marked Surrey Police vehicle on site at Civic Plaza for the public and media to view.

Establishing a municipal police force to replace the RCMP was one of the three main campaign promises of McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition.

As McCallum noted in March when councillors Jack Hundial and Brenda Locke, who won because of McCallum, were reported to be out to sabotage the formation of a municipal police force: “On the night this new Council was sworn in, Council voted unanimously in favour of cancelling the contract with the RCMP and moving ahead with a municipal police department. For critics to now say that there is a lack of a mandate or public consultation for Surrey to have its own municipal police department shows little to no regard for our most basic democratic principle of respecting the will of the people.”

McCallum also pointed out: “Councillor Hundial, a retired 25-year RCMP officer, ran on that commitment and pledge to carry it out if elected. The voters entrusted us to deliver on our promises and that is a trust that Councillor Hundial is now breaking. I have no intention of breaking my campaign promises or the public’s trust.”

There is an agreement between the cities of Vancouver and Surrey for Vancouver to provide “technical assistance for the development of a transition plan designed to help Surrey establish a local police department.”

Mayor’s State of the City Address

When: Tuesday, May 7

8:15 a.m. (arrive)

8:30 a.m. (Mayor’s State of the City Address)

Location: Civic Hotel Ballroom

13475 Central Avenue, Surrey