Mayor of Surrey, B.C., charged with public mischief

The mayor of Surrey, B.C., has been charged with public mischief following an investigation prompted by his own complaint that someone drove over his foot in a parking lot.

The B.C. Prosecution Service announced the single criminal count against Doug McCallum on Friday, but provided no further details on the nature of the allegations.

The mayor's complaint dates back to Sept. 4, when members of the Surrey Police Vote campaign were outside a supermarket gathering signatures on a petition to stop the city's transition from an RCMP detachment to a municipal police force.

McCallum alleged one member in a Ford Mustang intentionally drove into him, prompting an RCMP investigation.

Special prosecutor Richard Fowler was appointed to the case to "avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of justice," the B.C. Prosecution Service said. Fowler ultimately approved the charge against McCallum Friday.

"As the matter is now before the court, neither the special prosecutor nor the BCPS will be releasing additional information or commenting further at this time," the BCPS said.

During the last municipal election, McCallum campaigned on replacing Surrey's RCMP detachment with a new city police force, and has pushed forward despite some resistance from fellow councillors, residents and the RCMP union.

The transition began this fall, with the first members of the Surrey Police Service hitting the streets last weekend.

McCallum referenced that transition when responding to a request from CTV News for comment on his mischief charge Friday.

"We are in the middle of changing from RCMP to the Surrey Police Service and as this matter is before the courts, I will not be making any comment," the mayor wrote in an email.

Days after the alleged Sept. 4 incident outside a Save-On-Foods, McCallum told CTV News the Mustang driver had "floored it" while he was standing nearby in the parking lot, striking him on the hip and running over his foot.

The mayor said he had gone to the hospital for X-rays, suffered ongoing pain and soreness, and had reported the incident to law enforcement.

“The police are looking at laying charges,” McCallum said at the time. "So we'll see."

Prosecutors said the mayor's first court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 25.

After the charge was announced, Surrey Police Vote issued a statement calling on McCallum to step down as chair of the Surrey Police Board and recuse himself from any council votes related to policing matters until the case has concluded.

In a statement, the board acknowledged the mayor's "legal situation" but declined to comment on the matter, except to note that the chair has a non-voting role, except in the event of a tie.

Surrey Police Vote launched its petition campaign to pressure the provincial government to hold a referendum on the city's policing transition. Under B.C. law, canvassers can force a referendum by collecting signatures from 10 per cent of registered voters in every electoral district, though SPV only focused its efforts on Surrey's nine ridings.

During the Save-On-Foods incident, Surrey Police Vote members alleged McCallum approached them and demanded they remove their campaign signs and table, which they said had been set up on company property with management's permission.

"Our volunteer canvassers, including the volunteer he questionably accused, were simply exercising their democratic rights to ask the province for a referendum on keeping the Surrey RCMP," SPV strategist Bill Tieleman said in a statement.

"McCallum intentionally tried to stop our Initiative petition process on this and several other occasions, including sending bylaw 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."

The campaign ultimately gathered 42,942 signatures in Surrey, which is about 13 per cent of registered voters.