Overview
- McCallum, 81, announced Monday he is running for mayor under the Safe Surrey Coalition with a platform that adds officers, freezes property taxes for four years, extends SkyTrain to Newton, and creates an “Opportunity Zone” to cut city fees and red tape.
- He vowed to buy a Surrey Police Service helicopter within 90 days of taking office to bolster surveillance and quicker response to gang and extortion crimes.
- Councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra will run on his slate, with the rest of the ticket to be revealed in the coming weeks.
- Reaction since the launch has been mixed, with some residents praising the crime and transit focus and others questioning the cost of his agenda, his past big-ticket ideas like canals and a large stadium, and his age.
- The bid sets up a rematch with incumbent Brenda Locke in a city still moving from RCMP policing to a municipal force after a provincial order, a shift that dominated the 2022 race and continues to shape local politics.