#munipoli Matters - ISSUE 36 - The Slurry that is Surrey
Mayor Doug McCallum's continuing troubles are drawing heated crowds...and more challengers.
Welcome to another edition of #munipoli Matters, where we cover the often under-reported arena of municipal politics, local elections and civic government happenings.
I have a litany of updates coming out of British Columbia, particularly from the province’s second largest city, but there is also an absolutely bonkers nugget of a tale coming out of Quebec.
Let’s get right to it.
Surrey’s municipal government descending into chaos
Mayor Doug McCallum has been embroiled in controversy ever since a September 2021 incident in which he alleged a woman ran over his foot. The woman was part of a citizens lobby group advocating to keep the RCMP patrolling in Surrey, instead of McCallum’s plan to implement a civic police force.
The mayor faces one count of public mischief, which hasn’t been proven in court. Nonetheless, McCallum also faces an ethics complaint for staying on as chair of the Surrey Police Service. During a recent council meeting at the end of May, there was so much acrimony from attendees that the meeting was called to recess until the day after.
Councillor Brenda Locke, who is running for mayor, during the meeting called for McCallum to step aside, which he refused. This brought about the eruption from the audience which led to the meeting’s early adjournment. Councillor Linda Annis said McCallum is becoming a distraction in Surrey from the business of the city getting conducted.
A new challenger emerges
In the midst of this chaos, another big name in Surrey local politics has emerged to stand for the mayor’s job: NDP MLA Jinny Sims.
Sims, the current member of the BC Legislature representing Surrey-Panorama as a New Democrat since 2017, also served as federal MP for Newton-North Delta from 2011 to 2015. A high school teacher by background, Sims also served as the president of the BC Teachers’ Federation from 2004 to 2007.
The New Democrat politician made her announcement to run for mayor on Wednesday, June 8 with the newly formed municipal party Surrey Forward alongside four declared council candidates. Sims is not expected to resign her seat in the BC legislature while campaigning for mayor, but take an unpaid leave of absence during the campaign.
“City Hall is broken,” Sims told the CBC. "We have to stop talking about polarization. What we have to get back to is bridge-building," she said, when asked for specifics of her plans for Surrey's policing, the most controversial aspect of McCallum's leadership.
Other rumoured candidates include federal Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who represents Surrey-Newton…as well as former White Rock mayor, former provincial cabinet minister and federal MP for South Surrey-White Rock, Gordie Hogg.
Quebec mayor ousted over secret surveillance
This is quite a wild story…if you can believe it.
Mayor Serge Peloquin of Sorel-Tracy, a city of 42,000 residents north of the Island of Montreal, revealed back in April that he had placed a hidden microphone to conduct electronic surveillance on the city’s clerk.
Péloquin told other elected officials he suspected René Chevalier, the city clerk, was demonstrating a lack of loyalty and ethics. He alleged the clerk was indiscreet and didn't respect his duty to maintain confidentiality. The mayor also told council that Section 52 of the Cities and Towns Act gave him the right to carry out covert recordings.
Investigations were done by the Quebec version of the provincial police, the Surete du Quebec…then the investigation was taken over by the province’s anti-corruption unit.
At the time, Peloquin insisted he was not going to resign.
However, that was no longer his decision; the Quebec Superior Court has removed Peloquin from office, saying the now former mayor under-minded the dignity of his job by spying on his city clerk.
“I will respect the judge's decision. I acted in good faith and acted [according to what I knew] in order to protect the interests and integrity of the municipality of Sorel-Tracy,” Peloquin said.
In other news (in BC)
Campbell River: Mayor Andy Adams said he is retiring after 17 years in municipal politics. Adams, 65, stated he’s had challenges with medical issues, “but I’m doing much better now. I feel great.”
“As I’ve stated in the past years, the past few years have presented many challenges. And candidly, it’s been disheartening to see the breakdown of kindness and respect, even amongst those that we disagree with,” Adams said, saying this trend is growing as the “level of inappropriate and disrespectful behaviour, especially on social media, continues.”
Elected as a councillor in 2005 and reelected in 2008 and 2011, Adams became mayor in 2014, defeating incumbent Walter Jakeway by 121 votes. He was acclaimed to a second term in 2018.
Comox: After two terms as a councillor and one as mayor, Mayor Russ Arnott announced he would not be seeking reelection in this Vancouver Island municipality.
“Comox faces challenges like any other community, but we face them together and transparently and this is what leads to our successes,” Arnott said. “Serving the public is an honour and a privilege.
Arnott cited the securing of $4 million in grants as a signature achievement, which allowed the building of daycare spaces, sidewalks, bike lanes on Comox Avenue and an improved marina services building.
Langley City: There is going to be an interesting political contest this fall near the Fraser Valley, as Mayor Val van den Broek will be challenged by Councillor Nathan Pachal to retain her current role.
While both council members said they agreed on policies looking to decrease congestion, one big point of contention is Pachal insisting that he can provide a more collaborative leadership style as opposed to van den Broek. The mayor has been accused of bullying and threatening a city employee, which led to a censure by council.
Vancouver: Former police officer Brian Montague is running for Vancouver City Council under Ken Sim’s A Better City (ABC) municipal party. Montague has had three decades of experience under the Vancouver Police Department, serving as the department’s spokesperson from 2012 to 2017.
Other city council candidates under the ABC banner include hospital operations engineer Lenny Zhou, UrbanYVR editor and former Global BC journalist Peter Meiszner, and incumbent Councillors Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung.
West Vancouver: Mayor Mary-Ann Booth has officially launched her reelection campaign for a second term to her job. Booth touts housing as a major issue to tackle, citing an affordable housing complex on Gordon Avenue that’s now being issued a development permit after significant delay.
Booth will face former mayor Mark Sager is running in a rematch from their 2018 contest, where Booth edged out Sager by only 21 votes. Sager served as mayor from 1990 to 1996. However, a wrinkle in this mayoral race has made it a “three way dance”, as Councillor Marcus Wong declared his intentions to run as well.
Wong, 41, is serving his first term on council and pointed to housing affordability, traffic congestion, and financial stewardship as key issues facing West Vancouver, but said he wouldn’t be releasing any policy platforms until closer to the election.
A longtime West Vancouver resident, Wong previously served on the West Vancouver Police Board as well as on the board of the North Shore Multicultural Association, and has previously worked with the Canadian Olympic Committee.
(Cover photo courtesy of City of Surrey.)
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