Surrey mayor back in court on public mischief trial amid ethics debate at city hall
CTV
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum is scheduled to appear virtually in court Monday in his public mischief trial.
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum is scheduled to appear virtually in court Monday in his public mischief trial.
His appearance comes on the same day a controversial amendment to Surrey’s Council Code of Conduct Bylaw is once again up for discussion at city hall.
The proposed change would prevent Surrey’s ethics commissioner from hearing new complaints until the next municipal election is over.
The bylaw was supposed to be discussed at a council meeting back in January, but Mayor Doug McCallum recommended removing the motion just hours before the meeting was set to start.
If passed, the amendment would “suspend the processing of all complaints received in the period from April 12 of the year of the general local election until the day after the general voting day."
For comparison, both Edmonton and Toronto only pause their investigations for the three months prior.
The motion has sparked outrage among some councillors and residents as McCallum is currently facing an ethics complaint himself for staying on as chair of the Surrey Police Service while dealing with a public mischief charge.
