Mayor-elect Doug McCallum slams Todd Matsumoto’s appointment as Surrey police chief

Mayor-elect Doug McCallum has decried the appointment of Todd Matsumoto as the Surrey Police Service’s chief constable, calling it “one last kick at Surrey” by outgoing Mayor Brenda Locke.

Matsumoto, who had been serving as interim chief since June following the abrupt termination of Norm Lipinski, was appointed on Friday — days before McCallum was to assume the mayoral position on Monday.

In an Instagram post verified as legitimate by City of Surrey staff, McCallum called for a reversal of the appointment and the Surrey police board to be abolished and replaced by members chosen through a public process. The board was short two members since Harley Chappell and James Carwana resigned on June 2 over Lipinski’s firing.

“Brenda Locke spent four years trying to sabotage the Surrey Police Service,” McCallum said in the post, in which he claims Locke’s “board picked Surrey’s police chief behind closed doors so the council that replaced her would have no say. That is not civilian oversight. That is one last kick at Surrey on her way out the door.”

McCallum called on the province to remove the board, saying it was “stacked with Brenda Locke’s political cronies” and appoint a new board through a public process.

Perm Jawanda, chair of the Surrey police board, announced Matsumoto’s hiring in a news release Friday.

“We are confident Todd Matsumoto is the right leader to guide SPS forward as we continue building a strong, modern and effective police service for the people of Surrey,” he said.

The board announced in September it had hired an executive search firm for a nationwide search for a new chief constable. But the board ultimately stuck with Matsumoto, who has more than 30 years of experience in municipal policing.

Postmedia reached out to the board on Friday in the wake of McCallum’s comments, but had not heard back by press time.

The Surrey police union said in a statement Matsumoto was “the right person for the job.”

Lipinski filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court in September alleging his termination was “unlawful” and motivated by “extraneous political considerations.”

The allegations have not been tested in court.

Surrey officially transitioned from the RCMP to a municipal police force in November 2024, with city council voting in favour of transition in 2018 under then-mayor McCallum. Locke, McCallum’s successor, was opposed to the transition, but was unable to block it.