Summary

• Five people have been appointed to the Surrey police board
• Initial appointments will be for a term of 12 months, ending March 31, 2027

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Following an extensive assessment and screening process, the Province has appointed five new members to the City of Surrey’s police board.

The Lieutenant Governor has appointed five new provincial members under section 23(1)(c) of the Police Act to the Surrey police board:

• Jaswinder (Jessie) Sidhu, regional vice-president, Bank of Montreal
• George Duncan, former chief administrative officer, Richmond
• Hanne Madsen, former executive director, Big Sisters of B.C. - Lower Mainland
• Larry Thomas, former chief, Surrey Fire Services
• Parminder (Perm) Jawanda, former vice-president, Rogers Communications

These members will be joining Surrey police board chair Harley Chappell, provincial appointee James Carwana, and Surrey council appointees Archie Johnston and Rob Stutt on the police board.

Each member was chosen by aligning individual skills, competencies and attributes with the needs and responsibilities of the board, and to reflect the diversity of the community. Initial appointments will be for a term of 12 months, ending March 31, 2027.

About municipal police boards

In British Columbia, police boards oversee municipal police departments and include members from diverse backgrounds from the community and bring a range of skills and experiences to the boards. Police boards include:

• a member of the city’s council, appointed by the council
• one person (non-elected) appointed by the council
• up to seven people chosen by the Lieutenant Governor after discussions and input from the director of policing and law enforcement services

Police board responsibilities include establishing the priorities, goals and objectives for the police service, serving as employer of all police department personnel, and developing and submitting the policing budget to council for approval each year.

Becoming a board member

The Province’s overall goal is to have police boards that reflect the diversity of B.C., for strong and effective citizen-centred governance and police oversight. When there is a vacancy on the board, names of people interested in serving on the board are obtained through advertising, recommendations, referrals, searches and other means.

Since June 2017, there has been an almost 100% increase in visible minorities representing police boards throughout the province and 25% of appointments have been people of colour (up from 12.5%).

Learn More:

• For more information about municipal police boards in B.C., please visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/policing-in-bc/municipal-police-boards