10 Surrey City Hall employees dismissed before new mayor takes office

The Surrey Now-Leader reports that 10 “long service, non-political” Surrey City Hall employees were dismissed without cause at the request of incoming mayor Doug McCallum, before he and the new council are sworn in on Nov. 2. A source said McCallum could potentially fill the jobs through patronage appointments and that the move had triggered well over $1 million in severance payments. The report did not specify the exact amount. McCallum could not immediately be reached for comment.

McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition will hold eight of the nine council seats. Incumbent Councillor Harry Bains, of Surrey Connect, is the only councillor outside the coalition. Bains said he could not comment without more information, but called the situation concerning and worth investigating. He said it was troubling that non-political city staff were being let go just after an election and asked why it was happening. The Now-Leader contacted the city hall communications department for comment.

Brenda Locke, who was still mayor at the time of writing, said Thursday that Surrey has “good, hard-working people in our civil service.” She said she was very saddened that they had been let go without her notice, including some people in her own office, while she was still mayor. She reiterated that they were good, hard-working civil servants.

The report said more information would follow.