Doug McCallum is heading back to Surrey City Hall. The 82-year-old former mayor defeated incumbent Brenda Locke in the Oct. 17 municipal election, taking back the job he lost to her four years ago.
Preliminary results reported by Daily Hive gave McCallum more than 42,000 votes, a lead of more than 11,000 over Locke, who conceded on election night. Mike Starchuk and Linda Annis followed with about 17,200 and 16,500 votes respectively. Official results are confirmed by the City of Surrey after the count.
It is McCallum’s fifth term as mayor. He led the city from 1996 to 2005 and again from 2018 to 2022.
A council majority
McCallum will not have to build coalitions to pass his agenda. His Safe Surrey Coalition won seven of the eight councillor seats, according to preliminary results, giving it eight of the nine seats on council including the mayor’s chair. In 2022 the slate won just two councillor seats.
The coalition’s elected councillors are Doug Elford, Meera Gill, Mandeep Singh Nagra, Suhana Gill, Allison Patton, Laurie Guerra and Cheney Cloke. Cloke took the final seat by 232 votes over Surrey First incumbent Mike Bose. The only councillor from outside the coalition is Surrey Connect’s Harry Bains, who drew the most votes of any council candidate. Surrey First was shut out of council.
Daily Hive reported that McCallum plans to name Mandeep Nagra as deputy mayor.
“I love Surrey”
“We will address your affordability, we will address your safety, and we will address your infrastructure.”
Doug McCallum, election night, as reported by CTV News
“I love Surrey. That’s why I ran,” McCallum told supporters. “I love Surrey, but I even love the people of Surrey more.”
Conceding, Locke thanked voters for her term: “Four years ago, the people of Surrey gave me an honor of serving as mayor. It has been the privilege of a lifetime.”
What McCallum promised
McCallum entered the race in April and campaigned on affordability, public safety and growth. His platform included:
- No property tax increases for four years.
- Extending the SkyTrain Expo Line along King George Boulevard to Newton.
- More staff and resources for the Surrey Police Service to fight crime and extortion, including a police helicopter and drone fleet within 90 days.
- New aquatic centres in Clayton Heights and Surrey City Centre, and a community centre with a pool in Newton.
- Pushing the province for a new hospital on City-owned land in Newton.
- Approving residential building permits within 60 days or waiving the fees, and waiving business licence fees for new businesses for their first two years.
- Restoring horse racing facilities at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
- An independent audit of the City’s recent land transactions.
- Withdrawing Surrey from the Metro Vancouver Regional District while keeping shared water, sewer and waste services.
A familiar figure in Surrey politics
Born in Vancouver in 1944, McCallum was first elected to Surrey council in 1993 and became mayor in 1996. He lost to Dianne Watts in 2005, then returned to office in 2018 on promises to replace the RCMP with a municipal police force and to swap a planned light rail line for SkyTrain. In 2021 he was charged with public mischief over a parking-lot incident and was acquitted in November 2022, the same autumn he lost the mayoralty to Locke by 973 votes.
Mixed reaction
Turnout was just over 30 per cent, according to Daily Hive. Early voting rose to 52,600 people from 35,701 in 2022, CTV News reported. Supporters credited McCallum’s name recognition and his property tax pledge, while some residents online questioned his age and the size of his mandate given the turnout.
McCallum has said his first priorities will be affordability and public safety once the new council takes office.
With files from Daily Hive and CTV News / CP24. Vote totals are preliminary.