Surrey Coun. Annis announces run for mayor

Surrey City Coun. Linda Annis has announced her intention to run for mayor in the next municipal election.

Annis was first elected in 2018 and again in 2022, representing the Surrey First Party.

At a media event Wednedsay morning, Annis said she’s ready to ask the people of Surrey to let her work on the city’s biggest issues.

She has been a vocal critic of Mayor Brenda Locke in the past, in particular on the delays in transitioning the city from the RCMP to the Surrey Police Service.

“The mayor and her councillors have wasted this four-year term focusing on just one single issue: that police transition. They have wasted time and millions of dollars, and they put every other important issue on the back burner. The mayor and her councillors have shown us that they can’t deal with more than one issue at a time, and this has frustrated me every single day,” Annis said Wednesday.

She promised that, if elected, she will prioritize public safety and financial transparency. Annis also said she would cancel Locke’s plan to build a 10,00-seat arena in Surrey, instead investing in local community centres.

As mayor, she says she would challenge other levels of government to work for Surrey.

“I’m putting Victoria and Ottawa on notice: If I am the mayor of Surrey, you’ll be hearing from me early and often.”

She says she would also demand more transparency from the Metro Vancouver Board of Governance, including “an immediate and complete independent review of the North Shore wastewater treatment fiasco,” and work to remove meeting fees for board members.

The next general local elections in B.C. will be held on Oct. 17, 2026.

Annis says she will spend the intervening time having “serious conversations” with Surrey residents.