BURST
Former mayor Doug McCallum will challenge Brenda Locke once again in the upcoming municipal election.
Speaking to journalists Monday morning in South Surrey, McCallum made some election promises as he officially announced the start of his campaign to become Surrey’s mayor.
“Surrey, I never stopped working for you,” McCallum said. “But we are not finished. I’m running again to solidify Surrey’s legacy.”
The former mayor was joined by councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra who were the only two Safe Surrey Coalition members to get elected in the 2022 election. Elford and Nagra will be running with McCallum on his slate again, with the remaining candidates expected to be announced in the next month.
McCallum’s promises included no property tax increase over the four year term, purchasing a helicopter for the Surrey Police within the first 90 days of office and extending SkyTrain to Surrey’s Newton town centre.
“The economy is uncertain. The cost of living is punishing, and the government should feel that too. So we are going to freeze that tax rate, keep every dollar where it belongs — in your hands, in your family’s hands, in your business, and make more money in your pocket,” McCallum said.
McCallum was mayor from 2018 to 2022, but was unsuccessful against his challenger Locke in 2022, with Surrey’s policing issue the centre of the city’s election. McCallum ran to continue the policing transition to a municipal force while Locke vowed to end the transition and keep the RCMP.
While Locke won, the policing transition was forced on the city by the province.
McCallum was also mayor from 1996 to 2005, before being defeated by Dianne Watts.
In this fall’s election, Locke and McCallum are also running against Coun. Linda Annis, who is running under the Surrey First slate, and former NDP MLA Mike Starchuk. The civic election will be held on Oct. 17.
More to come.