Doug McCallum wants to be mayor of Surrey again, announces campaign

Doug McCallum (C) announces his run for mayor on April 13, 2026. He is flanked by current city councillors Doug Elford (L) and Mandeep Nagra (R). Photo by Sobia Moman

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Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum will challenge Mayor Brenda Locke in the upcoming municipal election.

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McCallum’s entry into the mayoral race sets up a matchup similar to the 2022 election, when Locke of the Surrey Connect party narrowly defeated McCallum of the Safe Surrey Coalition. Sitting Coun. Linda Annis is also running for mayor on the Surrey First slate.

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Speaking to journalists Monday morning in South Surrey, McCallum promised that, if elected, he wouldn’t increase property taxes over the four-year term, would purchase a helicopter for Surrey police within the first 90 days of office and would extend SkyTrain service to Surrey’s Newton Town Centre.

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“Surrey is not finished,” McCallum said. “Families in this city are still being squeezed by rising costs. Small businesses — the lifeblood of our neighbourhoods — are still drowning in red tape, and Surrey is about to become the largest city in British Columbia.”

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Stewart Prest, political scientist at the University of B.C., said McCallum’s promises will be challenging to meet if he’s elected.

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“It’s hard to understand how he can promise significant additional spending on policing, while also promising not to increase taxes. The clear implication is that there are going to be cuts, and potentially significant cuts elsewhere in terms of city services,” Prest said.

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Reached Monday, Locke said McCallum’s promise to increase police resources while freezing property taxes “doesn’t sound very reasonable.”

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“I can tell you that the move to a Surrey Police Service has cost our city over $100 million in four years,” Locke said. “So I think Mr. McCallum is going to have to go and check his numbers, because he wasn’t right last time, and it’s highly doubtful he will be right this time.”

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McCallum, who will turn 82 next week, was joined by councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra who were the only two Safe Surrey Coalition members to get elected in 2022. Elford and Nagra will be running with McCallum on his slate again, with the remaining candidates expected to be announced in the next month.

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When asked how he planned to freeze taxes and pay for new projects, McCallum said he will look to cut some city staff positions.

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“When I was mayor four years ago, we had six general managers. Today, we have 12 or 15. I think it’s too many. We have to cut back on some of that,” he said. “It astonishes me that we have a whole department of public safety in the city, when in fact, we have our own police force, which provides the public safety, and it has its own board itself too. So we’re going to look at different ways that we can save money.”