SURREY RCMP must cough up $316,663.50 of taxpayers’ money that was spent by then-Surrey mayor Doug McCallum to defend himself in the false case that was registered against him by a desperate Surrey RCMP that wanted McCallum to lose in the municipal election so that they could remain in the city.

The figure was revealed this month in the City’s Statement of Financial Information for 2022 that shows the amount that was paid to Peck and Company Barristers that defended McCallum.

Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris last November found McCallum not guilty of public mischief.

McCallum was charged of lying to police in connection to a September 4, 2021 incident in which he had alleged that Debi Johnstone, who opposed his plan to replace the RCMP with a municipal police force, had deliberately run over his foot in a supermarket parking lot in Surrey.

The judge said that he believed the medical and physical evidence proved that Johnstone did run over McCallum’s foot and that the shock of the incident would have been enough to cause a distortion of memory regarding errors in his statement to police.

CCTV footage didn’t show McCallum’s foot as it was covered by a shrub.

In fact, the judge found Johnstone had run over McCallum’s foot and that was backed up in part by the video that showed her stealthily making her way through the parking lot before calling out to the former mayor.

He said: “In my view, there is ample, objectively verifiable evidence confirming Mr. McCallum’s assertion regarding his foot.”

The judge, noting that McCallum himself had told police to check out the CCTV footage, said: “In my view, it defies logic that Mr. McCallum would deliberately mislead the police and then immediately suggest they get evidence … that would show him to be a categorical liar.”

The judge also noted: “The presumption of innocence is crucial,” adding: “This is essential in a society committed to fairness and social justice.”

INDEED, Surrey RCMP was anything but “committed to fairness and social justice” in their devilish desperation to remain in Surrey.

They actually had at least SEVEN officers on the case – a case of PUBLIC MISCHIEF!

How many Mounties have you seen handle your complaint?!

And this was happening when there weren’t enough Mounties in Surrey or elsewhere in B.C. to deal with serious crimes as actual figures have clearly shown.

In fact, former prosecutor and RCMP lawyer, Tony Bhullar, who was also a BC Liberal MLA, told The VOICE at the time in an interview that McCallum should sue the RCMP for the shamelessly biased manner in which they went after him and ruined his chances of being re-elected – just because he was replacing them with a municipal police force.

He told this newspaper: “The question now is what happens because legally Mayor McCallum may have won the election had these charges not existed, adding: “In my humble opinion, Mayor McCallum has the recourse to sue the RCMP.”

Bhullar noted: “He would not be the first. The RCMP has the [federal] Department of Justice defend them in most cases and the payment is on an annual basis somewhere in the eight-figure range that the RCMP pays out for wrongful acts. And the Department of Justice in British Columbia has two full-time lawyers that defend the RCMP.”

Indeed, Bhullar after explaining the absurdity of the charge against McCallum went so far as to bluntly state: “In fact, Mr. McCallum could have had a second-year law student and he would have got acquitted. There was not sufficient evidence. Never mind being beyond a reasonable doubt, it did not even reach the level of balance of probability test, which is just above 50 per cent. It was not there. The charge against the former mayor should not have proceeded to trial and should not have been approved in the first place.”

Bhullar added: “If he had not been Mayor, nothing would have ever been done. It’s unfortunate because there are quite often facts that are similar to this where a false report is made to police and no action is taken. So I am concerned that Mayor McCallum was singled out and there was a conflict of interest on part of the RCMP which were in the middle of a transition phase and had in my opinion perhaps a personal animus against Mayor McCallum because of his decision to move to a city police.”

Also, let’s not forget that Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke won the election by fewer than 1,000 votes after what was apparently an RCMP conspiracy to bring McCallum down!

NOW with the added disgrace of Surrey Connect Councillor Rob Stutt, a former Mountie whose son was in Surrey RCMP, having been found to be in a clear conflict of interest when he voted in Surrey City Council to retain the RCMP in Surrey, Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth should end this ongoing nonsense and rule that the Surrey Police Service will replace the RCMP.

As one journalist put it so aptly: “Had Stutt not voted on Nov. 14, the Dec. 9 vote would not have come before council, nor would the June 15 in-camera vote have happened, as the Nov. 14 vote would have failed on a 4-4 tie.”

Stutt and the Surrey Connect shamelessly hid the fact that Stutt’s son was in Surrey RCMP at the time of the vote. They should all hand their heads in shame (if they even have a modicum of it, to begin with!) The fact that two of the councillors are South Asians doesn’t help the community’s reputation!

And Stutt himself was so utterly shameless that when he was forced to finally say something about this despicable state of affairs, brazenly stated: “The relevant vote, made free of any perceived conflict of interest on June 19, 2023, confirmed a 6-3 decision to remain with the RCMP.”

Stutt, there would have been NO vote on June 19, if you had abstained from voting on November 14!

This former Mountie really doesn’t seem to have a shred of intelligence or an iota of decency.

– VOICE OPINION COLUMN