Political career
In the 2001 provincial election, Locke ran for the British Columbia Liberal Party in Surrey-Green Timbers, and defeated New Democrat incumbent Sue Hammell to become the riding's member of the Legislative Assembly. [4] [5] She served as chair of the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, and member of the Legislative Standing Committee on Education, the Multicultural Committee, Women's Caucus Committee and the Government Caucus Committee on Health. [3] On September 20, 2004, she was appointed to the cabinet by Premier Gordon Campbell to serve as Minister of State for Mental Health and Addiction Services. [6]
Locke faced Hammell again in the 2005 provincial election; this time Hammell defeated Locke to reclaim the seat. [4] [5] Locke subsequently ran as the federal Liberal Party candidate in Fleetwood—Port Kells in the 2006 and 2008 federal elections, but lost both times to Conservative incumbent Nina Grewal. [4] [5]
In the 2014 municipal election, Locke teamed up with real-estate agent Stephen Gammer under the political party, TeamSurrey, to run for city council. She came in 18th place, with 2.28% of the vote. [7] [8] In the 2017 provincial election, she ran for the BC Liberal party in her former seat of Surrey-Green Timbers but was defeated by Rachna Singh. [9] While she was out of office, Locke worked as executive director for the B.C. Massage Therapist Association. [10]
At the October 20, 2018 municipal election, Locke was elected to Surrey City Council as a part of the Safe Surrey Coalition (SSC). [11] While she initially approved of mayor Doug McCallum's plan to replace the Surrey RCMP with a municipal police force, [12] in the following months she became critical of McCallum's approach on the matter, culminating in her departure from the SSC on June 27, 2019 to become an independent councillor. [13] [14] In January 2020, along with fellow ex-SSC city councillor Jack Hundial, she founded a new political slate called Surrey Connect. [15] She announced in July 2021 her intention to run for mayor of Surrey under the Surrey Connect banner, [12] and proposed halting the police transition during her campaign. [16]
On October 15, 2022, Locke defeated the incumbent McCallum to become mayor. [16] Although city council voted to retain the services of the RCMP, [17] the city was ordered by the provincial government in July 2023 to proceed with the police transition. [18] That October, Locke announced in a statement the city would seek a judicial review on the provincial order. [19] The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court of British Columbia in May 2024, [20] with the Surrey Police Service scheduled to assume jurisdiction over the city on November 29, 2024. [21]
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