Gearing Up to Win the Stage with Empty Rhetoric-
Maninder Singh Gill
SURREY (CANADA) — Punjabi folklore has written extensively about those getting married at an advanced age. Whether it is King Salwan marrying Luna late in life or the traditional duet songs (dugaane) poking fun at older men lusting after young women, folklore always warns us. History stands witness that whenever an older man has tied the knot with a much younger woman, social crises have arisen—because “matching age seeks its own match” is the law of nature.
It is a socially tested truth that fulfilling the bonds of marriage requires physical energy. On the exact same principle, serving a political office effectively demands high energy and physical agility. A political seat is a bed of thorns, not a place to rest; rather, to prove oneself, one must run around all day.
Look right next door in neighboring America: the people of the United States are still paying the price for electing an elderly Joe Biden as President. Due to advancing age, Joe Biden fell victim to numerous issues—during foreign visits, he repeatedly invoked the names of leaders who had passed away decades ago.
Now, the battleground for council elections in the City of Surrey has heated up. Six different slates are trying their luck, featuring mayoral and councillor candidates. Former Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum has also entered the fray with his “Safe Surrey” slate. McCallum was active in Surrey politics for three decades, earning him the nickname “Old Man of Surrey.”
As Doug McCallum approaches 83, serious concerns are being raised about his health and whether he possesses the physical fitness required to occupy the mayor’s chair. McCallum served as a councillor and mayor of the City of Surrey starting in 1993. Over the past 30 years, I have not seen any notable contribution to Newton from Doug McCallum that would justify Newton residents blindly voting for him over and over again. That was the 1990s—an era before mobile phones and the internet were widespread. Children born in the 1990s have now become parents themselves. Today, the world has arrived in the era of Artificial Intelligence, yet McCallum Sahib still seems eager to wear the groom’s garland (sehra) and march into City Hall.
Doug McCallum is known for his close ties to a wealthy Vancouver developer. The talk of the town is that this developer is dressing up the elderly McCallum as a groom, intending to manage his political household from behind the scenes. Under these circumstances, it is obvious that municipal authority will not be used for the public good, but rather to serve private self-interests.
Now, the decision rests with the people of Surrey regarding who should sit in City Hall. Having the municipal government in right hands is critical because it is the city government that delivers essential public services—whether it is roads, parks, community centres, or sanitation and water supply. A government accountable to the people is imperative for the City of Surrey. If Punjabis choose an elderly partner at this stage of life, the beautiful building of City Hall will spend the next four years weeping loudly and regretting its fate, crying out: “What do I do, Lord? I ended up with an old man!” (“Main ka karoon Ram, mujhe buddha mil gaya.”)
It is not merely a matter of physical capability, but also of betraying the public trust. Elections are a serious exercise representing public mandate—where citizens decide who will solve their problems. However, when politicians vying to serve the public resort to outright lies to fool people, selecting the right representative becomes complicated.
In elections, it is often touted that a candidate’s victory is your victory, but the political promise to empower citizens often ends up discarded like election posters lying in the gutter post-polls. Once, someone showed some documents to a politician who was notorious for empty talk. Glancing over his glasses, the politician remarked, “Well, this document looks quite familiar.” To clear his delusion, the citizen replied, “Sir, this is your own election manifesto.”
Surrey has no shortage of talkative politicians either. Typically, spinning tall tales isn’t common in Canadian politics because an alert media and informed public immediately demand answers: “Show us the roadmap and budget to fulfill these promises first.” Hence, every political leader speaks very cautiously. However, Surrey’s politicians seem to have abandoned these moral values, or perhaps they believe it is easy to fool the community—especially those living in Newton and Whalley—assuming people have been fooled for centuries over religion, caste, and hollow emotional slogans. They assume people lack awareness of what is good or bad for them and can be easily misled. A section of the media can also be heavily leveraged to make “crows look like swans.”
In this context, it is crucial to highlight former Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum’s declarations—or rather, empty rhetoric (jumlas). McCallum, who has been active in Surrey politics for decades, received massive support from the Newton area during the 2022 election. But if we audit his track record, he has consistently acted against the interests of Newton and the Punjabi community.
McCallum—who ran on the slogan of “Safe Surrey”—sold the Surrey Police Service to residents under the premise that bringing in a municipal force would improve public safety. Instead, the opposite occurred: the Surrey Police failed to curb extortion threats and criminal extortion networks in Surrey. Thanks are due to Mayor Brenda Locke, who brought extortion under control with the assistance of the FBI.
In this election, another empty promise is being pushed by Doug McCallum: that he will bring the SkyTrain to Newton. This statement mockingly offends the people of Newton because on November 5, 2018, when McCallum was Mayor of Surrey, he voted to divert the funding allocated for the proposed Newton-Guildford Light Rail project from Surrey to Langley—redirecting the SkyTrain line toward Langley instead. Consequently, the residents of Newton were left deprived of an efficient public transit network.
The height of exaggeration was reached recently when Doug McCallum announced that he would build a hospital in Newton. It is worth noting that building hospitals falls under provincial jurisdiction. The City possesses neither the mandate nor the massive $2.2 billion budget required for such a project. Under these conditions, what magical wand does Doug McCallum hold to build a hospital in Newton? Where will $2.2 billion come from for the City? Where will the doctors and nursing staff come from? On one hand, McCallum claims he won’t raise taxes—so is money going to grow on maple trees? Or does McCallum have hidden treasures buried under City Hall? Or is he simply trying to fool the public once again?
In conclusion, my appeal to the public is simple: beware of deceitful politicians relying on empty slogans, and make your decision as aware voters. Every citizen needs to be cautious about leaders who mislead people just to capture power, as there is no telling what chaos they will cause once elected. Looking at it impartially, Brenda Locke is the truly deserving candidate for all our votes; over the past 4 years, she has proven her capability by delivering even more than she promised.
Managing Director,
Radio India, Surrey (BC)
