Surrey’s Doug McCallum pleads not guilty in public mischief trial
Posted October 31, 2022 12:25 pm.
Outgoing Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum has pleaded not guilty to a charge of public mischief.
His plea came on day one of his trial Monday, just less than a year after he was charged in December 2021 following an incident at a grocery store parking lot in September of that year.
On Oct. 31, 2022, McCallum told a provincial court judge he understands the charge against him alleging he made a false statement against a woman he said ran over his foot with her vehicle in a grocery store parking lot.
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Debi Johnstone stared directly at McCallum as the first of two witnesses expected to relay what happened on Sept. 4, 2021, the day the mayor filed a complaint with the RCMP.
The court has heard Johnstone was collecting signatures for a group called Keep the RCMP in Surrey when McCallum claims she nearly pinned him against the back of his car before running over his foot.
Incoming Mayor Brenda Locke has maintained that taxpayers should not be paying for his legal bills.
FILE – Surrey’s next mayor, Brenda Locke. (CityNews)
McCallum’s trial comes two weeks after he was defeated at the polls by Locke. It also comes as McCallum faces scrutiny after he was accused of returning a city-owned vehicle with heavy damage following the election.
“The car repairs will be his own to deal with,” she told CityNews on Oct. 26. “I think it was highly inappropriate, but that is exactly how he behaved during his term as mayor.”
-With files from Greg Bowman and Emily Marsten
