FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 7, 2026

SURREY, BC — Mike Starchuk and Imagine Surrey are asking Surrey First mayoral candidate Linda Annis to explain to Surrey taxpayers why they paid for her to golf. The City’s own report on council pay and expenses shows Councillor Annis billed taxpayers for seven golf tournaments in the summer of 2025, more than $2,200 at more than $300 a round, inside a $6,000 tab for seminars and events that was the highest of any councillor and the full annual limit the City pre-authorizes. She used every dollar of it.

Corporate Report R121, presented to council on June 15, 2026, lists the seven: the Surrey Board of Trade (June 5), Métis Nation BC (June 13), the Surrey Fire Fighters Charitable Society (June 17), the Semiahmoo Rotary Club (June 19), the Surrey Hospice Society (June 25), the Drishti Media Group women’s golf classic (July 10), and the Centre for Child Development (August 11). Five of the seven fell inside three weeks in June. In total, taxpayers paid Councillor Annis $119,468 in 2025: $109,144 in salary, separation allowance, and taxable benefits, including a $7,435 car allowance, plus $10,324 in expenses.

Nobody is questioning the causes. Everyone is questioning Linda’s judgment. This follow several scandals that have followed Linda’s time in office, including when her unlicensed dog attacked her neighbour and sent him to the hospital, and when she asked the former police chief to stop doing roadside checks in her neighbourhood. Surrey voters have learned in this campaign that Linda Annis lacks the judgment to serve the public in any role, and certainly not as our Mayor.

The City’s expense policy gives each councillor a $6,000 annual pre-authorized limit for seminars, meetings, and events, on top of the UBCM and FCM conferences council approves for everyone. Councillor Annis spent all of it. Her Surrey First colleague, Councillor Mike Bose, was next at $5,674. Most of the rest of council billed half as much or less. The mayor’s limit is $12,000.

“A family paying for swim lessons at the Newton Wave Pool can’t send the bill to City Hall. Neither can the business owners and volunteers who buy those golf tickets every year,” said Perminder Chohan, Imagine Surrey council candidate, President and CEO of Lifewise Financial Group, and a past director of the Surrey Board of Trade. “Linda Annis was paid $109,000 last year. Surrey First’s slogan is ‘We can do better.’ Surrey taxpayers would settle for a councillor who pays for her own golf.”

Imagine Surrey is asking Linda Annis to answer three questions before October 17. Why did Surrey taxpayers pay for her golf? Will she repay the $2,200? And if she becomes mayor, with a $12,000 limit, should residents expect her to max that limit out too?

“In the fire service, a limit is the line you don’t cross. It isn’t a target,” said Starchuk. “The old parties have run City Hall so long they’ve stopped noticing who pays. I’ll pay for my own golf, and I’ll hold property taxes at or below inflation for four years, because that discipline starts with the small stuff. This October, put out the fire at City Hall and elect a team that knows whose money it is.”

Imagine Surrey is committed to lower costs and strong services through a detailed and costed plan. Imagine Surrey’s full 50 page platform, the Contract for a Better Surrey, is available for all to read at imaginesurrey.ca/vision. Linda Annis released a 3 page bullet list yesterday which she called her “platform”; Imagine Surrey describes the vague document as an insult to the intelligence of Surrey’s electorate that no serious candidate would stand behind.

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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]