Frankly Speaking

Garry Begg of the NDP is now ahead by 27 votes in Surrey-Guildford. A judicial recount will take place next week. If  that result holds, the NDP will have a majority government by the slimmest of margins. Surrey voters played a pivotal role in the Oct. 19 provincial election, as foreshadowed by the frequent visits of NDP leader David Eby and Conservative leader John Rustad to Surrey during the campaign.  The drama continued for another 10 days until Monday, Oct. 28, when final results were announced after recounts and counting of absentee ballots. In one Surrey seat, Surrey-Guildford, winning candidate Garry Begg of the NDP has a 27-vote margin of victory over Conservative Honveer Singh Randhawa. A judicial recount will take place next week to make the final determination. One is also scheduled to take place in Kelowna Centre, where Conservative Kristina Loewen is 38 votes ahead of Loyal Wooldridge of the NDP. For now, the NDP have the slimmest of majorities in the B.C. Legisl...

  In Surrey at least, the BC Liberals may have new life after announcing that the policing transition requires a referendum before going any farther. This, of course, will only happen should party leader Andrew Wilkinson gain enough seats to become premier. The policing transition in Surrey has become a major campaign issue in the provincial election, and it has the potential to give the  BC Liberals a big boost. Whether it will be enough for the party to regain power after more than three years in the political wilderness  is another question. The NDP are well ahead in the most recent public opinion polls. The BC Liberal party issued a statement on Sunday that a BC Liberal government would pause the transition process, and give Surrey residents a vote in a referendum on whether to switch to a new Surrey Police force or stick with the RCMP. Mike Farnworth, who as public safety minister gave the transition the green light and specifically said ...

It is quite possible that voters in Surrey and Delta will be taking part in the most competitive elections in many years, for all or most of the six local seats in the House of Commons. That is likely why many came out to vote at advance polls over the weekend. Across Canada, 3.6 million voted at the four-day advance polls – up 71 per cent from the 2011 totals. In Surrey, a number of voting stations had lengthy lineups at times over the weekend. Elections Canada clearly had not expected so many to come and vote early. It seems certain that voter turnout will be up in this election. There are a number of reasons. It has been a lengthy election campaign, the longest in modern Canadian history, so very few people can say they aren’t aware of it. The prime minister has been in office for almost 10 years and, as a result of decisions made over that period, there is clearly a mood for change among many. Strategic voting has been highlighted more than ever, and has been aided by se...

The federal election is set for Oct. 19 of this year. It will be a hard-fought contest, with the Conservatives, NDP and Liberals all polling quite close together thus far, although there are significant regional differences. In Surrey, the election got a lot more interesting yesterday. Garry Begg, a recently-retired inspector with Surrey RCMP, announced he is seeking the NDP nomination in Fleetwood-Port Kells. There will be five Surrey seats in the next House of Commons, thanks to redistribution. Surrey continues to grow and the number of MPs seats does as well. Fleetwood-Port Kells is currently held by Conservative MP Nina Grewal, who is seeking re-election after winning the past four elections. She has usually won by comfortable margins, but never by a landslide. The demographics of the riding (and indeed all Surrey ridings) are changing, and the change in electoral boundaries likely benefits the NDP. The new riding loses some areas to the east and south, which were likely stron...