It was hard to cut the list down to Ten
McCallum’s Land Acknowledgement #FAIL is number 8 in the countdown list below
To keep it to ten some of the #fails had to be combined into one while others like McCallum’s vehicle expenses and penchant for filling up his gas tank for free at the City Works Yard were left off entirely. As was McCallum calling for blackout blinds on council chambers and the Mayor’s Office. They were left off because this type of secrecy is just another day on McCallum’s watch.
McCallum and his crew celebrating SkyTrain as a ‘done deal’ also didn’t make this list even though Translink, the Provincial Government and the Federal government ALL HAVE NOT BUDGETED EVEN ONE DIME FOR THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SKYTRAIN PROJECT. Sad but true. Now it’s over three years since the LRT construction was stopped by McCallum. There is still much work to be done to secure financing for the SkyTrain project. Perhaps because SkyTrain is going to cost well over a Billion Dollars more than McCallum promised.
The Surrey Police Service is way behind schedule and way over budget. Survey after survey, petition after petition confirms the majority of residents want a referendum.
McCallum’s total dismissal of Darlene Bennett’s officially sanctioned petition – signed by 42,000 Surrey citizens – demanding a referendum on policing did not make it to the top ten on this list either. That is amazing but true, but McCallum’s harassment of her volunteers does feature prominently in the Top Ten.
No pool for Whalley – it was promised.
The discussion of legal fees is also emerging along with a challenge for all councillors to make their legal fees public. This is interesting because any reports by Surrey’s Ethics Commissioner can only be released after a majority vote by council in private meetings. So some councillors can’t identify why they have incurred legal fees while others basically receive immunity.
The Office of the Ethics Commission in Surrey was set up earlier in this term. No surprise that it operates like a secret society with a huge budget. The public won’t know if this was a fail or a success until some future council releases all the reports.
With only 2 reports being released in 3 years, it appears that the Office of the Ethics Commissioner has been weaponized by the ruling party in Surrey. AND now they issue the challenge to opposing councillors to reveal legal fees without the ability to reveal why they were incurred.
One Hundred Percent (100%) of Brenda Locke and Jack Hundial’s legal expenses were incurred defending themselves against frivolous actions brought against them by the Safe Surrey Coalition and their direct associate.
Surrey City Council – a workplace like no other.
At any rate – here we go with the Top Ten #FAILS …
McCallum Doesn’t Care
What the Public Thinks
The 2022 budget was released late – on the week before Christmas – allowing only 3 days for public input.
To make matters worse a press release was sent out before the Christmas Eve meeting to discuss the public’s feedback and vote on the budget – the communication staff assumed it was a foregone conclusion that all public feedback would be ignored – they were right.
Proving once again that McCallum’s supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition doesn’t care what the public thinks.
Rejection of the Harmony
Affordable Housing Project
Despite overwhelming community support, the Harmony Apartments development to provide inclusive and affordable quality housing to Surrey residents with disabilities and other barriers to housing was rejected 5-3 by city council on Tuesday July 27th.
McCallum’s supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition opposed the project with their block of 5 votes. Why is a mystery.
Linda Annis recused herself and did not vote.
Brenda Locke, Jack Hundial and Stephen Pettigrew voted in favour of this affordable and inclusive project that would have provided housing for Surrey residents with disabilities.
Public Feedback
Keep in mind they weren’t asking for money.
They were asking to build the housing on properly zoned land that was owned by a partnership of housing societies.
Rejection of Land Acknowledgement
and Systemic Racism
In a 5-4 vote on Jan. 11, Mayor Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition shot down Councillor Jack Hundial’s motion calling for every council and committee meeting to be prefaced with the acknowledgment they are being held on First Nations territory.
The motion sought for council to recognize “the land we are on is the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people” — a simple step, Hundial said, toward bettering the city’s relationship with Indigenous communities.
Hundial told the CBC that he feels a formal land acknowledgement is “just the right thing to do,” and he found the motion’s denial “a bit of an affront.”
Systemic racism and sexism at the Cloverdale Rodeo led to a complaint filed at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. McCallum’s supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition stayed silent on the issue.
Some of the claims in the complaint are truly disturbing.
Bogus Claims About 2.9% Property Tax Increases
Surrey business owners staggering under current property tax bills, which they say have increased by anything from 17 percent to 86 percent over last year, are struggling to understand why it’s happening.
Mayor Doug McCallum and his supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition say the budget holds the line with a general property tax increase of 2.9 percent for the third year in a row. But the minority on council argued when the budget was passed last December, that Surrey residents’ tax bill will be much more than that, with some paying 12 to 15 percent more in 2021.
Brenda Locke and Jack Hundial’s concerns turned out to be true in 2021 and now Doug and his faithful followers on council are repeating the same BS on the 2022 budget. Yup, they did it again!
