City of Surrey paid $316K for former mayor's legal costs over public mischief charge

A year-end 2022 financial statement from the City of Surrey shows the city paid more than $300,000 to the law firm which represented Doug McCallum after he was chargedwith public mischief in 2021 and later acquitted.

The city confirmed that the single line under a schedule of payments for provision of goods and/or services for $316,663.50 paid to Peck and Company Barristers was used to pay for McCallum's legal fees.

The amount was made public last week when the financial statement was posted on the city's website.

In September 2021, McCallum claimedhisfoot had been run overin a grocery store parking lot in the south of the city. It happened during an altercation with a group gathering signatures to keep the RCMP in Surrey over the transition to a new municipal force.

It's been the central and, at times, all-encompassing issuethe city has been embroiled in since McCallum was elected in 2018.

McCallum, now 79, was subsequentlychargedwithpublic mischiefover the foot incident, which relatedtoallegedly making false statements with the intention of misleading police officers.

That led to speculation over who would cover McCallum's legal expenses.

According to a city bylaw, all municipal officials, including employees, officers and members of council will be compensated for costs relating to any incident that occurred while acting on behalf of the city.

McCallumhired high-profile defence lawyer Richard Peck to represent him. Peck was lead counsel for Ajaib Singh Bagri, who was acquitted in the Air India bombings andwas also onMeng Wanzhou'sdefence team.

At the time,Coun.Linda Annis balked atMcCallumbeing able to hire such a high profile and pricey legal team, saying city taxpayers should not be on the hook for the fees.

"I was shocked when I heard the amount," she said on Tuesday. "We could be spending city taxpayers' money in much better fashion than paying legal bills."

Annis wants the city to hone bylaws that would provide better guidance to council members about what are realistic legal expenses for the city to assume.

"If you were using your own money, would you arguably hire the most expensive lawyer in British Columbia or in Canada, for that matter?"

She also wants bylaws tightened over when municipal leaders are representing the city and when they are not. Doug McCallum had been grocery shopping when the incident occurred.

CBC News has contacted McCallum for comment on the legal fees.

Not guilty

In November 2022, aprovincial court judgefound McCallumnot guilty of public mischief.

McCallum first served as Surrey's mayor from 1996 to 2005 returning for a fourth term in 2018.

In October 2022, helost the mayor's chair to Brenda Locke.