Frankly Speaking

Surrey and Delta voters chose to go a different direction Monday, with five of the six local ridings now Liberal. Other than Sukh Dhaliwal in Surrey-Newton, who will return to Ottawa as a Liberal MP (he served from 2006-2011), all the MPs elected from the area are new to federal politics. The heavy Liberal representation from this area is a significant change. Most areas of Surrey have not been represented by a Liberal in Ottawa since 1953, while in Delta the most recent Liberal MP was last in office in 1972. What caused this change?   Voters were hungry for it, for a number of reasons. The Conservatives’ governing style turned off many people. Changes to immigration policy, particularly in areas like family reunification, were unpopular with many. The niqab issue was disquieting to recent immigrants. The Liberals ran a positive campaign. Justin Trudeau, who visited Surrey several times, appealed to younger voters. Strategic voting was given a high profile by the media and...

Photo by Brian Woudstra Three of the four candidates in Fleetwood-Port Kells spoke at a candidates' forum on Oct. 7 at Northwood United Church. At the microphone is Liberal Ken Hardie. NDP candidate Garry Begg is on the left, with Green Richard Hosein in the centre. As the empty podium indicates, Conservative incumbent Nina Grewal skipped the meeting, as she has did with forums organized by the same two church groups during the 2008 and 2011 election campaigns. Nina Grewal, in her own unique way, has been a trendsetter for some of the Conservative Party's actions in this election campaign. First elected in 2004 in what was then the new riding of Fleetwood-Port Kells, she and her husband Gurmant, who was elected in 2004 in Newton-North Delta, were the first husband and wife team of MPs elected to the House of Commons. Gurmant had first been elected as a Reform MP in 1997 in the Surrey Central riding, which took in the middle third (and most populous) part of the city. By ...

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...