National

Witness says she told mayor he had a scaly face

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 31 Oct, 2022 01:57 PM

SURREY, B.C. - The first witness at the public mischief trial of Surrey, B.C., Mayor Doug McCallum says she swore at him and told him he had a scaly face during a "heated debate" outside a grocery store.

Debi Johnstone has told provincial court she recognized McCallum while she was stopped at a crosswalk there in September 2021, just before she was about to start collecting signatures for a petition aimed at seeking a referendum to keep the RCMP in Surrey.

She is part of a group opposed to McCallum's plan to ditch the RCMP in place of a municipal police force, a promise that deeply divided Surrey between those who sought to maintain the Mounties and those who wanted them out.

Johnstone says she was in her car when she told McCallum to resign and that she would be the one to bring him down.

McCallum, who lost his bid for re-election two weeks ago, has pleaded not guilty to the public mischief charge filed against him last December.

The court heard McCallum complained to the RCMP on the day of the exchange, saying Johnstone had nearly pinned him at the back of his car and then ran over his foot.

Crown attorney Richard Fowler has said surveillance video from outside the store will be played in court.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

The program, which is financed entirely through premiums paid by workers and employers, accumulated $25.9 billion of debt by the end of 2021, according to the Office of the Chief Actuary. The rise in debt comes after a staggering number of Canadians were unemployed during the pandemic and eligibility rules for the program were relaxed to ease access to jobless benefits.

Workers, employers want feds to pay off EI debt

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

British Columbia is enduring a record-breaking dry spell, but farmer Amir Mann says the drought is far preferable to other recent weather extremes. Mann and others involved in agriculture say the downside of the drought, which has required some crops to be irrigated, is offset by benefits such as a longer harvesting period and little rot.

How the B.C. drought benefits some farmers

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

West Vancouver Fire Rescue duty chief Matt Furlot says crews responded at around 7 a.m. He said they were trying to pinpoint the exact location of the fire and the best way to access to the flames.

Wildfire flares on Vancouver's North Shore

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

At 7:30 p.m. on July 6, a 24-year-old woman reported she had been sexually assaulted while on the escalator at the Granville SkyTrain Station by a suspect who ran away. The investigation was completed by Metro Vancouver Transit Police. A second incident occurred the following day on West Broadway at Ash Street. Just before 2 p.m. a 38-year-old woman was sexually assaulted.

VPD arrests suspect in two sexual assaults

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

The victim – a neighbourhood resident for 30 years – was walking to a bakery near Main Street and East Pender when he was pushed over by a stranger around 3:15 Tuesday afternoon. Several witnesses stopped to help the senior, who was taken to hospital.

93 year old man knocked to the ground and suffers broken hip in stranger attack

B.C. readies for post-drought flooding: government

Emergency Management BC says when rain falls after long dry spells, the parched soil can increase runoff and river flow. It says the transition to the rainy season doesn't typically cause extensive flooding and the devastation wreaked by last year's atmospheric rivers was rare.