Frankly Speaking

LRT has been a major issue in the municipal election campaign in Surrey, which culminates when voters go to the polls tomorrow. Guest writer Harpinder Sandhu, an urban geographer, employee of B.C. Assessment Authority and vice-president of local 1767 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says this is a croissroiads point for Surrey. (Editor's note - This is a guest column. It is very relevant to an issue on the minds of Surrey residents - LRT, and whether it is the best transit system for Surrey. Harpinder Sandhu is an urban geographer, employee of the B.C. Assessment Authority and vice-president of local 1767 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says this is a croissroads point for transit in Surrey.) by Harpinder Sandhu In this year’s municipal election, the citizens of Surrey have a choice to elect candidates envisioning a range of different futures for the city. What the citizens do not have is a choice between two different rapid transit lines. Follo...

Tom Gill, who has been a member of Surrey council since 2005, is the Surrey First candidate for mayor in the October civic election. Surrey residents who pay even minimal attention to city politics must have been scratching their heads in recent weeks. One-term mayor Linda Hepner was retiring, but nobody was stepping up to the plate to take her place. This in the second-biggest city in B.C., where there are a host of serious issues facing the next council. It also occurred at a time when mayoral candidates in other cities, among them Vancouver and Delta, were coming out of the woodwork. There was a reason for the silence. No one was going to step up until the Surrey First slate, which has held every seat on council for the past seven years, said what it was going to do. The first hint came on Wednesday, when Surrey First Coun. Bruce Hayne announced he was leaving the slate. Clearly, some sort of backroom struggle had taken place, and he had lost out. Then on Friday, thre...

One of these six individuals will be the new BC Liberal party leader, as of Saturday night. From left to right, (top) are Dianne Watts, Andrew Wilkinson and Michael Lee; (bottom) Sam Sullivan, Todd Stone, Mike de Jong. (Montage by CBC) Members of the BC Liberal party are casting their ballots over the next few days to choose a new leader of the opposition. That very phrase must gall many of them, after the party enjoyed 16 straight years in power under premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. However, that’s where they find themselves right now, and based on the most recent public opinion poll which came out Jan. 19, they could be there after the next election as well. The NDP were well ahead of them in that poll, 40 per cent to 31 per cent (the Green Party came in at 19 per cent) conducted by Insights West. The new Liberal leader will be determined by a ranked ballot, and membership sign-ups actually will play a diminished role in the final selection of the leader. Eac...

The selection of Jagmeet Singh as new leader of the federal NDP may make it harder for Liberal MPs in Surrey to win re-election in the 2019 federal election. Two years ago this month, the federal Liberals cruised to victory after a long and tiring election campaign – the longest in decades. They went from third place in the federal House of Commons to first, winning 184 seats after winning just 34 in 2011. One of the keys to the party winning a majority government was its very strong showing in B.C, a showing that surprised many observers. The Liberals won four of the five seats in Surrey, as well as the Delta seat. They won seats in Mission and Kelowna, Maple Ridge and Whistler – places where there had not been Liberal MPs since the 1950s. Party leader Justin Trudeau was a big reason. He contrasted very favourably with incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. He brought a second round of Trudeaumania to the often-staid world of federal poli...