Doug McCallum is running for mayor again after a narrow defeat in 2026, and following the announcement, Surrey and B.C. residents have thoughts, lots and lots of thoughts.
Straying away from more classic political campaign slogans like “We’re Putting Surrey first” or “Better Together,” the slogan displayed at McCallum’s announcement on Monday was “Doug Gets it Done.”
Reactions in response to his announcement included shock, surprise, and people making jokes about the former mayor, but while McCallum lost in 2022, he did so by a very, very thin margin.
Current Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke was voted in with 28.14 per cent of the vote, or 33,311 votes.
McCallum had 27.31 per cent share of the votes, with 32,338 votes, so he lost by under 1,000 votes. Third place, Gordie Hogg was much further behind, with 24,916 votes.
A big part of McCallum’s announcement was his hopes of continuing to push Surrey toward being a global city, touting transformational projects for the city, the likes that we’ve seen in Dubai, London and New York.
Past promises haunting McCallum?
Doug McCallum/ City of Surrey
A huge part of the reaction to McCallum’s announcement involved folks bringing up his past promises — things like the canal, or the 60,000-seat Surrey stadium.
Doug McCallum is throwing his hat back in the ring as the next Mayor of Surrey!
Get hyped sports aficionados, that 60,000 seat bad boy is back in play!!! @JasJohalBC #Wrestlemania60 pic.twitter.com/qfVxaVPQd9
— Rob Fai (@RobFai) April 13, 2026
In 2019, we learned that McCallum had envisioned turning city roads into canal waterways. Many didn’t take the announcement seriously. He said that the idea came to him after a visit to Qatar.
He brought up the idea to the City of Surrey’s engineering department, and it was not dismissed, he said in 2019.
To be fair, others didn’t dismiss the idea either, including the then CEO of the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association, Elizabeth Model.
“Mayor McCallum has an interesting concept, and as I have travelled so much and seen cities being built with canals… I understand his idea, but it really depends on the ease and functionality,” Model told Daily Hive Urbanized.
Someone on the Surrey subreddit joked, “Canals are back on the menu! Maybe a massive ferris wheel? Maybe replace the BC Ambulance Service with a super efficient municipal one.”
Another person joked, “I guess he still wants those canals in bridgeview built lol.”
Amidst the reaction to McCallum’s announcement, councillor-turned-mayor hopeful Linda Annis and current mayor Locke weren’t safe.
McCallum’s age was also called into question, as he is 81 years old.
One Redditor commented, “He’s 81, retire!!!”
“Annis, Locke and McCallum: three of Surrey’s best running for mayor and people are wondering why municipal election turnout is so low,” someone commented, with another Redditor chiming in that Locke and McCallum alone have a combined age of 152 years — it’s true.
back to back to back crazy mayors. cool.
— Cameron Davis (@camdavis) April 13, 2026
Others didn’t hold back, including someone calling potential McCallum voters, idiots.
Anyone that’s going to vote for Doug McCallum is an idiot! Before he left last term, he placed Surrey into financial ruin!!!!! Now he says no tax hike yet wants to buy a police chopper!! We had one at no charge to Surrey!! He’s a liar! Beware!!!
— Joe (@joeknl43) April 14, 2026
CKNW Host Jas Johal compared McCallum’s slogan to another Canadian politician’s.
Doug gets it done! McCallum or Ford? I guess we can call the municipal slogan “borrowed.” #bcpoli #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/m7FzdwcqsB
— Jas Johal (@JasJohalBC) April 13, 2026
What Surrey leaders and opponents are saying
“Welcome to Surrey” entrance sign with the City of Surrey logo and the “The Future Lives Here” motto. (MD Signs)
Someone outspoken on social media about the announcement was former Surrey Board of Trade President and CEO Anita Huberman.
Among some of her comments, she called the news “terrible” and “a joke.”
Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to Huberman for more on her thoughts on the announcement, considering her history as a business leader in Surrey.
“Surrey is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic cities in Canada, and its future depends on strong, stable, and forward-looking leadership. In my view, returning to leadership under Doug McCallum and his team would not move Surrey forward—it would risk taking the city backward,” she told Daily Hive Urbanized.
Huberman went on to say that McCallum’s previous term led to a disruption to Surrey’s brand reputation, investor confidence, and infrastructure momentum, “at a time when consistency and collaboration were critical.”
“Particularly during the pandemic, there were missed opportunities to strengthen Indigenous partnerships, community relationships, and coordinated responses that could have better supported residents and businesses during an already challenging period. The stakes are too high to revisit a period marked by uncertainty and division,” she said.
Huberman said that she remains committed to supporting a leader who will move the city forward “in a positive and inclusive way.”
Annis, one of the frontrunners for the 2026 election, said that McCallum has a ‘ready-fire-aim’ approach to running the city, and called out some of his leadership history regarding Surrey policing decisions.
“While I definitely support our SPS, the fact is the cost of local policing is not 10 per cent more than the RCMP, and this transition has been anything but quick. Frankly, he and Brenda Locke mismanaged the whole process because details are just not important to them.”
Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association for comment.
Regardless of who you’re voting for, it’s going to be an entertaining 2026 civic election season in Surrey and in Metro Vancouver.