B.C. mayor urges Ottawa to co-ordinate extortion fight after rash of shootings

By Canadian Press on January 21, 2026.

SURREY — The mayor of Surrey, B.C., is urging Ottawa to “take immediate action and implement a full-scale national initiative” against extortion violence in Canada amid a rash of shootings linked to attempted blackmail in her city.

Brenda Locke says in a statement that her city has seen 34 cases of reported extortion in the last three weeks, and residents are in “constant fear.”

Locke says in a letter to federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree that Ottawa should appoint a “national extortion commissioner” to create a co-ordinated, countrywide approach to such crimes.

Her call comes a day after Assistant RCMP Commissioner John Brewer said in an update on the BC Extortion Task Force, that the team was “actively hunting” suspects as they pursued 32 files across the Lower Mainland.

There have been at least four shootings in the past week that police have linked to extortion, with gunfire hitting businesses and homes.

Locke says police are “working hard” on the cases, but a more co-ordinated national front against extortion violence is needed, and a commissioner would address that issue.

“This role should have the authority to examine the obvious gaps in our criminal, immigration, and citizenship systems and lead a national response that actually stops these crimes from happening,” she says, adding that she thinks current laws are “too weak.”

“This is unlike anything Surrey has faced before,” Locke says.

Data released by the task force on Wednesday showed that seven people had been charged, while nine people had been removed from Canada from among 111 investigations into the admissibility of foreign nationals.

The wave of violence has mainly targeted members of the South Asian community.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2026.

The Canadian Press