RIDING PROFILE: Surrey-Fleetwood

Surrey-Fleetwood usually provides an interesting spectacle for avid fans of politics.

Jagrup Brap, incumbent MLA and NDP candidate, hopes to hold the riding for his party on Oct. 24. The veteran NDP MLA was elected in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2017, in which year he received 52 per cent of the vote.

This election, two candidates are seeking to retire him from office: The Liberal’s Garry Thind, who is on leave from his position as a Surrey school trustee, and BC Green Party candidate Dean McGee.

Brar started his political career in Surrey as the NDP MLA for Surrey-Panorama Ridge but migrated from that riding to run for office in Surrey-Fleetwood in 2009, when he became the riding’s first-ever MLA with 49.29 per cent of the vote.

Brar was the NDP MLA for Surrey-Panorama Ridge from 2004 to 2009, and held Surrey-Fleetwood from 2009 to 2013 when Liberal Peter Fassbender defeated him.

As Liberal MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood, Fassbender served as minister of education, and minister of community, sport, cultural development and minister responsible for TransLink. In the 2013 election he took 45.65 per cent of the popular vote, defeating runner-up Brar by 265 votes.

Surrey-Fleetwood is a suburban riding that was established under the Electoral Districts Act in 2008. It has a population of 60,477 and its average age is 37.7 years old. It is 17 square kilometres in size and for 55.24 per cent of its residents, English is a second language.

Candidates:

We asked each candidate a simple question. “Why are you the best candidate in your riding?” We asked them to keep their pitch to 150 words. For those candidates who did not respond, we made every effort to tell you a little something about them or at the very least, send you in the right direction to learn about them.

Jagrup Brar

NDP

Jagrup Brar is the BC NDP candidate from Surrey-Fleetwood. An incumbent candidate, Jagrup has been a strong voice for the people of his community. Jagrup was the BC Government Caucus Chair and previously served as the Official Opposition Spokesperson for Small Business, Healthy Living and Sport, Employment and Income Assistance, as well Solicitor General and Public Safety. For over a decade, Jagrup worked in the non-profit sector.

s the Executive Director of the Surrey Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society (SEEDS), Jagrup trained new entrepreneurs to develop and launch successful small business ventures. Jagrup has been active in the Surrey community and has worked with a variety of local organizations providing services to young people, seniors, the homeless, and new Canadians. Jagrup is an advocate for the most vulnerable, and undertook the Welfare Challenge to tell a story of about living in poverty in B.C.

Jagrup lives in Surrey with his wife Rajwant and their two children, Noor and Fateh.

Dean McGee

Green Party

Dean McGee is a parent and a parent advocate in Surrey. He has been past-president and spokesperson for the Surrey District Parent Advisory Council, raising concerns of Surrey parents in the community.

He and his wife are raising three children in the Fleetwood area. He grew up in Fleetwood and in North Delta with parents who worked for the City of Surrey and the Surrey School District.

He works as a surveyor, having worked on projects including the Port Mann Highway 1 in Surrey.

He co-founded the left-green Proudly Surrey party in the 2018 municipal elections, when he ran for Surrey school board. His goal is to see public services like public schools, healthcare, and transportation serve all people, while taking care of the planet for future generations

Garry Thind