The City of Surrey says its bylaw officers did not remove election signs at the southwest corner of the intersection of 72 Avenue and 132 Street, rejecting Safe Surrey Coalition mayoral candidate Doug McCallum’s allegation that City bylaw officers took down other candidates’ signs while leaving Surrey Connect incumbent mayor Brenda Locke’s standing.
Up until earlier this week, at least 22 signs of various sizes for candidates of various municipal and provincial political parties were prominently displayed at the corner.
Photos provided by Safe Surrey Coalition include one “before” shot showing the signs obscuring a single-family detached house’s views of the street. An “after” photo shows Locke’s large sign remaining erect, with the other signs removed and stacked on the adjacent sidewalk.
Instead of municipal interference, the City says it understands the signs were on privately owned land and were removed by the property owner.
Upon inquiry, the City told Daily Hive Urbanized the following: “Bylaw Services did not take down any signs at this location. Our understanding is that the signs were on private property, and that the property owner took them down.”
Before/after of the cluster of October 2026 municipal and provincial election signs at the southwest corner of the intersection of 72 Avenue and 132 Street in Surrey. (Safe Surrey Coalition)
The response directly disputes the account from Safe Surrey Coalition, which alleged bylaw officers removed every other candidate’s election signs from this corner yesterday. The party claimed bylaw officers cited restrictions on signs on City-owned property, but allowed Locke’s sign to remain on what the McCallum’s party described as the same public land.
McCallum had accused the City’s bylaw department of giving Locke’s re-election campaign preferential treatment and characterized the alleged removals as an abuse of power.
The municipal government’s election rules require signs to be placed on private property with the owner’s permission. Signs are prohibited on City-owned land, including boulevards, road rights-of-way, medians, sidewalks, and parks.
McCallum served as the mayor of Surrey from 1996 to 2005 and again from 2018 to 2022.