Surrey, B.C. (February 23, 2026): Surrey First Councillor and candidate for mayor Linda Annis says politics, not public safety, are behind Brenda Locke’s ongoing opposition to the police transition, including reducing the latest SPS budget.

 

“From the very start, Brenda Locke has opposed the transition to the SPS,” noted Annis. “She stopped it and took the provincial government to court, causing delays and increasing costs, and now she is reducing their capacity and resources by cutting the budget. Most of the SPS board seats are vacant because the province did not renew appointments, and that means there were just three voting members available to pass the reduced budget, two of which are tied to Brenda Locke. In the end, it is our city, families, and the men and women of the SPS who suffer when the mayor puts politics ahead of public safety.”

 

Annis says the original budget from the SPS reflected the scope of work, the size of our community, and the need to accelerate the transition which is now in year eight because of Brenda Locke.

 

Annis said the SPS and its former full board put forward a budget of $331 million, but the reduced board controlled by Locke cut that by $47 million at a time “when we are trying to build our police force and complete the transition, and facing an extortion crisis” that has put a tremendous strain on both people and resources.

 

“The budget is just the latest attempt by Brenda Locke to damage the SPS,” said Annis. “At every turn she has shown over and over that she’d like nothing more than to see the SPS fail, because she has never been able to get past the whole idea that Surrey should have its own local police department.”

 

Annis, who has called for 300 more SPS officers over four years, and a police training centre in Surrey to speed up recruitment and deployment, said while demands and expectations are high, the community wants the Surrey Police Service to succeed.

 

“But when your mayor isn’t a real partner, local policing becomes tough, and it is the community and the men and women of the police service who suffer,” added Annis. “The SPS should be something we can all get behind because it is ours, it belongs to all of us. But Brenda Locke is doing everything she can to turn back the clock, and today we are in year eight of the transition, because of her.

 

“This whole thing should have been completed years ago, but our mayor is dragging her feet and cutting the budget. It’s just another example of her putting politics ahead of public safety. It’s a dangerous approach because the only people happy about a cut to policing are the extortionists, gangs, and drug dealers.”