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Surrey-area all-candidate meetings are planned in-person and virtual

Election day is Monday, Sept. 20
Tom Zillich
Tom Zillich
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(Black Press Media file photo)

Both in-person and online, Surrey-area voters have a chance to meet and hear candidates running in September’s federal election.

Some all-candidate meetings have been planned ahead of election day, Monday, Sept. 20.

Advanced voting begins Sept. 10, and the candidate nomination deadline is Aug. 31.

There are five Surrey-area ridings, including Surrey Centre, Surrey-Newton, Fleetwood-Port Kells, Cloverdale-Langley City and South Surrey-White Rock.

• For the riding of Surrey Centre, Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association (BIA) is hosting an all-candidates meeting on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 2, at Civic Hotel starting at 8 a.m. Pre-registration is required via eventbrite.ca.

“Written questions from the floor will be accepted at the start of the meeting,” says the event post. “Please arrive by 7:45 a.m. to write out your questions and hand them in by 8 a.m. Number of questions to be asked will depend on the time available.”

• RELATED STORY: Trudeau in B.C. while Conservative and NDP leaders campaign in Ontario

• Elsewhere, a “Surrey Business Dialogue” will involve federal election candidates on Wednesday, Sept. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel (15269 104th Ave.). The event is co-hosted by hosted by Surrey Board of Trade and the South Asian Business Association (SABA). Registration is limited to only 100 guests, and pre-registration is a requirement via email to info@businessinsurrey.com, or visit businessinsurrey.com.

“Surrey is going to be the largest city in British Columbia by 2030,” notes an event post. “The Federal Election, with voting set to take place on September 20th, matters to Surrey because of our diversified industry base, human capital and international access points by land, water and air. COVID debt, business and job creation, labour issues, climate change costs, the need to invest in infrastructure, while expediting project approval requires serious, bold strategies to grow our economy.

“All attendees will be required to wear masks at all times. Speakers will take off their mask when speaking. The Surrey Board of Trade reserves the right to refuse entry to those that are not adhering to event and safety protocols.”

CLICK HERE to read the latest federal election 2021 news stories.

Meantime, the board of trade has launched a “Surrey Matters” campaign to encourage residents of the city to vote.

“The Surrey Board of Trade believes that voting is a privilege,” the organization said in an email. “Voting connects citizens with their political process. The simple act of marking a ballot tells our leaders what we think about decisions that affect our lives. By respectfully agreeing or disagreeing with our leaders we show that the political system can accept differing points of view and can resolve them.

“The Surrey Board of Trade is committed to increasing the number of voters in Surrey because Surrey Matters!”

• In the riding of South Surrey-White Rock, a virtual all-candidates forum is planned for Thursday, Sept. 9, from noon to 1:30 p.m., in an online gathering hosted by South Surrey and White Rock Chamber of Commerce.

The organization’s website (sswrchamberofcommerce.ca) lists confirmed candidates in the riding, including Kerry-Lynne Findlay (Conservative), Gordie Hogg (Liberal), Gary Jensen (People’s Party) and June Liu (NDP).

• Planned for Tuesday, Sept. 14, an all-candidates meeting co-hosted by Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce and the Cloverdale BIA will focus on candidates in the two ridings of Cloverdale-Langley City and South Surrey-White Rock, at the Clova Theatre (5732 176th St.) from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“Questions will be asked by our moderator,” says an event post on cloverdalechamber.ca. “Are you interested in submitting a question for the candidates? Please email to info@cloverdalechamber.ca before September 10. Seats are limited, so please register to save your spot.”

The Elections Canada website (elections.ca) is a resource for all federal election information, including voter registration, riding profiles, past election results and more. Also online, a Wikipedia webpage has a sourced list of candidates in all 338 ridings in Canada, and is updated as additional names are confirmed.

• READ MORE: FEDERAL ELECTION: Surrey’s five ridings, who won last time and who’s running now (so far)

September’s federal election is the second in less than two years.

On Oct. 21, 2019, Trudeau’s Liberals lost some political ground in Surrey but saw three incumbent MPs re-elected in what became a Liberal minority government, with the Conservatives again in official opposition.

For the Liberals, returned to Ottawa were Fleetwood-Port Kells MP Ken Hardie, Surrey Centre MP Randeep Sarai and Surrey-Newton MP Sukh Dhaliwal. The party’s election losers included Gordon Hogg – the incumbent for South Surrey-White Rock – and John Aldag, who had represented Cloverdale-Langley City since 2015.

Back in 2019, Surrey voters added some Tory blue to the local red Liberal palette, electing Conservatives Kerry-Lynne Findlay in South Surrey-White Rock and Tamara Jansen in Cloverdale-Langley.

CLICK HERE to read stories about the 2019 federal election and results.


tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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