SURREY, B.C. — Imagine Surrey mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk outlined his campaign’s priorities for the 2026 Surrey municipal election, presenting five commitments focused on public safety, transportation, investment, affordability and city services.
Starchuk, a former Surrey firefighter, Chief Fire Prevention Officer, city councillor and MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, said his campaign is focused on changing how decisions are made at City Hall.
The Imagine Surrey plan is organized around five commitments: Safe Streets, Fast Commutes, Smart Investments, Lower Costs and Strong Services.
On public safety, Starchuk said completing Surrey’s police transition, increasing frontline capacity and responding to extortion would be priorities. During the media question period, he also discussed a proposal to examine whether municipal bylaws could be used to recover certain enforcement-related costs associated with criminal activity.
On transportation, the campaign proposed synchronized traffic signals, expansion of key roads, 50 kilometres of new sidewalks in underserved areas, three Bus Rapid Transit routes and building the case for a future SkyTrain connection toward South Surrey through Newton.
Starchuk also reiterated support for an arena while opposing the current arena deal, and called for greater development of Surrey’s waterfront.
On affordability, Imagine Surrey said it would seek to keep property-tax increases at or below inflation for four years, reduce recreation costs for seniors and pursue lower transit fares.
The campaign also committed to three new community centres and maintaining municipal services.
Starchuk additionally proposed exploring a change to Surrey’s electoral system. Under the concept presented, six councillors would represent Whalley, Guildford, Newton, Fleetwood, Cloverdale and South Surrey, while two councillors would continue to be elected at large. Starchuk said any move away from the existing at-large system should ultimately be decided by Surrey voters through a referendum.
During the media Q&A, Starchuk addressed questions concerning extortion, municipal bylaws and enforcement capacity, existing City projects, provincial infrastructure funding, land transactions and independent property appraisals, and accountability for campaign commitments.
He said Imagine Surrey’s full platform would provide further costing information.
Imagine Surrey is fielding eight council candidates: Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat, Chandan Chahal, Perminder Chohan, Narima Dela Cruz, Ashiyana Hanif, William Li, Dr. Margaret Mubanda and Kevin Wilkie.
Surrey’s municipal election is scheduled for October 17, 2026.
