Surrey mayoral hopeful Linda Annis announces first four council candidates

From left to right, Surrey First candidates Deb Antifaev, Taj Sandhu, Linda Annis, Clint Stewart and Janet Brown. (Handout/Matt Lo)

Surrey city councillor and mayoral hopeful Linda Annis has announced the first four candidates running for the Surrey First party in the 2026 municipal election.

Janet Brown, Clint Stewart, Deb Antifaev and Taj Sandhu will be ready to “hit the ground running” should they be elected, Annis said in a statement Monday.

“We have a lot of catching up to do because (Mayor) Brenda Locke and her four councillors have spent their entire term trying to stop, stall or derail the police transition,” said Annis.

“Every other priority was put on the back burner. Surrey voters deserve a mayor and city council that can manage multiple issues and opportunities at the same time, and that’s what we’ll deliver.”

Annis, who was elected in 2018 and 2022 and also serves as the executive director of Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers, announced her run for mayor last month.

Her first four candidates would be coming to the council table from various industries.

Brown works in communications, and was previously a journalist with Global News, while Stewart is heavily involved in local sports, as a former soccer coach and the president of baseball organization Whalley Little League.

As vice-president of WBI Home Warranty Ltd., Sandhu has over two decades of experience in the construction and development sectors, while Antifaev currently serves as director of Families for Early Autism Treatment

Antifaev said she hopes to create “more transparency at city hall” alongside pushing for more transit and supporting the Surrey Police Service.

In her statement, Annis said a council with no plan or vision “lurches from issue to issue,” an approach she sees “daily” at the city hall.

“I want to change that,” said Annis. “I know we can do better, and our residents certainly deserve more from their mayor and council.”

Over the next few months, Annis said she will be having “serious conversations” with Surrey residents to understand their priorities, after which she will put together a contract with the community.

It will spell out the Surrey First platform, and will be something voters can use “to hold us accountable,” she said.