FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, September 27, 2026
SURREY, BC — Surrey does not need to guess whether Mike Starchuk can finish a job. It can check his record. In fact, Surrey voters should look into the records of all candidates and decide who will best deliver for you.
Mike Starchuk has spent a lifetime serving Surrey. Thirty-two years with Surrey Fire Services, from paid-on-call volunteer at the hall at 108 Avenue and 146 Street to the City’s Chief Fire Prevention Officer. Starchuk helped to recover more than $14 million in wages and benefits for injured firefighters and their families as an officer of IAFF Local 1271. That was before ever running for any public office.
In office, when the Surrey United Soccer Club needed a clubhouse and new turf, Starchuk secured City and federal funding alongside MP John Aldag. The club brought private money of its own and the project has been a success.
The Port Kells biofuel facility, the first of its kind in North America when it opened in 2018, turns Surrey’s household green waste into renewable natural gas that fuels the City’s collection trucks and produces more than 40,000 tonnes of compost. Mike Starchuk helped to secure its place in Surrey as a city councillor.
The Cloverdale Hospital and regional cancer centre are under construction. A major initiative of Starchuk’s advocacy in Victoria to deliver more services for Surrey. Mike Starchuk has helped to build hospitals, no other mayoral candidate has. For Mike, as a firefighter who is the last living member of his first crew, in a profession that loses so many to cancer, the regional cancer centre that is part of the Cloverdale Hospital is a deeply personal accomplishment.
The three legacy parties have a record that they are trying to paint over. A $1.28 million court fight the mayor called “money well spent”. Taxes up 27% in four budgets. A funded train and rapid transit to Newton cancelled in 2018 by all parties with nothing built in its place. A $360 million arena deal done in the dark. No new community centres. Fraser Downs, kept alive through the pandemic by the $1.5 million provincial grant Starchuk announced in 2021, then shut down by the City in 2025 just weeks before its season, devastating local workers. Eight years, three parties, and the same fights.
“I’m running because the city that gave me a career is being run into the ground by people who confuse an announcement with a result,” said Starchuk. “Everything I have ever done had a start, a finish, and someone checking my work. That is exactly how I intend to run City Hall.”
“I’ve spent nearly two decades volunteering in this city, and you learn quickly who shows up and who sends a statement,” said Narima Dela Cruz, Imagine Surrey council candidate and founder of SPIDS. “Mike’s record is public. Ask the injured firefighters who got their wages back.”
“This October, put out the fire at City Hall and elect a team that finishes what it starts,” said Starchuk.
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About Imagine Surrey
Imagine Surrey is a civic party running a full slate of candidates in the October 17, 2026 municipal election. Led by mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk – a former firefighter and Chief Fire Prevention Officer, former City Councillor, and former MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – Imagine Surrey is committed to making Surrey the City of Champions by delivering: safe streets, fast commutes, smart investments, lower costs, and strong services.
Council candidates: Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda, and Kevin Wilkie.
Contact
Trevor Loke, Campaign Manager
604-838-5178
[email protected] / [email protected]