Surrey mayor likely to run again in 2022 despite mischief charge: commentator

With less than a year until the next civic election in Surrey, one city hall watcher says it’s unlikely Mayor Doug McCallum’s decision to run for reelection will change — even as he’s facing a charge of public mischief.

McCallum was charged on Friday, after a special prosecutor was appointed to look into an incident from September where the mayor alleged an opponent of replacing the RCMP with a municipal police force ran over his foot with their car. The charge prompted opponents on council, and pro-RCMP campaigners to call for McCallum to immediately resign.

Newspaper columnist Frank Bucholtz has covered politics south of the Fraser for decades. He notes there is no legislation that disqualifies McCallum from staying on as mayor.

“If there’s no legal requirement, then he’s not going to step away,” he said.

“He’ll run again. He will not step aside because of this. Not unless he has to. He will run again even if he’s convicted.”

RELATED: Surrey councillor curious who will pay mayor’s legal bills following public mischief charge

McCallum is staunchly supported by his slate, the Safe Surrey Coalition, which gives him a 5 – 4 majority on council. Bucholz says McCallum has relied on this to push through his agenda.

“He’s had more opposition, and I think that has just encouraged him to be even more intransigent and more difficult to deal with and even more unlikely to cooperate with the other members of council. Certainly the mayor, in particular, has not made any effort whatsoever to work with the four members of council who are not part of this slate.”

Surrey is currently in the process of transitioning from the RCMP to a municipal force — a move that was a key part of McCallum’s election campaign and which continues to divide the community and city council.

The first officers with the Surrey Police Service were deployed in late November. However, opponents of the transition have continued to be critical, saying the move is opposed by the majority of residents, lacks transparency, and is too expensive.

Earlier this year, McCallum and his slate voted to ban a number of residents from the council chamber. Coun. Brenda Locke says all seven people named were supporters of the campaign to keep the RCMP in Surrey.

Bucholz says public trust has likely been undermined further now that McCallum has been formally charged.

“We’ve had ongoing actions by the majority, the Safe Surrey Coalition, to deny a number of pretty fundamental democratic principles,” he said. “I think there just has been a real breakdown in the regular communication between citizens and council for quite some time.”

As Surrey’s Mayor faces a charge of public mischief, @frank_bucholtz says Doug McCallum likely wont step down from his duties despite mounting pressure. “There’s no legal requirement . . . I think that’s the only way he would step away is if he HAD to.” @CityNewsVAN #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/n7Fk1idTfh

— Tarnjit Kaur Parmar (@Tarnjitkparmar) December 13, 2021

Bucholz says those who elected McCallum based on his promises to replace the RCMP and build a SkyTrain from Surrey to Langley are likely to remain loyal — and a victory in 2022 is not out of the question, particularly if there is a three-way race for the city’s top job.

Further, he says the “drama” surrounding McCallum and the police transition could make more people pay attention to what’s going on at city hall, and might t even boost voter turnout.

“I think there’s going to be lots of interest in the election and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”