Premier David Eby says what he is hearing from community and business leaders in Surrey, B.C., hard hit with extortion crime, is not the same thing he is hearing from police.
“I have been very concerned about inconsistent communications between the [provincial extortion] task force and the Surrey Police Service to the community,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday following a meeting with members of Surrey’s business community.
Eby says communication over the response to a wave of extortion crime, where suspects threaten residents or businesses with violence in exchange for money, has left people in Surrey confused over whether police are properly responding to the crimes and able to protect them.
“That is not acceptable,” said Eby.
On Tuesday he announced that that the province would form an advisory committee to work with police to identify gaps and improve communication between all parties, investigators, patrollers and residents.
Eby said he was worried that residents were becoming disenchanted with the police response as he heard stories of people calling in information but not getting calls back or police not showing up to investigate.
The B.C. premier also called on the federal government to push through two bills to amend Canada’s criminal code and immigration laws so that local law enforcement could better respond to extortion crimes.
He said the changes could help police allow the sharing of names and photos of suspects arrested under immigration laws and close loop holes allowing a foreign national arrested to claim refugee status.
“It’s probably the number one thing that needs to happen right now,” he said about federal law reform.
In recent days police in Surrey have managed to respond to two instances of suspected extortion in real time and make arrests.
As of Feb. 2, the Surrey Police Service says there have been 46 extortion attempts and 11 extortion-related shootings in the city since the beginning of the year. There’s also been one arson related to extortion, and 29 victims have been identified, the police service adds.
Surrey — B.C’s second largest city by population — had a total of 132 extortion attempts, 49 of them involving shootings, in 2025, according to police.
In January, Eby criticized the head of the RCMP’s anti-extortion task force for refusing to characterize a wave of extortion-related shootings in the Lower Mainland as a crisis.
Last week, the premier was in Ottawa for a first ministers meeting, where extortion was part of the conversation and additional RCMP officers were promised by the federal government in response to extortion in Surrey.
However, local politicians in Surrey have said that won’t be enough.
Gurbux Saini, Liberal MP for Surrey’s Fleetwood-Port Kells riding, said last week the city needs 200 more officers, while city councillor and mayoral candidate Linda Annis said it needs 300.
