It鈥檚 not every day you see a civic slate calling for legislation enabling the recall of council members but that鈥檚 what the Safe Surrey Coalition is doing.
Some political rivals are questioning the motive.
The SSC issued a press release Wednesday morning to announce it鈥檚 calling on B.C. Minister of Municipal Affairs Anne Kang to introduce such legislation, 鈥渋nspired by Alberta鈥檚 model.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the need for such legislation in the face of governance challenges in Surrey and other jurisdictions,鈥� SSC Coun. Doug Elford stated in the press release.
鈥淩ecall legislation would empower citizens and ensure elected officials are fiscally responsible and keep property taxes affordable. Mayor Brenda Locke campaigned for this, but her leadership has been called into question due to ongoing issues at Surrey City Hall.鈥�
The SSC suggests a recall threshold of 50 per cent of the total votes cast for an official. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 just about Surrey,鈥� Coun. Mandeep Nagra stated in the press release. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about ensuring all municipal leaders in B.C. are accountable to their constituents.鈥�
Former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum, who was defeated by Locke in the 2022 civic election, is also quoted in the press release.
鈥淢ayor Locke鈥檚 refusal to adequately fund the police service, her spending on partisan political advertisements with taxpayer dollars, and her reckless decisions leading to increased property taxes are exactly why we need recall legislation. Residents deserve the right to hold their leaders accountable,鈥� McCallum said.
Locke dismissed this as 鈥渏ust a distraction by them. I think the real issue is they don鈥檛 like our position on the police transition.
鈥淐ertainly lots and lots of people talked about it (a recall mechanism) under McCallum鈥檚 administration,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淭o me this is just another one of their silly little distractions.鈥�
Surrey Connect Coun. Harry Bains noted there鈥檚 a lot of arguments for and against recall legislation. 鈥淥ne of the arguments against it is always that it鈥檚 going to be weaponized and I feel that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening here, that can be used as a weapon against elected officials. As elected officials, sometimes we have to make unpopular choices, we have to make choices that are hard, we have to be the adults in the room and we have to do so for the good of the city.鈥�
Bains said the use of recall legislation to attack politicians might in the long run make it impossible for elected officials to make the right decisions because they might be unpopular. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a huge concern when you鈥檙e an elected official and your sole duty is to take care of the city and represent the city that you鈥檙e elected in.鈥�
Coun. Linda Annis, of Surrey First, said she鈥檚 surprised there isn鈥檛 already recall legislation for civic elected officials other than if they are criminally convicted. 鈥淭o me, it should be aligned with what we do provincially and federally,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou know, if we鈥檙e not doing our job and the people aren鈥檛 happy there should be a process in place. They shouldn鈥檛 have to wait four years to voice their opinion. I think it鈥檚 just good practice for any elected official anywhere 鈥� we need to be held accountable.鈥�
Coun. Gordon Hepner, of Surrey Connect, said he鈥檚 not against legislation for recall but said when it鈥檚 used to try to change the political direction of a politician through legislation, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 not democracy鈥hat鈥檚 just a weapon in order to get the way thatthey see fit, not that the public saw during the time at the ballot box.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 politicking and weaponizing legislation,鈥� Hepner added. 鈥淲e are a democracy. I am sure that there are many people inSurrey that thought that would have been handy in McCallum鈥檚 time in office.鈥� He added it might have 鈥渋n fact come in handywith all the chaos around McCallum.鈥�
Locke echoed that, charging that the SSC鈥檚 鈥渕ismanagement, their lack of financial accountability,鈥� is the reason why the city isin the position it is today 鈥渁nd they鈥檙e saying that somehow we should be the one to take the hit for their mismanagement fromthe beginning. It鈥檚 truly the pot calling the kettle black, I can鈥檛 think of a truer description of this.
鈥淭his is pretty rich, pretty rich on their part.鈥�
Coun. Rob Stutt, also of Surrey Connect, doesn鈥檛 think the SSC鈥檚 request to Kang meets the criteria of a public interest in this case. 鈥淚n this particular case I guess we have to get back to the elephant in the room. In this particular case the reason that we鈥檙e in the situation that we鈥檙e in is because of the Safe Surrey Coalition鈥檚 poor decision-making.鈥�
鈥淚 would suggest that their attempt to influence Minister Kang has nothing to do with the genuine interest of having recall legislation at the municipal level,鈥� Stutt said. 鈥淚f there was provision for recall of municipal officials there鈥檚 a strong likelihood that mayor McCallum would not have finished his term. I鈥檓 thinking careful what you wish for, because if that legislation had鈥檝e been in effect as long as it has been for the other levels of government, he probably wouldn鈥檛 have survived his term.鈥�
