Surrey Connect Warns McCallum, Announces Good Governance Policies

Surrey, BC: Surrey Connect Leader and mayoral candidate Brenda Locke announces policy of recovering legal fees for Doug McCallum’s criminal defense case and cleaning up ethics at city hall.

From the scene of McCallum’s alleged crime one year ago, Locke advises, “Doug, I’m warning you to be very careful with every minute you spend with your lawyer over the next 5 weeks, because we are coming for you to repay every dime.” If elected mayor, the leader of the Surrey Connect team will instruct staff to do everything possible to recuperate McCallum’s expenses related to defending his criminal charge. His legal fees are expected to total over $200,000.

Lawyer and Surrey Connect council candidate, Harry Bains said, “If the mayor was shopping for his groceries on personal time on a Saturday, why is this being called city business?” The team pledged a full investigation of how the city decided to pay for the mayor’s expenses.

In addition to the investigation, Surrey Connect announced other policies to improve Surrey City Hall’s accountability and transparency:

• hire an Ethics Commissioner
• introduce conflict of interest rules and adherence practices
• establish whistle-blower protections
• advocate for municipal recall legislation

Surrey Connect developed these policies in response to concerns expressed by constituents over the last four years. Several Surrey Connect candidates are running to address ethics at city hall and concerns raised by residents.

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For more information, please contact:
Ramona Kaptyn
E: ramonakaptyn@yahoo.ca
T: 778.988.3930