BCBusiness

SOURCE: ELECTIONS BC JULY/AUGUST 2019 BCBUSINESS 39 Some of the most surprised by McCallum's moves were his own coun- cillors. The split started when a surprise budget went out to the public in December before councillors saw it, one that proposed several controversial cuts, as well as no funding for more police o•cers. Four of the city's nine councillors, including three from McCallum's party, voted against it. That 5•4 split has continued on other issues. All the signs are there that more turmoil is to come, since the three Safe Surrey Coali- tion councillors opposing him include for- mer Liberal MLA Brenda Locke and former RCMP o•cer Jack Hundial, both of whom have strong followings and their own ideas about how to run things. Hundial, who has been particularly critical of McCallum, is pushing for public consultation on the cost and usefulness of switching from the RCMP to a municipal police force. Locke and Hundial, who had planned to run together before McCallum entered the race, recently spent an afternoon over soda waters at the new hotel across the plaza from city hall, talking about the strange and twisting journey Surrey politics is taking. They're alarmed about McCallum's statements that a changeover from RCMP to municipal police will be a snap, noting that Richmond decided not to transition its police force after an estimate showed it would cost $42 million. Hundial (along with the third breakaway councillor, Steven Pet- tigrew, who recently quit Safe Surrey) has asked for a public consultation on the move, something McCallum has said is unneces- sary. Hundial is also pushing for an ethics commission and a land inventory, saying he wants the latter to ensure that city property doesn't get sold oŽ to pay for the expensive SkyTrain and police changes. But he and Locke are mostly worried about the big picture. "What's driving me nuts is what is the future," Locke says as city workers stroll past the hotel windows on their way home. "This is going to be the biggest city in the province, and I don't see any vision for it." Hundial, too, is dismayed that things seem to be settling into an old- time status quo. "This city deserves a new type of government, one that's not placat- ing the same players." I BELIE V E IN DE V ELOP MENT McCallum dismisses all of that negative thinking and those negative people. In an hour-long interview in his –fth-—oor o•ce, which is remarkably generic (though with a gorgeous deck and view of the city-hall plaza) and free of visible personal memen- toes, he shows oŽ the kindly grandfather side of his personality that many have warmed to over the years. He talks with pride about his wife of the past two decades, Donna VanSant, a coach in the education sector, and his three chil- dren from his –rst marriage: two teachers and a B.C. Children's Hospital nurse. He mentions walking his grandkids to school near VanSant's house in Crescent Beach, where he now lives. He lights up as he speaks about how energized he's been by his second crack at the job—something that others are noticing as well—getting in at 6 a.m. He wants to make Surrey a vibrant place that "shows how a large city can have many diŽerent cultures." He says he now has a diŽerent approach to homelessness, after serving on the board of the Law Foundation of British Columbia. Because the foundation gives an annual grant to First United Church, which runs a homeless shelter at the church, he got a close look at the shelter's operations. There, he says, he became convinced that you can't push homeless people from one place to another to solve problems. "The homeless, where they locate, that's their home. I said, 'Let's not try to move them; let's make their home better.'" But he's still a development keener. "I believe in development. It creates a huge number of jobs." It just doesn't belong everywhere. McCallum says he will let the people decide where it goes. He's already told some big developers privately that they should stick to building close to transit and to areas already zoned for high density. As for who he really listens to, that's still not clear. He's always been close to key staŽers—he was exceptionally tight with his previous city manager and relied on them to carry out his targeted list of must-do projects. For sure, he's not listen- ing to his subset of recalcitrant councillors. "Jack's been a big disappointment to me," McCallum says of Hundial. "But I'm letting it —y right now." He has nothing to say about his friend Bob Cheema, brushing aside a question by mentioning that he has several strong sup- porters in the Indo-Canadian community. Cheema declined to be interviewed, saying he likes to be a private person. Building a Following With a $1,200 cap on individual donations, several real estate developers gave as generously as they could to Doug McCallum's 2018 mayoral campaign. Conspicuously absent from the public record was developer Bob Cheema, whom McCallum praised as a key supporter. In 2014, McCallum lost the mayoral race to Surrey First's Linda Hepner. He reported raising $258,486.94 for that campaign, which relied heavily on donations from Cheema-owned companies Bill's Development ($83,062.50) and Popular Group Investment ($21,000). TOTAL RAISED FOR THE 2018 CAMPAIGN: $241,983.11 TOTAL SPENT: $247,289.90 CONTRIBUTORS: 253 P R O M I N E N T 2 0 1 8 C O N T R I B U T O R S Elizabeth Beedie, Ryan Beedie and Todd Yuen, all affiliated with Beedie: $1,200 each Dale Bosa, BlueSky Properties: $1,200 Eric Carlson, Allan Copping, Kevin Falcon and Rob McJunkin, Anthem Properties: $1,200 each Robert Dominick, Weststone Group: $1,200 Brock Dorward, Aspen Developments: $1,200 Kirk and Larry Fisher, Lark Group: $1,200 each Vaughn Hodson, Kater Technologies (ride-hailing startup backed by the Vancouver Taxi Association as a rival to Lyft and Uber): $1,200 Peter and Ronald Toigo, Shato Holdings: $1,200 each David, Mary and Peter Wesik, ParkLane Homes: $1,200 each

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