McCallum Taking Credit for
things he personally had nothing to do with
McCallum stepped forward to take credit for the COVID vaccination clinics and the new hospital being planned for Surrey, Both are provincial projects, but Doug didn’t hesitate because he needed some good press.
He also took credit for Walmart’s decision to stop using plastic bags. Even though the Canadian Government indicated a country-wide ban was coming in 2022.
We’re not sure how a Godzilla-sized Doug is taking credit for setting policy at the largest retailer in the world, but without a doubt, this came after the federal government announced a national policy.
Apparently, the note from Walmart was sent to many municipalities. The supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition somehow took the tidbit as confirmation of the greatness of their beloved leader.
The text in the image portion of the post clearly indicates how his PR department operates.
Go Godzilla!
Then he shared some ‘love’
with his faithful followers
The Road Rammed Through
Bear Creek Park
without proper public consultation
This surprise announcement was a shock – especially since McCallum is on the record as previously opposing this road.
Their justification for this sudden change – and real estate opportunity for Mandeep Nagra’s family – was to say it would take traffic off of 88th Avenue and reduce deaths at the 88th and the King George intersection. They called it the most dangerous intersection in Surrey and the third most dangerous intersection in BC.
However, that is simply not true
There are a dozen more dangerous intersections in Surrey
The graph above indicates
One serious accident every 3 months
at 88th and King George
Never letting the facts
get in the way of a good story
McCallum’s ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition
put out this post
One death or serious injury
every 3 days for 10 full years
simply did not happen
Despite their dubious safety claims the Safe Surrey Coalition majority not only resurrected the rejected project to connect 84th Avenue between King George and 140th this past February – on a five-to-four vote – but the city is also looking to resurrect the previously rejected temple parking as well.
Earlier this month, during a presentation before a city council committee, Councillor Mandeep Nagra remarked that the revived road connector is a “great, great project, long overdue – let’s do it, let’s get it done.”
At that meeting, Nagra asked city staff if the parking lot between the temples is part of the road project as well, and if it will proceed at the same time.
Jason Colenutt, Surrey’s manager of design and construction, replied, “That’s something that again we’ve received very positive feedback from so it’s definitely something that we’re looking to integrate into the project. (Strangely feedback matters here – for some unknown reason.)
Mandeep Nagra’s family has entered into a contract to purchase property on 84th Avenue since the announcement.
Road Rage: Opposition mounts
anew to Surrey’s plan for 84 Ave.
Environmentalists in Surrey have won a key battle in their war against the City of Surrey to prevent a new road from being built along the south side of Bear Creek Park. It is a temporary victory.
BC Supreme Court Justice Heather MacNaughton ruled in favour of an interim injunction application by Force of Nature Society, Sebastian Sajda and Annie Kaps to prevent the construction of a $16.75 million extension of 84 Avenue east of King George Boulevard.
McCallum has been using Surrey’s lawyers to try and draw out the court proceedings and bankrupt the Friends of Bear Creek with onerous legal expenses.
There are 2 salmon-bearing streams: Bear Creek and King Creek. The new roadway will go over both of them.
Bear Creek Park is an active and important hub for many birds including Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks, owls, woodpeckers, and many protected songbirds. “It’s inconceivable that they would start work on this road without doing a proper bird survey,” said Sebastian Sajda, president of Force of Nature and an organizer for Friends of Bear Creek Park, “Industry practice is to provide at least a 30-metre buffer around any active nests.
“One of our biggest issues was the public consultation, which wasn’t much of a consultation,” Sadja said. “It wasn’t asking whether we wanted the road, it was asking what we wanted the road to look like, and we just think that’s unacceptable.”
The BC Supreme Court Ruling on whether or not the road is legal will be announced on Dec 30th, 2021 – unfortunately, the road and parking lot will be allowed to proceed.
The general public was not told about this habitat destruction during the 2018 election campaign. Now citizens are powerless to stop it. It appears that it was a foregone conclusion, although the Safe Surrey Coalition’s public consultation process???? let people choose the style of street lights.
Multiple Offensive Facebook Posts
by the Safe Surrey Coalition (SSC)
This SSC Facebook Post is flat-out racist
McCallum’s supposedly ‘Safe’ Surrey Coalition has posted it multiple times. They are now introducing new variations of it and featuring other people in basically the same image.
The SSC Facebook post below shows a political opponent as a prisoner.
Sure they will make the claim that it was because he didn’t see the incident, but then again, how can you see what didn’t happen? No toe was injured during the non-event. Ivan Scott was absolutely correct.
Obviously, it was McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition
who doesn’t know the facts because
it has been determined by the Special Prosecutor
that there is a substantial likelihood
Ivan Scott is absolutely 100% correct.
