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What’s next for Surrey now that McCallum is mayor again?
McCallum’s coalition holds seven of eight council seats, but major promises depend on funding.
On Saturday night, Doug McCallum won his fifth term as Surrey’s mayor. Not only did he win, but his Safe Surrey Coalition swept up seven of the eight councillor seats — meaning that McCallum will likely have almost no opposition when trying to pass things in city hall.
So, what happens next?
While Surrey residents made it clear they preferred McCallum’s platform over the other six mayoral candidates running, it’s worth returning to the party’s platform and seeing how likely some of their promises actually are.
The coalition vowed to bring a SkyTrain to Newton and build a new general hospital along King George Boulevavd. However, both of these projects would be the final decision of the province. While city hall could advocate for it, there is no guarantee the province will allocate the funds for it — the province is also facing an unprecedented deficit.
But other commitments are within McCallum’s jurisdiction to implement, like his promise to freeze property taxes for the next four years and waive business license fees for the first two years of every new business.
Property taxes go to several authorities like the provincial government, Metro Vancouver Regional District, TransLink and police services. The city uses their cut of the taxes to fund services like the fire department, road safety, parks and recreational centres, libraries, garbage pick-up and more.
According to the city’s website, Surrey already has one of the lowest property rates in Metro Vancouver. With inflation increasing the cost of labour and goods, it’s unclear how McCallum plans to fund all the city’s current operations without cutting anything.
Many of McCallum’s other commitments also hinge on the question of funding. The party has promised an expansion of policing services and securing a helicopter and drone fleet within 90 days for the SPS.
Going forward, McCallum has also committed to having all residential building permits approved within 60 days. If city hall misses this deadline, all permit fees will be waived. Surrey currently has a glut of unsold condos and some have questioned whether more housing is even the answer to lowering prices.
When it comes to recreation services, McCallum wants to build new pools in Clayton Heights, City Centre and add a pool into the Newton Community Centre being built. Again, it’s unknown how city hall would fund such large capital projects with a freeze on property taxes.
The party also wants to conduct a forensic audit of city hall’s land deals and “root out waste.” Locke faced backlash during her June announcement of a new $360 million arena — many questioned how much tax payers would be funding. Locke had previously said there was no way to cancel the project, even if a new party was elected.
Another pressing issue in city hall has been Surrey’s fraught relationship with Metro Vancouver Regional District. The regional district oversees core services in the Lower Mainland like delivering clean drinking water, treating waste and monitoring air quality, among other things.
But, the district has also faced criticism for the rising cost of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, with the top administrator exiting the organisation in early September.
While McCallum wants Surrey to withdraw from the regional district — remaining connected for utilities like water, sewer and waste — it’s unknown if he has the jurisdiction to do so. Or if McCallum does remove Surrey, if the district will allow the city to leave while still benefiting from their services.
McCallum will be sworn in on Nov. 2 and the first council meeting of the newly elected officials will be on Nov. 9.
Copyright 2026, Surrey Citizen. All rights reserved.
Aisha Chaudhry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Surrey Citizen.
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CFB Wainwright fire highlights long, painful process of burn recovery, specialists say
Patients with severe burns face long recovery: specialists
THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Ulan
Burn specialists in Toronto and Hamilton say their hospitals are ready to support their Alberta colleagues as they care for dozens of patients injured in Saturday's devastating fire at CFB Wainwright.
Although they don't know the specific condition of the 39 hospitalized patients — 19 of them in critical condition — they say recovering from serious burns is a long and painful process fraught with threats of infection.
Dr. Alan Rogers, a burn surgeon at the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, says the hospital is ready to take patients if burn centres in Calgary and Edmonton need backup and they could also send temporary skin frozen in Sunnybrook's tissue bank.
Rogers says age and chronic illnesses are factors in the chances of recovery for severely burned patients.
He says it's possible for younger healthy adults to survive burns to 80 per cent of their body, although other injuries, including smoke inhalation, are other factors.
Rogers says severely burned patients must endure multiple surgeries over weeks or even months — first to remove the burned tissue and cover the areas with donated cadaver skin or artificial skin substitutes, then later to graft skin from other areas of the patient's body.
The burn care team can use techniques like expanding the skin grafts to cover more of the exposed area.
They prioritize areas to be covered, including the face and hands, he said.
Seriously burned patients are immunocompromised because they don't have a skin barrier, Rogers said, so they are often kept in isolation rooms for weeks to protect them from infection.
Extensive burns can also prompt an "overwhelming" inflammatory response in the body that can strain the patient's organs, he said.
Dr. Marc Jeschke, director of the burn program at Hamilton Health Sciences Centre, said his team wants to help their colleagues in Alberta however they can, noting the long road ahead for patients with severe burns.
"It is severe injury that causes significant burden to the patients, to the families, to the loved ones, to everybody," Jeschke said.
