Realtor Saira Aujla is the Green Party’s candidate for Surrey-Green Timbers

 

SAIRA Aujla is the Green Party’s candidate for Surrey-Green Timbers.

And that is because this realtor, who grew up in Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese (Chinese), Punjabi, Hindi and English fluently, felt snubbed and betrayed first by the federal Liberals and then by the BC Liberals.

So she decided to run as an independent. But then her friends advised her to go with the Green Party.

Just how she will change the political equations in Surrey-Green Timbers will be interesting to watch where the NDP decided on Rachna Singh, an experienced activist who works for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, as their candidate, and the Liberals appointed former MLA Brenda Locke as their candidate.

Aujla got the highest votes among the independent candidates in the last civic election in Surrey, bagging 12,500 votes. So she can’t be dismissed lightly.

Aujla told The VOICE on Tuesday night that she felt totally ignored by the federal Liberals during the last federal election as she tried for their nomination in Surrey Central riding. She said she was encouraged to run by the party because they were looking for more women candidates. But then dirty politics crept in and she was told that the party had decided to choose a guy and was advised to withdraw her nomination application to remain on good terms with the party. Aujla obliged the party to keep the peace.

Then she decided to run for the BC Liberals from Surrey-Green Timbers and was given the runaround by the bigwigs. The party sent her an application at the last minute, and then to add insult to injury, they suddenly announced that Brenda Locke would be their candidate, Aujla told The VOICE.

“I’m fed up!” she told me – and she’s all fired up to run for the Greens in Surrey’s Green Timbers.

 

– RATTAN MALL