Two Local MP Candidates Attend a Meet and Greet Event with KPU Students
The candidates talked with students about election issues
It’s not every day that you get to talk to a politician face-to-face.
Regardless of which level of government they work in, 90 percent of what we know about our government representatives is absorbed through media, word of mouth, or good old-fashioned research.
Yet on Oct. 10, two of Surrey’s MP candidates visited the Grassroots Cafe on the KPU Surrey campus to answer the questions of any students who wanted to talk.
“Given that we’re the largest voting block, you’re starting to see parties kind of shift more attention to young people. I would like to see that happen more,” says KSA President David Piraquive, who helped organize the event.
The MP candidates for Surrey-Centre and Surrey-Newton who attended were Sarjit Saran of the NDP and Harpreet Singh of the Conservative Party, and they showed great excitement to be chatting with university students. Both spoke about how they believe students are the future of our country and hope more young adults get involved in politics.
Each candidate sat down at a table in Grassroots for two hours. Although they had a different approach to their discussions, they shared a desire to form a connection with students.
Singh’s approach was to build trust “so that the younger generation [would have] faith in [their government]” again.
He raised concerns regarding how politicians are sometimes seen as dishonest, and says he hopes to regain the trust of the youth by delivering on his party’s promises, creating more jobs for graduates, and making efforts to fight against gang violence.
Saran also was a part of the discussion, and said that he wanted to “get out to as many people as possible, and to hear from their own mouths what’s important to them.”
Singh was a journalist who has worked in Canada and India for radio, television, and print publications before he was an MP candidate. He says he was inspired to pursue this career path as a way to bring attention to our country’s problems. Singh even hosted his own TV show, the Harpreet Singh Show, on JoyTV.
He decided to become a politician because, “in the media, [he could] only bring about knowledge to the people” instead of implementing the changes he wanted to see.
Saran said he enjoys “calling people out on their lies” and believes that “fact-checking is very important.” He values being transparent with the community and doing what he can to ensure that other politicians do the same, regardless of which party they represent.
Anyone with a passion for or budding interest in politics can check out future meet and greets and study up on their riding’s MP candidates for the upcoming federal election.
