SURREY: The Surrey Ethics Commissioner has delivered his report on the conflict-of-interest complaint against Councillor Rob Stutt regarding a vote on November 14, 2022. In February, the Surrey Police Union (SPU) filed a complaint accusing Coun. Rob Stutt of breaking conflict-of-interest rules in discussions around policing at a council meeting last November.
It said Stutt failed to disclose his family connections to the RCMP when council voted on matters related to the city’s transition away from having Mounties as the city’s police force.
The move to the Surrey Police Service (SPS) was rejected in a 5-4 vote.
The Ethics Commissioner in his report concluded that Councillor Stutt had contravened section 21 of the Code of Conduct by participating in the discussion and voting on the police transition question at the November 14, 2022 Council meeting. “While Councillor Stutt had acted in good faith, and had participated in the meeting with the intention of fulfilling a promise he made to voters during the 2022 City Council election, the potential for bias arising from a personal interest in a mater is determined objectively, from the point of view of a reasonably well-informed person.”
Ironically, the report finding in itself has created a conflict of response. While Surrey Police Union, the complainant, called the result in its favour, Mayor Brenda Locke and Councillor Rob Stutt, feel that Ethics Commissioner report holds Councillor Stutt acted in good faith.
The Ethics Commissioner’s report states: “There was a personal interest in the matter under consideration that a reasonably well-informed person would have concluded might influence a member of Council in Councillor Stutt’s position.”
“This critical vote on November 14, 2022 changed the trajectory of the last seven months. Surrey residents deserve an apology for his disrespect to his office and compromised integrity at City Hall,” said Rick Stewart. Councillor Stutt is also the Chair of the Public Safety Committee and should be mindful of potential conflicts in the future.
Surrey First Councillor Linda Annis said the finding by Surrey’s Ethics Commissioner that Councillor Rob Stutt “contravened” the city’s Code of Conduct when he participated in the November vote to keep the RCMP in Surrey means he should not have voted. By not voting, the motion would have failed because it would have been a tie vote. The motion passed at the time 5-4.
“The Ethics Commissioner was clear that a reasonable person would have seen the potential for bias because of Councillor Stutt’s family connection at the time to the RCMP,” added Annis. “It begs the question why the Mayor didn’t see that conflict, and why she allowed Councillor Stutt to vote. If the motion had failed, I think it would have changed things quite a bit. Instead, it has continued the political chaos and cost that surrounds the policing issue.”
Mayor Locke on the other hand claimed that the Ethics Commissioner finds that the potential for a conflict of interest appears to have been eliminated as Councillor Stutt’s family member is no longer a member of the Surrey RCMP and makes no specific recommendations or further measures that Surrey Council should take in relation to the complaint.
“I am disappointed that misinformation continues to be spread in a partisan campaign to discredit certain members of Council and the Surrey RCMP,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “In his report, the Ethics Commissioner found that Councillor Stutt acted in good faith and was fulfilling a promise he made to voters. The Commissioner goes on to note that since the family member was already in the process of transferring and is no longer a member of the Surrey detachment, the potential source of conflict of interest appears to have been eliminated. I want to note that the latest vote on this matter on June 15, which can now be made public, had six Council members voting in support of continuing with Surrey RCMP as the Police of Jurisdiction and three Councillors opposed.”
