Surreys Charter claim in police transition challenge radical, says government lawyer [Video]

A lawyer for B.C.’s Public Safety Ministry says the City of Surrey is seeking a “radical expansion” of freedom-of-expression protections under Canada’s Charter in its legal dispute with the province over policing in the city.

The city says a provincial law change compelling it to switch to a municipal police force had the “express purpose” of nullifying the election mandate the city council received, and thus infringed on voters’ freedom of expression.

But Trevor Bant, a lawyer for the ministry, told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that the city’s claim is contrary to established law.

Bant was speaking on day four of the city’s legal challenge against the public safety minister’s order to continue the switch from the RCMP to the municipal force.

Earlier this week, Surrey’s lawyer Craig Dennis had told Justice Kevin Loo he wanted the court to apply the Charter’s freedom of expression section for the first …