The sitting Liberal MP for Surrey-Newton made the announcement at a press convention Monday
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Sukh Dhaliwal, the Liberal MP for Surrey-Newton, introduced on Monday he’ll enter the race for Surrey mayor, organising a fall showdown in opposition to Mayor Doug McCallum, Surrey councillor Brenda Locke, and provincial politician Jinny Sims, who has been an MLA in Surrey-Panorama since 2017.
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The three established challengers might cut up the left-leaning vote in opposition to McCallum and allow him to return, stated Hamish Telford, an affiliate professor of political science on the College of the Fraser Valley.
However it’s also potential that Surrey voters will see Dhaliwal and Sims as recent alternate options who might sweep out each Locke and McCallum as an alternative, he added.
“My assumption was that Doug McCallum nonetheless has assist in Surrey, perhaps a ceiling of 20 to 25 per cent, maybe a contact larger, and if he’s on the upper finish of that ceiling, then, in fact, the extra candidates that enter the race, the simpler his path is to victory,” stated Telford. “If all of them divide the race equally at 25 per cent, we’ve bought a tie and it may very well be determined with simply a few votes.”
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Telford thinks four-term mayor McCallum nonetheless has a assist base, having promised and delivered two widespread objects, the SkyTrain line and an impartial police pressure. However he additionally may need extra critics than prior to now, having been charged with public mischief after claiming that one of many opponents to his police pressure plans ran over his foot together with her automotive in a car parking zone.
Dhaliwal stated he was “compelled by willpower to restore a divided metropolis” and unveiled a brand new slate referred to as United Surrey, together with former MP Jasbir Sandhu, Julie Tapley, Jeff Bridge, and Becky Zhou.
He stated he had frolicked in each nook of Surrey earlier than bringing collectively a slate that represents numerous experiences and distinct political backgrounds and beliefs.
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“In every single place I’m going, I’ve not discovered a single one who is prepared to assist the incumbent mayor proper now. Folks have come to me, all of them need to do away with Mayor McCallum proper now, and they’re on the lookout for an outlet,” stated Dhaliwal to Postmedia after he introduced his candidacy.
Telford stated it’ll be troublesome for voters to coalesce round a single various to McCallum until one of many candidates pulls forward of the pack.
If there’s some waning in assist for McCallum, voters would possibly see Dhaliwal and Sims as outsiders with new approaches, and Locke as being a part of the established order that should change.
“You will have Sukh Dhaliwal coming in from the federal stage and Jinny Sims from the provincial stage, leaving Brenda Locke as town councillor candidate,” stated Telford. “Having been within the trenches in opposition to Doug McCallum for 4 years, she arguably is aware of the problems higher than the others do. Which may assist her. Alternatively, if voters of Surrey desire a form of clear slate and need to begin once more, they may sweep her out with McCallum after which it turns into Sukh Dhaliwal and Jinny Sims, and who can both distinguish themselves or out-campaign the opposite.”
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In 2011, Sims gained the Newton-North Delta seat over Dhaliwal. 4 years later, Dhaliwal returned to the re-drawn driving of Surrey-Newton and beat Sims.
Dhaliwal has been the MP in his central Surrey driving since 2015, and beforehand sat as MP for Newton-North Delta from 2006 to 2011.
United Surrey is promising an instantaneous one-year tax freeze, a rollback of the land parcel tax to pre-2018 ranges ($100), a significant growth of fields and parks within the metropolis, and a dedication to shorten improvement allow approval occasions, targeted particularly on leases.
Dhaliwal has lived within the metropolis for 25 years along with his spouse Roni and son Arjan. His two grownup daughters, Keerat and Joat, are working towards careers in drugs.
— with file from Joseph Ruttle
