THE shameless harassment of former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum by supporters of the RCMP in Surrey and then-opposition councillors, especially the current mayor, Brenda Locke, because he wanted to replace the Surrey RCMP with the Surrey Police Service was nothing short of CRIMINAL in our opinion.
(It is also a shame and a SCANDAL the way MOST of the mainstream media reporters distorted facts in covering McCallum in general and the public mischief case in particular. Their reporters should be ashamed of themselves! They behaved worse than pimps! A few, however, like Jason Proctor of the CBC, were objective.)
Indeed, McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition would have won the municipal election but for the RCMP harassment of charging McCallum with public mischief – whereas the RCMP did nothing to charge their supporters with criminal harassment as they heaped abuse on McCallum, his SSC councillors and supporters day and night.
Locke has lost all legitimacy and should step down as mayor if she has even a modicum of shame. Surrey-ites will have no respect for this “28-per-cent” mayor and they should start demanding that she quit.
(All, that Locke could say on Monday was: “The City will continue to explore its options in relation to Mr. McCallum’s legal issues and I am expecting an update in the next few weeks. I will also be asking for a review of the Indemnification By Law so it can be improved to ensure this won’t happen again. This matter will be brought to Council for consideration at a future date.” Shame on you, Locke!)
(Incidentally, when I fired off an email on Wednesday to Locke and the City of Surrey about the legal fees of Locke and Councillor Linda Annis over the past four years, I got this statement from the City’s Corporate Services: “Information concerning Councillors’ legal fees is privileged and confidential information and therefore we cannot disclose this information.” Hey Locke, what happened about your transparency? Locke and Annis can release their information on their own — and they know that!)
Surrey Connect’s Locke bagged 33,111 of the votes as compared to McCallum’s 32,338 votes — a difference of only 973 votes. And it is a well-known fact that many Surrey-ites who would have voted for McCallum voted for other candidates and some did not even cast their votes because they were led to believe by an endless barrage of propaganda by his detractors that he would be convicted for sure after the election.
Also, RCMP bosses in B.C. and Surrey should be removed from their posts. They have lost the respect not only of Surrey-ites but also of all British Columbians. They have NO credibility left after having gone out of their way to try and get McCallum convicted in a petty case – they had SEVEN officers on the case!
As The VOICE wrote on November1 in an opinion piece titled “Doug McCallum case: Surrey-ites laughing at their RCMP!”:
“The RCMP had seven members investigating the case, as was revealed in a Surrey court … The highly respected defence lawyer Richard Peck described it as “a minor hit-and-run.” He asked Crown witness Sgt. Andre Johnny if this wasn’t “pretty extraordinary.”
“How many of you have had seven Mounties investigate any of your minor or major complaints, guys?
“Now we know why even gang members mock the RCMP!”
Indeed, McCallum’s acquittal reinforces the demand to kick out the RCMP from Surrey. They have no sense of PRIORITIES!
Surrey-ites must also start demanding that a fresh election be held for their City.
Equally appalling is the fact that McCallum was charged at all — it was a clear case of VINDICTIVENESS by the RCMP and experts say that the charge approval standard or threshold was quite obviously not met. The special prosecutor, many say, should have known better!
It is also pointed out that when Crown witness Sgt. Andre Johnny was asked by Peck: “To this day you cannot say conclusively whether the foot was run over?” all that the pathetic Mountie could say was: “No I cannot.” In the video of the incident, McCallum’s feet are concealed by a shrub. That itself should have made it clear to any intelligent cop that this was a hopeless case to pursue. But then, Mounties are not exactly known for their brilliance, are they?
BY the way, one reader sent me an observation from a retired RCMP sergeant who wrote before Monday’s verdict: “I also find it amazing that the RCMP thought it would be prudent, or ethical, to investigate this matter, knowing that the alleged victim of public mischief was in fact part of a group that was funded by the RCMP union.”
He added: “Knowing what we know about the affect of bias and prejudice on the investigative process, would it have been wise to have another police agency investigate this?”
Wow, didn’t either the BC RCMP boss Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald or the Surrey RCMP boss Assistant Commissioner Brian Edwards realize that SIMPLE fact?! Or were they completely blinded by their INTENSE HATRED of McCallum?
Shouldn’t they resign – if they have even an iota of integrity or self-respect?
What respect can their fellow RCMP officers have for such characters?
(VOICE opinion)
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