Surrey’s only opposition councillor kicks off term challenging mayor’s 16 priority projects

Surrey’s only opposition city councillor is starting off the term challenging Mayor Doug McCallum’s plans, much to the dismay of the ruling slate.

Coun. Harry Bains won a second term in last month’s elections and was the only councillor elected who is not part of McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition.

At the first regular council meeting since the election, on Monday, Bains made his stand clear on the 16 promises McCallum wants to implement.

“It was important to support those items that they had on their priority list that I agreed with, and it was also important to make my position clear on the things I didn’t agree with, and to let them know exactly why. Part of it was friendly suggestions and amendments to move things forward in a collaborative way,” Bains said.

The councillor, who served on former mayor Brenda Locke’s slate for her one term, says he hasn’t heard from the mayor if any of his suggestions will be considered.

But Safe Surrey’s position can be gleaned from recent social media activity.

The coalition said on social media Tuesday Bains is against building a new hospital, even though he had voted in favour of one.

“Four years on council. No new hospital. Nothing delivered. Just bickering and whining. Now he’s attacking the mayor who is building one,” the slate says of Bains in a video on social media. “Harry Bains doesn’t care about Surrey. He’s playing politics for Brenda Locke’s legacy of never delivering anything.”

The councillor said he supports McCallum’s hospital plan, but wants a women’s and children’s hospital rather than another general hospital, and thinks it should be built on a larger site than the three hectare one the mayor has offered the province for the project.

“They’re trying to portray my position as being against the hospital, and anybody who can go on the internet can clearly see that I’ve supported the hospital. It’s a bit of dishonesty, and I know it’s not the type of politics I like to be part of,” Bains said.

“Either they didn’t understand what I was saying, or they’re hoping that people aren’t paying attention. But my position is clear. We need a new hospital in the city of Surrey. Nothing’s changed.

“To take sound bites and portray my position to be something that it’s not, I hope that’s not the precedent being set.”

Bains did vote against five motions, including buying a helicopter and drone fleet for the Surrey Police Service. He said those should be purchased only if the police board requests them.

“I think city hall needs to separate itself from the operational management of the Surrey police board. … When requested, I would be in full support of that,” Bains said of the purchases during the Monday council meeting.

He also didn’t support McCallum’s motion to freeze property taxes for the next four years, saying he would only do so if the mayor was able to guarantee such a freeze would not mean cutting services, selling city land, cancelling large budgeted projects, or raising other fees and taxes.