A breakdown of the Surrey municipal party platforms
Everything you need to know before casting your ballot
There are five major party platforms running in Surrey's municipal election. (Abby Luciano)
As the municipal election rolls up on Oct. 15, many Canadians are wondering who to cast their ballot for. In Surrey, residents can vote for one mayor, up to eight councillors, and six school board trustees, all of which are running on different platforms pertaining to hot topics in Surrey.
Safe Surrey Coalition
This party is led by incumbent mayor Doug McCallum, who is running for his fifth term as mayor. McCallum was elected in the 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2018 municipal elections. The Safe Surrey Coalition council candidates are Doug Elford, Laurie Guerra, Mandeep Nagra, Allison Patton, Stuart Drysdale, Raman Jassar, Debra Antifaev, and John Gibeau.
The party’s biggest priorities are moving forward with the transition to a city police department and investing to build the SkyTrain extension from King George Station to Newton.
Last month, the party revealed “A Home For Everyone Plan” to address housing affordability and eliminate governmental barriers. The plan will create an online system “that allows residents to choose a stock template of a house plan” and a permit will be received within two weeks after submitting a request. Another promise is to build attainable housing for the middle class as well.
Other promises include investing in capital projects and infrastructure, a 60,000-seat stadium, reducing emissions to net zero by 2030, reducing traffic congestion, and building a new swimming pool in North Surrey at the Bailey Recreation Centre.
As of Oct. 4, the Safe Surrey Coalition had yet to release information on how Surrey will achieve net zero by 2030 and how it plans to address issues related to accountability at Surrey City Hall, according to the CBC.
Surrey Connect
Former MLA for Surrey Green Timbers Brenda Locke started Surrey Connect after leaving the Safe Surrey Coalition in 2019. The party’s council candidates are Rob Stutt, Pardeep Kooner, Gordon Hepner, Harry Bains, Rochelle Prasad, Sebastian Sajda, Wil Kwok, and Ramona Kaptyn.
If elected, one of the municipal party’s goals is to keep the RCMP in Surrey.
The party says it will cost $520 million over the next four years if the Surrey Police Service goes in place, but plans to add 100 RCMP officers over the next four years if elected.
Accountability and transparency at City Hall is another issue the party is campaigning for after they heard concerns “expressed by the constituents over the last four years.” They plan to hire an Ethics Commissioner, introduce conflict of interest rules, and establish whistle-blower protection.
Surrey Connect also wants to invest in public transit by creating an express bus system that would run up and down King George Hwy, linking to South Surrey and to the SkyTrain extension once it’s built.
Council candidate Bains plans to attract more employers to Surrey to increase the number of jobs for people in the city, according to the City of Surrey website.
Other promises Surrey Connect is campaigning for are increasing budgets for the city’s fire department, police and bylaw services, investing in new sports and entertainment facilities, and decreasing the backlog in construction application requests.
United Surrey
Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal announced the new party United Surrey in July. In an interview with The Runner, he says he entered the race after witnessing “divisiveness” in the city. The party’s council candidates are Julie Tapley, Jeff Bridge, Becky Zhou, Jasbir Sandhu, Zubeen Sahib, Andy Dhillon, Margarett Lange, and Nicole Bennett.
The party released a four-point action plan. This includes an immediate one-year tax freeze, rolling back the land parcel tax to 2018 levels, creating more fields and parks throughout Surrey, and shortening the “development permit approval times in Metro Vancouver within two years with a focus on rentals.”
United Surrey plans to move forward with the transition to the Surrey Police Service and connecting the SkyTrain to Newton.
The party will also develop a Surrey-based regional police training facility to help with officer shortages throughout Metro Vancouver, and hire 15 more firefighters annually for the next five years for public safety.
They also released an ethics and accountability governance plan, which calls for a forensic audit for all development approvals, a British Columbia auditor general fiscal oversight, and approval from city council for city contracts that are over $10,000.
For housing, Dhaliwal announced a “333 Approval Plan,” which calls for development applications to be reviewed at a guaranteed timeframe. For example, he promises three days for renovation applications, three weeks for a single-family home application, and three months for a multi-family unit application.
United Surrey will also focus on balancing the economy and environment by attracting investment from sustainable companies to create more green jobs, according to the CBC.
Surrey Forward
Surrey Forward was created earlier this year by NDP MLA, and former MP, Jinny Sims. She was elected as the MP for Newton-North Delta in 2011 and MLA for Surrey-Panorama in 2017 and 2020. The council candidates are Phillip Aguirre, Arsh Mander, Ramon Bandong, Theresa Pidcock, June Liu, Dr. Jody Toor, and Paramjit S Malhi.
If elected, Surrey Forward will pause the transition of the Surrey Police Service and the Surrey RCMP for three months to make an informed decision.
The party also promises to create more transparency in the council by reducing the number of private council meetings, bringing back the advisory committees that were removed during McCallum’s term in office, and having more transparency with development applications.
Surrey Forward supports the SkyTrain extension and increasing transit to reduce carbon emissions. They plan to advocate for extending bus service until at least midnight, and service on main routes every 10 minutes. They also plan to develop vehicle, bike, and scooter-sharing programs.
Other promises include adding a new fire hall in the downtown core, and doubling permits for new housing with a focus on below-market buildings.
Surrey First
Led by former Liberal MLA and MP for South Surrey-White Rock Gordie Hogg, Surrey First was created in 2008 by former mayor Dianne Watts. The council candidates are incumbent Linda Annis, Mike Bose, Bilal Cheema, Sargy Chima, Ajit Mehat, Paul Orazietti, Kulwinder Saini, and Mary-Em Waddington.
Surrey First says they will hold a referendum to see if they want the Surrey Police Service or the RCMP. They will conduct an audit of the police transition and share their findings publicly before voting on a decision. In addition to the referendum, they plan to hire 300 more police officers and 60 firefighters over the next four years.
For accountability, the party promises to increase public access and input by scheduling time for questions before a council meeting starts, holding meetings in community centres around the city, and extending City Hall hours to increase flexibility for residents.
The party supports investing in a form of ground-level light rail transportation (LRT) from North to South through Newton, in addition to South Surrey, Cloverdale, and White Rock. Surrey First will push the federal government for funding if elected. They also want more coordination between the levels of government and are advocating for federal funding to combat climate change.
Making the permit application process more clear and efficient to have more development built, incentivizing developers to provide a percentage of their units to be used as affordable housing, and a 10-year building plan for more recreational activities like parks and community centres are some of the other promises Surrey First are campaigning on.