"It is not over like a fracture when you walk out a couple of days later. This is something that will affect their lives forever."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
By Nicole Ireland and Hannah Alberga | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Doerkson says B.C. Conservative growth projection of 3.2% 'absolutely doable'
Doerkson says growth of 3.2% 'absolutely doable'
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
British Columbia's interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson says his party's projection of 3.2 per cent economic growth by 2029 represents about one per cent "more optimism" than the New Democrats had previously budgeted.
The Conservatives' figure, which is more than 50 per cent higher than the forecast in the last provincial budget, is also considerably higher than recent projections by the Bank of Canada and International Monetary Fund at the national level.
But Doerkson told a campaign stop in Maple Ridge, B.C., in the final days before the Oct. 24 provincial election that the growth is "absolutely doable."
He says industries, including natural gas, forestry, mining and agriculture, are waiting for a change in government to invest in the province because of "fear" under the previous NDP regime.
The Conservative platform promises to create $2.6 billion in new revenue over three years, while shrinking the deficit to $10.8 billion based on gross domestic product growing by 2.5 per cent next year, 2.8 per cent the year after and 3.2 per cent in 2029.
NDP Leader David Eby says the Conservatives are "torquing the numbers" and their platform has "major omissions" in how the party would pay for its plans.
"They failed to cost basic platform commitments like their cut to the (Provincial Sales Tax) on alcohol, which costs almost $300 million," Eby told a campaign stop in Vancouver on Monday.
"It is all with the aim of minimizing the reality of the cuts they're going to have to make."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
By Brenna Owen | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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ChatGPT nous dit les 7 meilleurs trucs pour économiser à l'épicerie au Québec
On va prendre TOUS les « hacks » possibles!
Avec la récente inflation qui a frappé plusieurs secteurs au pays, la population québécoise cherche à économiser encore plus que jamais. Couponing, astuces pour trouver des rabais, réduction des dépenses, deuxième emploi, plusieurs ont commencé à user de leur créativité pour tenter de diminuer les factures des achats du quotidien.
Afin de t'aider à sauver quelques sous, Narcity a demandé à la plateforme ChatGPT quels seraient les sept meilleurs trucs pour économiser à l'épicerie au Québec. Bien utiles, les réponses de la l'intelligence artificielle (IA) peuvent certainement te permettre d'épargner un brin. Sors ton calepin et prends des notes!
Faire une liste d'épicerie et s'y tenir
Selon ChatGPT, les listes d'épicerie sont un essentiel pour réduire tes dépenses. Il faut toutefois bien la suivre et éviter de faire des achats impulsifs : « Avant de partir faire vos courses, prenez le temps de dresser une liste des articles dont vous avez besoin. De cette façon, vous éviterez d'acheter des choses inutiles ou impulsives qui pourraient faire grimper votre facture ».
Rechercher les offres et les rabais
Il existe une tonne de promotions et rabais offerts par les entreprises. Il est judicieux de prendre un temps supplémentaire pour vérifier les circulaires et comparer les prix affichés dans les différents commerces. L'IA te conseille aussi d'utiliser des applications ou les sites Web des compagnies pour obtenir des produits gratuits, des remises en argent ou des rabais.
Planifier les repas
« En planifiant vos repas à l'avance, vous pouvez acheter les ingrédients dont vous avez besoin en grande quantité et éviter le gaspillage alimentaire. De plus, cela peut vous aider à varier votre alimentation et à éviter les achats impulsifs », indique la plateforme. En effet, penser à ton menu de la semaine peut t'aider à économiser, mais aussi à diminuer la perte des aliments.
Éviter les marques de commerce
Les marques d'entreprise connue peuvent coûter plus cher que les produits génériques ou les marques maisons. ChatGPT te recommande aussi de magasiner en vrac afin de sauver des sous.
Acheter en saison
Autre astuce proposée par l'IA c'est de privilégier l'achat des fruits et légumes de saison : « Les fruits et légumes qui sont en saison coûtent souvent moins cher que ceux qui ne le sont pas. Essayez donc de planifier vos repas en fonction des produits de saison pour économiser de l'argent ». En plus, c'est meilleur pour l'environnement!
Éviter les aliments transformés
Selon ChatGPT, les aliments transformés coûteraient plus cher que les produits frais ou congelés. Il est vrai qu'entre des muffins cuisinés à la maison ou des muffins en épicerie, le premier choix permet de sauver quelques dollars et en plus, avouons-le, ils sont nettement meilleurs lorsqu'ils sont faits avec amour et fraîchement sortis du four.
Magasiner en ligne
Eh oui, la nouvelle façon de faire son épicerie pourrait bien te permettre d'épargner. L'intelligence artificielle souligne qu'en plus de te faire économiser du temps et de l'essence, magasiner en ligne te permettrait d'éviter les achats impulsifs et de mieux comparer les prix.