Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum delivers State of the City days after council chaos

Surrey’s mayor delivered his State of the City Address Wednesday morning, two days after chaos erupted at the last city council meeting.

Mayor Doug McCallum addressed calls for him to resign from his position during the speech in Guildford.

“I will not. I’ve certainly understood that but I think a lot of it is political. We’re in election time right now and I will not step down,” McCallum said.

“The vision of what council wanted to achieve in four years was ambitious and demanding. it required massive change, not for the sake of change …  but what is best for Surrey. There has been no shortage of critics, doubters and naysayers. I have always said ‘you need to have a thick skin to do this job’ and to the council members who have stood fast, I want to thank you. The promises we’ve made to the people of Surrey, we have kept, and we have delivered,” he added while speaking of the criticism aimed at him and other councillors.

McCallum addresses his tumultuous time as mayor in his state of city speech — “there has been no shortage of critics, doubters, and naysayers. I have always said you need a thick skin to do this job, and to the council members who have stood fast, I thank you.” #bcpoli #SurreyBC

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) June 1, 2022

McCallum insists his four years leading Surrey have been a success, capped by securing funding for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain and beginning a new municipal police force — the Surrey Police Service.

“The rationale for the switch is to bring governance, accountability, and decision making to the local level,” he said of the SPS.

“We have seen tremendous public support over the last couple of weeks. Huge support. I’ve never seen that kind in my 15 years of being mayor, so yes there is tremendous support out there,” he said in response to critics while referring to his first stint as Surrey’s mayor.

He says he is excited about the future of the city, referencing rising population growths, and major projects underway including the incoming rapid transit line currently under construction, saying the city “is on the radar.”

“While Metro Vancouver is faced with a shortage of industrial land, the opposite is happening here. Not only does Surrey have space, but we are making even more land available for industrial and commercial use with a newly approved South Campbell heights industrial area,” he said.

“Housing starts in Surrey totalled over 5,800 units last year, which is 6 per cent more than Vancouver. That decision to build here is proving to be the right call, because the demand is there,” McCallum added.

As some members of council call for him to resign or take a leave, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum now giving his state of city address. He’s under pressure as he awaits his trial on public mischief charges, set to take place in October — 2 weeks after muni election. #bcpoli #SurreyBC pic.twitter.com/L0SgOpMirl

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) June 1, 2022

The mayor faced a much more receptive audience than he did on Monday, when members of the council meeting’s audience heckled McCallum and called on him to step down as mayor.

The meeting hit a rough patch when some councillors demanded he step aside from his duties – as he’s been charged with public mischief.

It’s when he declined that citizens began yelling and screaming at the mayor, forcing him to call a recess just seven minutes in.

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• Surrey council meeting erupts in chaos, lasts just 7 minutes

• Trial scheduled for Surrey mayor on charge of public mischief

• Surrey mayor, council overturn ban of RCMP supporters from meetings

“The mayor was having none of that. And things just got escalated very, very quickly. And within seven minutes, I would say that council hit a new rock bottom. We had to leave the council chambers,” Coun. Linda Annis told CityNews earlier this week, adding safety for council members was a high priority.

“It’s very, very regrettable, but our council has now gotten even more divisive and dysfunctional than ever before. Really, in the end of the day, we should be getting city business done, and we’re not.”

Councillor Laurie Guerra called the incident a “disgrace” as well as frightening, adding police had to be called in.

The charges against McCallum stem from an incident that took place last fall. The mayor claimed that a pro-RCMP supporter ran over his foot during an event at a grocery store.

At the time, the mayor also said he was “verbally assaulted.” All of his claims were denied by the “Keep the RCMP in Surrey” group, which described McCallum’s allegations as false, saying he was the antagonist in the situation.

The Surrey RCMP announced in October of 2021 that it was investigating McCallum for a potential public mischief charge, which was laid in December.

-Tarnjit Parmar, Nikitha Martins, and Sonia Aslam