McCallum calls on province to fire ‘Locke’s handpicked’ police board after new chief appointed

The Surrey Police board appointed Todd Matsumoto as the new police chief. The announcement came on Oct. 30, three days before Mayor Doug McCallum was inaugurated.

“We are confident Todd Matsumoto is the right leader to guide SPS forward as we continue building a strong, modern and effective police service for the people of Surrey,” said Surrey Police Board Chair Perm Jawanda.

Shortly after the announcement and prior to his swearing-in as mayor, McCallum released a statement calling on the province to remove the entire SPS board and appoint a new, non-partisan board through a public process.

“Locke’s handpicked board [is] doing exactly what it was built to do: carry out the mayor’s wishes. … This is not a full board and it is not an independent one. Two of its nine seats have been empty since June,” said McCallum.

After previous chief Norm Lipinski was removed, the board chair and another director resigned. The board is made up of nine directors — seven are provincially appointed and two are appointed by city council. In February, the province appointed five new board members and then-Premier David Eby had said the appointments were done in “co-operation” with Locke.

“[Locke’s] board picked Surrey’s police chief behind closed doors so the council that replaced her would have no say. That is not civilian oversight. That is one last kick at Surrey on her way out the door.”

There needs to be a change at the board, McCallum maintained.

“Surrey wants a police board that answers to the law, not to any mayor, including me,” said McCallum.

Matsumoto’s appointment follows a “comprehensive national search process,” according to the board’s statement. Matsumoto has three decades of experience and was appointed interim chief in June after Lipinski was fired.

The SPS Board faced significant backlash for refusing to explain why Lipinski was removed or how much severance he may receive. The first board meeting following his removal saw community members demanding transparency about what happened, leading the board to adjourn the meeting early and providing no answers to the public.

The board’s September meeting was quietly cancelled, causing new accusations that the board was attempting to avoid questions prior to the municipal election.

Now, Lipinski is challenging his firing, asking the BC Supreme Court to overturn the decision saying his removal was politically motivated. In an affidavit, Lipinski said former Mayor Brenda Locke opposed the city’s transition away from the RCMP and “seemed to be working, privately and publicly” to undermine him or see him fired.