In this one, they are paying for ads to compare Brenda Locke to a dog.
The majority party paid to
publically compare
a female opposition councillor to a dog
and nobody got fired – Really???
Massive Rushed Development
With Serious Environmental Concerns
Lack of public consultation on the previously twice refused South Campbell Heights massive redevelopment. McCallum himself was against the plan during the 2018 election campaign. Why the flip flop? Why was this redevelopment suddenly put on the fast track? – Well over a Billion in wealth via increased property values will be created.
The final consideration of the proposal
is anticipated to take place in January.
From the article: “The area in question is bounded by 20 Avenue to the north, 196 Street to the east, 8 Avenue to the south and approximately 186 Street to the west. It is outside of the agricultural land reserve, sits atop the Brookswood aquifer and encompasses 72 properties.
The 30-kilometre Little Campbell River bisects the more than 600-acre target area, and flows through SFN lands into Boundary Bay.
In October, Metro Vancouver gave conditional approval to the city’s proposal, which includes extending the urban containment boundary and thereby opening the area up to commercial and industrial development; a move opponents maintain threatens not only the salmon-bearing river, but also the Brookswood aquifer.”
Here are a few of the comments on Facebook
Virtually all of the comments oppose this development
Harassing Citizens
McCallum Banned 7 citizens
From Attending Council Meetings
and from Participating Remotely
Not only did he ban them he kept up his attack on democracy and elevated his fight against seven senior citizens. He and his 4 faithful councillors vote to ban them by a 5 – 4 margin.
McCallum raised his game to another level when an expensive Downtown Vancouver law firm – Lidstone and Company – was hired to seek a court order against the citizens.
They hired their own lawyer and filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court on Tuesday (Dec. 14), seeking to overturn the ban. McCallum folded like a cheap tent.
Mostly because he was going to lose badly and he knew it.
McCallum REFUSED to apologize and REFUSED to cover the senior citizens’ legal costs. Even though the City of Surrey is paying Lidstone for McCallum’s error in judgement.
The 7 seniors will still have to pay their $1,400 combined Parcel Tax (that’s not a tax) again this year. Shouldn’t their legal bills be repaid because it’s clearly obvious McCallum’s court order was just a scare tactic?
Residents blocked from
expressing their discontent
on their own property
New rules in Surrey about the display of political signs on residents’ private property are prompting outrage from some residents.
Council voted 5 to 4 in October to amend the city’s existing sign bylaw, prohibiting any display of political signs on private or public property until an election, referendum or plebiscite has officially been called.
The amendments also expand the definition of “political” beyond signs supporting a candidate or party in an election. Political signs will now include those that express support or disapproval of a politician, and support or opposition to an issue at any level of government.
Using Bylaw Officers
to harass legal petitioners
This is an old McCallum trick used recently to ambush legal Uber drivers.
City of Surrey bylaw officers issued a violation ticket to a Surrey Police Vote canvasser Saturday (Sept. 11) for “advertising,” says a spokesperson for the group.
Darlene Bennett, organizer of the petition drive, said this is “a clear and blatant ongoing attempt to silence the people of Surrey and impede a democratic process.”
Surrey Police Vote has already filed an intimidation complaint with Elections BC against Mayor Doug McCallum. It alleges “possible intimidation and interference” with its volunteers.
“Mayor McCallum intentionally tried to stop our Initiative petition process on this and several other occasions, including sending by-laws officers to fine volunteers collecting signatures in public parks, because he is terrified at the prospect of a democratic referendum voting down the expensive and unnecessary Surrey Police Service,” campaign strategist Bill Tieleman said.
The Criminal Charges
He accused a citizen of hit and run while his girlfriend Councillor Allision Patton chimed in calling it attempted murder.
Seriously this is not about him ‘limping’ around and lying. That’s the sideshow to the circus.
McCallum kept doing media interviews making the same accusation over and over. Other mayors called him and/or publically offered their sympathies.
This was a mayor trying to frame a citizen – who disagreed with him – for a serious criminal charge. The major crimes unit went to her house and did a full inspection of her vehicle. A Special Prosecutor was appointed to investigate.
Imagine that was your grandma. Thank the heavens there was video.
McCallum hired BC’s most expensive lawyer – at the taxpayers’ expense – because of these actions on his own personal time – by his own admission.
To defend this horrendous use of tax dollars his devoted follower Laurie Guerra asked for all councillors to disclose their legal expenses knowing full well that 100% of two councillors’ legal expenses were incurred defending themselves against frivolous actions launched by members of the Safe Surrey Coalition. It was a stinky little bit of political theatre to end the year.
Ir combines with McCallum’s arrest
to become the Number 1 #FAIL for 2021
______________
Feel free to play some McCallum Bingo
and get a head start on next year.
Most years the card is full
before the second Sunday in January
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