The third of a series: Over the coming weeks, The Leader continues to shine a spotlight on candidates in each of this area’s six federal ridings: Surrey-Newton, Fleetwood-Port Kells, Surrey-Centre, Cloverdale-Langley City, South Surrey-White Rock and Delta. The stories can also be read online at surreyleader.com
In Surrey-Centre, home to the notorious “Whalley strip” on 135A Street, it’s perhaps unsurprising that crime tops the list of issues among voters heading into this election.
Whalley is surpassed only by Newton in its rate of violent crime.
That’s not lost on NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu, who says crime is at the top of his list of concerns to address.
“Crime is an issue,” the former program manager for the Justice Institute of B.C. says. “I have always advocated for programs when it comes to our youth gang prevention.”
He notes he had a bill in the House of Commons that asked for sustainable funding for youth gang prevention programs.
And he says he has hounded the government about the delivery of the 100 additional police officers Surrey had requested.
“I was up in the House more than 20 times, even after hours, asking the federal safety minister as to when these officers are going to be here,” Sandhu says. “And whether they were going to provide additional funds for youth gang prevention programs.”
Sandhu says the Conservatives cut funding for such programs in 2014, then amid much fanfare, restored it this year.
He says the NDP has dedicated $250 million over the next four years to train 2,500 RCMP officers.
Some of them, he points out, will be coming to Surrey.
“Part of that money will go to a training facility that will make sure we can turn out the police officers in Regina (at the RCMP training depot),” the 49-year-old resident from just outside the riding says.
“On the other hand, I think we still need the education side, the prevention side, so I will continue to advocate for prevention programs for our young people, and also education the community for us to work on both sides of the ledger.”
He noted that homelessness and mental illness also have to be addressed, saying the region needs more affordable housing and mental health facilities.
Sandhu says the second most important issue in the riding is transportation congestion.
“We certainly need to improve our transportation infrastructure and provide more transit alternatives for people living in Surrey,” Sandhu says.
The NDP will provide $1.3 billion over 20 years to support municipal infrastructure needs.
“Which would essentially help us reduce gridlock and wait times,” he says.
He notes that traditionally, transportation funding has been based on election cycles.
“This will allow municipalities and provinces to identify projects on a long-term basis, and they would be getting predictable funding on a long-term basis,” Sandhu says.
He also says the NDP would return an extra penny from the federal gas tax to municipalities, bringing in $3.5 billion annually for roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Sandhu says jobs are the third most important issue for the Surrey-Centre riding.
“This is a growing, young population here,” Sandhu said. “Eight out of 10 jobs are generated by small businesses, so we will reduce the small business tax from 11 per cent to nine per cent.”
He says that will allow small businesses to expand, creating more jobs.
The NDP also is aiming to help 40,000 young people with paid internships or co-op placements.
The New Democrats, he says, have also pledged to pay $15 a day for daycare, allowing young parents to get into the workforce.
Sandhu says his party will also invest in the aerospace industry, protecting 76,000 jobs across the country, including a large firm in Delta.
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Kevin Pielak is running for the Christian Heritage Party and says the most important issue in the riding is transit.
The 55-year-old teacher of special needs students says there’s not enough transportation and the transit Surrey does have keeps breaking down.
“Christian Heritage Party has a policy where they’re going to use the Bank of Canada for lending money either at zero per cent interest or a very low interest rate,” Pielak says. “That would be given to the municipalities that need to develop the infrastructure for the transportation.”
The total amount has not been determined, he says, but it will be based on need.
Pielak believes the second most important issue is public safety.
“There’s too much shooting in Surrey, it’s very serious,” says Pielak, who lives in the Surrey-Centre riding. He says the federal government must provide more funding to Surrey for police.
His plan is to increase the federal government’s current 10-per-cent share of funding RCMP costs. He couldn’t say by how much more.
Pielak’s third priority is affordable housing.
Most people who try to buy a house are mortgage poor, he says, adding that would have to be addressed.
He recommends promoting modular housing, which people could expand upon when they have more money.
“Plus, we have some homeless people who would need some cheaper housing,” he says.
Again, he would use Bank of Canada low-interest loans for municipalities to build affordable housing that would be required.
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Liberal candidate Randeep Sarai says crime is the number-one issue facing Surrey-Centre.
“It affects all aspects of your life, from people at home having property crime, to people that are on the strip that are on the street having to live in unsafe conditions,” Sarai says. “When I door knock, I’ve never seen so many video (surveillance) cameras that every door has now.”
The 40-year-old lawyer believes a multi-pronged crime reduction strategy needs to be developed involving all stakeholders.
He says people who need help, need it fast.
“Say somebody has mental health issues. They don’t get any treatment for three weeks,” Sarai points out. “And that three weeks is when things get worse. They get sucked in by drug dealers and organized crime.”
He says police shouldn’t have to deal with those issues and would assemble a group of community stakeholders within 30 to 60 days of being elected.
“Quickly decide what needs to be done, and figure out what needs to bond, and what government agency needs to do it.”
He would also push for more funding to train new RCMP officers, as well as boost prevention and enforcement strategies.
Sarai believes the second most pressing issue is economic development.
“We have ports, we have the gateway to the U.S., we should be developing more jobs here, and they should be green jobs,” he says.
Residents should work in or near their own city, says Sarai, who lives just outside the riding.
He notes Surrey, and other cities, are taking a lead role in developing green industries.
“The cities and provinces have had to come up with their own solutions. The federal government has no direction on it,” Sarai says.
He also says he would set his sights on youth employment.
“Young people need to get employed,” he says.
The Liberals will commit $1.3 billion to a youth employment strategy, he says, which would mean thousands of more co-op jobs through schools, which he says is critical to providing younger people with work experience.
Affordable housing is third on Sarai’s list of priorities.
He says there’s a “silver wave” of seniors coming and their needs have to be addressed.
There needs to be more seniors’ housing and care so “they can live a decent and graceful life” in their final years, he says.
“I think the Liberals have a great plan for helping them, for fixing their pensions with the National Inflation Index,” Sarai says.
The Liberals would also allow $25,000 worth of RRSPs to be used on both a first home purchase and a second.
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Despite repeated requests for an interview, Conservative candidate Sucha Thind did not return Leader phone calls.
Communist candidate Iqbal Kahlon also did not return phone calls.
Jeremiah Deneault, with the Green party, declined an interview. A representative with the Green Party of Canada says he was a place-holder candidate, offering his name so people have the choice to vote Green should they wish.
