Surrey mayor wants report on policing transition released as soon as possible

Surrey's mayor says if it was up to him, the report that lays out how the city will replace the RCMP with a municipal police force would be released immediately.

Doug McCallum says, however, that B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth will determine when the report will be made public and whether any of the information it contains will remain confidential.

"I think the residents of Surrey need to have that information," McCallum said.

"There may be some parts of the operations part of the report that the province wants to hold back, but certainly from the point of view from the City of Surrey, we don't mind if the full report is released."

Farnworth says it will take some time to review the document, which is more than 200 pages long.

"I have discussed with the mayor my expectation that the report, in some form, is made available to the public in the weeks ahead," Farnworth said in a statement.

"As always, our work will be guided by our priority of keeping the people of Surrey safe."

Public consultation

The city is hosting a series of events until the end of next month where residents can provide feedback on what they'd like to see from the new police force.

McCallum says he's willing to extend the public consultation process if Surrey residents still haven't seen the report by the end of June.

Coun.Linda Annis, who has viewed the report but says she can't comment on its specifics because that information is confidential, attended the first community event on Thursday.

"I think there are a number of key details that would shock our community when it comes to the numbers and the size of the proposed Surrey force," she said.

"Taxpayers paid for the report and they have every right to see the details and ask the hard questions."