Doug McCallum must now pay his own legal bills, Surrey’s incoming mayor says

On the eve of Doug McCallum’s public mischief trial, Surrey mayor-elect Brenda Locke said her predecessor is now on the hook to pay the high-priced lawyer he’s hired to defend himself in court.

“I have instructed staff to cease paying any further legal bills for Mr. McCallum’s criminal charges, so that has already stopped,” said Locke, adding she’s also consulting with outside counsel to see if the city can recoup money previously paid to McCallum over the course of the past year.

“I do know the number, I can’t disclose it, but I can tell you it’s significant, and I am very concerned about it,” said Locke.

McCallum’s legal bills have been covered by the city since he was charged in connection with an incident at a Save-On Foods parking lot last September. The then-mayor told police and the media that a woman ran over his foot with her car. The subsequent investigation resulted in McCallum being charged with public mischief, an offence that involves misleading or lying to authorities.

McCallum pleaded not guilty, and because he claimed he was at the parking lot on official business, and had majority support on council, taxpayers were on the hook to defend him.

“He hired one of the most expensive lawyers in Canada I would venture to guess, and if he was paying for it out of his own pocket, would he have done that? I doubt it," said councillor-elect Linda Annis, who disputes McCallum’s claim he was there in his capacity as an elected official.

“The mayor by his own admission said he was out grocery shopping, minding his own business. If you’re on personal time, to me, that should not be at the expense of taxpayers,” Annis added.

John Alexander, a lawyer who specializes in municipal litigation, agrees it’s difficult to see how a trip to the grocery store qualifies as official business. He says whether the city can recoup any of the money it’s already paid for McCallum’s legal bills may come down to what happens at the trial, which begins on Monday.

“One could easily draw the connection between a finding of guilty, which means you were falsely reporting something to police, and a determination that that action could never have been part of a performance of mayor,” said Alexander. However he also notes that getting McCallum to repay the money would likely require further court action.

While McCallum has always said he wants his day in court, Alexander says if he has to pay his own legal bills going forward, it may give the outgoing mayor pause.

“The week in court is an expensive week, and when one starts to look at the fine verses the week in court, sometimes you do see a guilty plea or settlements of some type on the courthouse steps,” Alexander said, adding “If he is found guilty and fined, the city cannot cover his fine.”

Assuming it goes ahead, the seven-day trial is expected to feature surveillance video from the Save on Foods parking lot.

“There is CCTV cameras that absolutely know what happened,” said Locke. “I can only assume that that is very clear whether he told the truth or not. That is what the public mischief is about, whether he told the truth to the police.”

Regardless of the outcome at trial, Locke insists McCallum can’t send his legal bills to the city anymore, adding, "The citizens don’t want to pay, the citizens are tired of being embarrassed by the previous mayor.”