Thousands sign petition for Surrey mayor to pay own legal expenses following mischief charge

Thousands have signed a petition calling for the mayor of Surrey, B.C., to pay his own legal bills after he was charged with public mischief last week.

The online petition has gathered more than 4,500 signatures and was circulated after the B.C. Prosecution Service announced a single criminal count against Mayor Doug McCallum. That charge, announced last Friday, stemmed from an investigation prompted by the mayor's own complaint that someone ran over his foot in a parking lot.

Surrey's indemnification bylaw states that the city will "indemnify its Municipal Officials against payment of amounts required or incurred to defend an action, prosecution or claim brought against" them.

"It is completely inappropriate for Mr. McCallum to use hard earned taxpayer funds to defend himself in court on a personal matter," the petition says. "This is a total abuse of his position and needs to be stopped."

The investigation began after McCallum made a complaint following an incident outside a supermarket. Members of the Surrey Police Vote campaign were 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.

"What needs to be made clear is that Mr. McCallum was not acting in an official capacity at this time. He was doing personal shopping for groceries," the petition says. "He could have simply walked on by and done his shopping and left the citizens alone doing what they had a right to do."

McCallum said over the weekend he would not make any further statement than one he released by email on Friday, which said, "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." 

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Andrew Weichel