Former city mayor Doug McCallum made a big comeback in Surrey Saturday night and created arguably the biggest stir of election night in B.C.
Defeating Surrey First’s Tom Gill and succeeding Linda Hepner, the longtime mayor was re-elected as the leader of the City of Surrey. McCallum had been mayor of Surrey for nine years until he was knocked off by Dianne Watts and her upstart Surrey First party in 2005.
During his winner’s speech, McCallum said Surrey voters “have sent a message to the rest of the province.”
A remarkable comeback for Doug McCallum. Watch his full victory speech #SurreyVotes #Elxn2018 pic.twitter.com/zxYwp6LtW8
— CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) October 21, 2018
“We are a great city — a great international city. You’ve elected a council that’s going to fight for you to get your rights.”
McCallum had 45,323 votes as of 11:11 p.m., handily defeating Surrey First’s Tom Gill who had 28,304 votes and Integrity Now’s Bruce Hayne with 27,798.
"I will definitely be on the sidelines cheering on this incredible city," Tom Gill said. "I've very proud of the campaign we ran."
Seven of the eight elected city councillor candidates are with the Safe Surrey Coalition party. The only Surrey First candidate to crack the top eight and make it onto council is Linda Annis.
McCallum promised to get rid of the existing RCMP detachment in favour of a municipal police force. He also promised to scrap plans for a light rail connection between Newton and Guildford and replace it with an extension of the SkyTrain service.
"We are a great city, a great international city, and you have elected a council to get your rights in all of the world," McCallum said.
Doug McCallum has defeated Tom Gill by 17,000 votes. Surprisingly SURREY first school trustees like Garry Thind took 5000 more votes than Tom Gill.Doug McCallum’s team has two Punjabi speaking councillors,Jack Singh Hundal 33705 votes n Mandeep Singh Nagra 300048 votes ਮੁਬਾਰਕ! pic.twitter.com/8Ec900Ovvb
— Harjinder Thind (@harjindersthind) October 21, 2018
A very optimistic crowd for @mccallum4mayor. They believe it's his time again. Doug McCallum was mayor from 1996 to 2005, he ran again in the last election and lost but this time he's making some bold promises. #Elxn2018 #SurreyVotes #SurreyVotes2018 pic.twitter.com/MOUpxjmOlC
— Anita Bathe (@anitabathe) October 21, 2018
My wrap of tonight’s coverage for @CTVVancouver from @surreyfirst HQ after Tom Gill @surreytomg defeated by Doug McCallum. Thank you for watching! #SurreyVotes #CTVCivic pic.twitter.com/fQl8kMrSaN
— Nafeesa Karim (@nafeesakarim) October 21, 2018
