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of development approvals a year. Mann notes that McCallum still gets a lot of sup- port from local developers who ourished during his era. One controversial decision from that time: the sale of 250 acres in the new Campbell Heights business park for $35,000 an acre in 2002 to launch the project. (Two acres sold 15 years later for $3.7 million.) McCallum's supporters say he will tackle Surrey's biggest problems unstintingly. "He's a strong leader, which Surrey needs. He gets things done instead of talking about it," says new councillor Doug Elford. "And he's certainly not as conservative as I thought he would be." But even Elford admits that he doesn't know who McCallum takes his advice from. Elford, who used to be a pillar of the politi- cal left in Surrey until McCallum recruited him in a last-minute move, is a manifesta- tion of what appears to be the template for local political success established by Watts. That is: Form a party around yourself with the name Surrey in it (McCallum ran under the Safe Surrey Coalition banner from the 2014 race) and include the widest spectrum possible of candidates, even people who belonged to parties once opposed to yours. Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is another surprise ally. "I recognize in him somebody on a mission," Stewart says. "He wants to get these two things done. So many politicians say things and don't even try to deliver. I feel a real deep dedication to his community." As a result, Stewart has provided material help to McCallum, vocally backstopping him at TransLink over his decision to switch to SkyTrain and signing onto an agreement to support Surrey with its police transition. But McCallum is also generating waves of criticism, from community groups and former councillors but also from some of his own team. Many feel as though they got blindsided after the election by his quixotic decisions about a host of issues that no one had paid attention to during the campaign. Chief among the critics is Dianne Watts, watching from the sidelines as McCallum appears to be systematically dismantling many of her initiatives. He says he will shrink the scope of Surrey City Development Corp., which Watts had set up to enable the City to become a player in getting downtown developed—an agency that many Surrey developers didn't like, although outsiders appreciated it. Since McCallum arrived, the City has pulled out of the health-tech innovation hub and the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership. He's put several projects on hold, including an arts centre, a library, a community centre and an ice rink. And you get the feeling he'd like to tear down the expensive city hall that Watts got built, as her way of enticing development to Surrey City Centre. To Watts, it feels like a bad ashback. "I do worry about the city," she says. "We have come so far, and I do worry that we are going back in time." Another dismayed watcher is Mike Bola, a young dad who is president of the Cloverdale Community Association. That's the group that was dumbfounded to hear that, after its members had spent years lob- bying to get new ice rinks, McCallum had decided to delay their project because he was apparently worried about how much debt the City was taking on. "I can't wait till this four years is over," Bola says. "We don't know what will happen." BACK TO THE FUTURE Then there are those in the middle, who are simply trying to œgure out what's going on and are bažed by events so far. "We have no idea what his economic path forward is," says Surrey Board of Trade CEO Anita Huberman. "Before the election, Surrey was thriving, we had the health-tech dis- trict, we were the city to watch. There was so much excitement. Now it's stopped." Echoing some others, she says the mayor doesn't seem keen on the public ambassador side of his job, declining most invitations. He also doesn't appear inter- ested in talking to those who disagree with him. "No one can really dialogue with the mayor," Huberman says. "He will not listen to adverse opinion." SOURCES: STATISTICS CANADA, CITY OF SURREY JULY/AUGUST 2019 BCBUSINESS 37 S U R R E Y B Y T H E N U M B E R S 6 Communities in addition to City Centre: Cloverdale, Fleetwood, Guildford, Newton, South Surrey and Whalley 517,887 Population in 2016, a 10.6% increase from 2011 695,580 Projected population in 2031 0.30 Jobs per capita, well below Metro Vancouver frontrunners Richmond and Vancouver, tied with 0.60, and the region as a whole (0.45) 17,769 Licensed businesses in 2018 (excluding non-resident businesses) 33% Proportion of total businesses in Newton, which has the highest concentration 24% Proportion of total businesses that are in the contruction sector 18% Surrey's share of Metro Vancouver industrial land. 32% of that portion is undeveloped or vacant $1.5 billion Total construction value of building permits in 2017 67.2% Proportion of 2017 building permit values that were residential 9 million Square feet of commercial and industrial floor space added from 2013-17

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