Surrey non-profit told to align itself with RCMP or lose funding

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A non-profit society that operates a volunteer crime prevention program has been told by the City of Surrey its annual funding is at risk of being pulled unless it meets new criteria that includes working under the charge of Surrey RCMP.

Karen Sidhu, the outgoing executive director of the Surrey Crime Prevention Society, says the organization has traditionally worked with every police agency, including the newly formed Surrey Police Service, and she’s upset the organization may have to continue reducing its operations if funding is cut.

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“To suggest that we, as an independent charity, would only work with one agency would be insane. Our mission is to work with everybody in the city who is focused on public safety, whether it be RCMP, SPS, or Metro Vancouver Transit Police.”

The recommendation was made in late November by a city council-appointed public safety committee consisting of four civilians and two councillor chairs, and comes as Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke and her council majority are trying to block the transition from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service.

The motion recommended the society’s funding — just over half of which comes from an annual city grant — be dispensed quarterly, “dependent on at least 50 per cent of volunteer hours supporting identified program priorities of the police of jurisdiction.”

“Over the years there have been attempts to align (society) work more closely with the strategic objectives of the police of jurisdiction, which in this case is the Surrey RCMP,” minutes from the meeting state. “This motion is brought forward since there have been ongoing challenges with respect to aligning (society) resources with the RCMP’s strategic priorities and the city’s goals.”

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But Sidhu said that having to align with RCMP objectives would limit its program, which has reduced the number of shifts its community safety watch conducts each week due to a funding delay.

The society typically deploys youth volunteers five days a week to observe, record and report suspicious activity since the society rebranded in 2012, and has relied on annual municipal grants of about $300,000 to operate its $600,000 budget.

Over the past 12 years, its volunteers have helped to recover stolen vehicles, called in fires, and carried out public safety initiatives, including campaigns to remove graffiti and get motorists to slow down. More than 700 of its volunteers now work in public service or law enforcement, corrections, border services or as bylaw officers.

The committee’s motion for the society to fall under Surrey RCMP management was rescinded at a Jan. 24 meeting.

Coun. Rob Stutt, committee chair, said this was to allow the society to deal with a “human resources issue” involving one person connected to the non-profit.

As of Friday, Sidhu said she is no longer employed at the organization.

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Her departure comes after social media backlash when she reposted a quote on Instagram in October that read: “A kaffiyeh (a traditional Palestinian scarf) on an American college campus is just a hipster swastika.” Sidhu said she didn’t know what a kaffiyeh was and apologized publicly.

Stutt said: “The City of Surrey represents diversity, and we expect the people that we fund to do the same.”

The council committee still expects the society to align itself with RCMP objectives in order to receive municipal funding for 2024, said Stutt.

“We’ve communicated the parameters still exist to the Crime Prevention Society’s board and the ball is now in their court,” said Stutt, who noted that the committee wants to see measurable outcomes from the society’s programming on a year-to-year basis.

Stutt was found in conflict of interest last year by the city’s ethics commissioner after he voted to halt Surrey’s transition to a municipal police service at a Nov. 14, 2022, council meeting. At the time, his son was a Surrey Mountie.

When asked if his links to the RCMP influenced his decision to recommend the non-profit be put under the charge of Surrey RCMP, Stutt said: “It’s got nothing to do with this.”

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Coun. Linda Annis says she opposes the push to make the society’s funding dependent on aligning itself with the police of jurisdiction.

“It should be like any other organization that receives funding directly through the city’s community grant program, particularly now that we’re undergoing a police transition. What happens to the non-profit when we transition out of the RCMP?”

Annis said that typically by this time of year non-profits would have already received a decision from the city about funding for their operations.

“But because the city has not approved the 2024 budget, it’s all on hold. A decision needs to be made by the city council,” she said, noting the society has done “a lot of good work.”

Mani Deol-Fallon, the society’s president, declined to comment.

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

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