It seemed an innocuous enough campaign tweet – the kind we will see several times over the next few weeks of municipal election season.

“We are honoured to receive the endorsement of 5 Surrey taxi companies. Thank you,” tweeted Surrey mayoralty candidate Doug McCallum and his slate of council hopefuls.

But in this election cycle, a taxi endorsement means only one thing: Doug McCallum and his slate actively oppose Uber, Lyft and other ride sharing services. The companies, which use mobile phone apps to match riders with drivers, are trying to break into the Lower Mainland market – much to the taxi drivers’ dismay.

Sure enough, on McCallum’s campaign blog, the one-time TransLink chairman promised to ban Uber from Surrey. “I understand the current threat to the Surrey taxi companies from Uber, and the city can no longer sit back and serve as a silent observer while such issues arise,” McCallum says in the post.  “As Mayor, I will be speaking directly to the Passenger Transportation Board in regards to stopping Uber from operating in the City of Surrey.”

There is no word yet on whether McCallum also opposes Toyota in an anachronistic effort to protect the buggy whip industry; whether he opposes the cellular phone technology that killed his beloved CB Radio; or what he will do now that iTunes and YouTube killed the MTV video that had in turn killed the radio star.

Uber (and other ride share programs) is the way of the future - using technology to more efficiently manage transportation demand. McCallum, the taxi companies, and other Uber opponents are trying to prop up a dying industry - at a huge regulatory cost to taxpayers, and a big financial cost to commuters.