Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum alleges he was “run over by a vehicle” after speaking to a group of residents collecting signatures for the ‘Keep the RCMP in Surrey’ campaign on Saturday.
Keep the RCMP in Surrey founder Ivan Scott, who said he didn’t witness the alleged incident, says the mayor’s claim is “absolute rubbish.”
Campaign members were collecting signatures at the South Point Save-On-Foods Saturday afternoon when McCallum arrived.
There was a verbal confrontation between Scott and his team members and McCallum, Scott said.
One of his team members was inside their vehicle and shouted “resign, McCallum,” Scott said. Scott said the mayor then approached the vehicle to speak to the driver.
“He was next to the car, she moved the car off. He was standing there… What happened, is that he alleges, and I think it’s absolute rubbish on his part, he alleges that she rode over his foot,” Scott said.
Police were later called to the scene, however, an ambulance was not, Scott added.
In a news release issued Monday, Surrey RCMP confirmed officers are investigating the incident. Police are asking anyone who has dash camera footage, or witnessed the altercation, to contact police at 604-599-0502.
The mayor told Peace Arch News that he’s OK.
SEE ALSO: Honks, sirens and thumbs-up at ‘Keep the RCMP in Surrey’ rally outside city hall
“I was verbally assaulted and then run over by a vehicle while out grocery shopping yesterday,” the mayor said in a statement issued Sunday (Sept. 5). “It is now under police investigation and I am doing okay.”
Scott said he shared a few words with the mayor before he left. Scott said the mayor threatened to have bylaw officers remove the campaigners from the site, which did not happen.
It was the first time that Scott and the mayor have met face-to-face.
“He didn’t look as if he was injured at all – as he came walking towards me he was travelling at a hell of a speed – didn’t have any injury or anything like that, it was ridiculous,” Scott said.
SEE ALSO: Surrey police petition won’t be going provincewide
Scott said the group collected about 400 signatures at the event Saturday.
The effort is part of an Elections BC-approved petition to force a referendum on whether the Surrey RCMP should be retained as the city’s police force, or if a new, municipal police force should be created.
In order to force a referendum, the group needs to collect signatures from 10 per cent of eligible voters in each of the 87 electoral districts in the province.
While the group said it will accept signatures from every electoral district in the province, organizers have said that their main focus will be collecting signatures from Surrey residents.
Surrey Police Vote campaign strategist Bill Tieleman said last month that they believe collecting enough Surrey signatures will persuade the provincial government to hold a binding referendum on the issue.
