ALL speculation as to who would be the NDP candidates in Surrey Newton and Surrey City Centre after ministers Harry Bains and Bruce Ralston announced that they would not seek re-election after five terms ended on Wednesday.
The party announced that Jessie Sunner (Surrey-Newton) and Amna Shah (Surrey City Centre) “are running unopposed and will be acclaimed by their BC NDP Electoral District Associations in August.”
Sunner is a trade unionist and human rights lawyer.
“As legal counsel for the Hospital Employees’ Union, she fights for workers’ rights and a stronger healthcare system every day. In addition to her legal work, she takes action as a volunteer in her community, serving as Vice-President of the Surrey Women’s Centre, and sitting on the boards of the South Asian Bar Association, the BC Canadian Bar Association Human Rights Law Section, and the BC College of Social Workers,” the NDP said.
“As the daughter of Punjabi immigrants, I learned from a young age what it means to have a government that has the community’s best interests at heart,” said Sunner. “The BC NDP is fighting for us: for housing we can afford, for a stronger public healthcare system, and for money in our pockets. When [BC Conservative Leader] John Rustad was in cabinet, his government made deep cuts. We can’t afford the risk of him doing it again.”
Amna Shah sits on the Board of Directors of the Surrey Food Bank.
In that role, she has led the expansion of distribution services across Surrey, ensuring that everyone can have nutritious food in a dignified environment. As the Director of Outreach and Stakeholder Relations with the BC Government Caucus, she builds relationships between government MLAs and BC’s diverse communities, according to the NDP.
“People in Surrey-City Centre need a government that will act to make our lives easier: from expanded transit, to strengthened education, to new healthcare facilities — and that’s the BCNDP,” said Shah. “The government which John Rustad was a part of said no to a new hospital in Surrey. We have chosen differently. The people of Surrey City Centre can count on me and the BC NDP to have their best interests at heart.”
It is telling that both candidates focussed their attack on Rustad while completely ignoring the BC United.
The BC Conservative candidate in Surrey Newton is Tegjot Singh Bal, who is a Senior Marketing Executive and Radio Host at Radio Punjab AM1600.
In Surrey City Centre, the BC Conservative candidate is Zeeshan Wahla, a professional engineer with extensive experience in engineering and planning and runs an engineering consulting business.
