FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
BRENDA LOCKE’S COUNCILLOR CHAIRED THE MEETING WHERE LIPINSKI WAS FIRED. WHAT DID HE TELL HER?
SURREY, BC — Mike Starchuk today asked Surrey Connect Councillor Rob Stutt to tell voters whether he discussed Chief Norm Lipinski’s employment with Mayor Brenda Locke before the Surrey Police Board meeting of May 29, 2026. Stutt chaired that meeting. The chief was fired at it. The chair, Harley Chappell, resigned because of it.
Stutt was elected in 2022 on the mayor’s Surrey Connect slate. According to Lipinski’s court filing, he was one of five board members appointed in the weeks before the firing, chosen in consultation with the mayor. On CKNW last Friday, the mayor confirmed her side gave the Province recommendations for the board: “Some they picked, some they didn’t.”
The May 29 meeting had no public notice. The public portion lasted seven minutes. The board then spent 91 minutes in camera on a “confidential personnel matter.” Those minutes remain sealed.
On the same broadcast, the mayor said, “Yes, I knew they had an important meeting.” The mayor is not on the police board. Her councillor chaired it. When asked whether or not she knew, she said “not really”. Not really is not a no. Global BC news has repeatedly aired the exchange since the gaffe and the Mayor has been absent since making the remarks.
Surrey Connect’s own position is that the board is independent of the mayor. If that’s true, Councillor Stutt can confirm it, and he owes it to Surrey taxpayers.
Mike Starchuk is asking Councillor Stutt three questions before October 17:
- Before May 29, did you discuss the chief’s employment or the purpose of the meeting with Mayor Locke, her office, or anyone at Surrey Connect?
- Did you vote to dismiss the chief?
- Will you support unsealing the May 29 minutes and releasing the reasons for the firing?
“Rob Stutt doesn’t need a judge to answer this. He was in the chair,” said Starchuk. “Either he talked to the mayor about that meeting or he didn’t. The ‘not really’ had to come from somewhere. He knows which, and Surrey deserves to know before it votes. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”
The allegations in Lipinski v. Surrey Police Board have not been tested in court. The exchange between Starchuk and Locke, and the subsequent admission that she knew, can be viewed on Global BC news.
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About Imagine Surrey
Imagine Surrey is a civic party running a full slate of candidates in the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Led by mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk – a former firefighter and Chief Fire Prevention Officer, former City Councillor, and former MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – Imagine Surrey is committed to making Surrey the City of Champions by delivering: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, and strong services.
Council candidates: Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda, and Kevin Wilkie.
Contact
Trevor Loke, Campaign Manager
604-838-5178
[email protected] / [email protected]