In 2013: NDP Incumbent Harry Bains handily won re-election, besting his BC Liberal challenger Sukhminder Virk by more than 3,000 votes (56 per cent – 38 per cent).
In 2009: Harry Bains won this riding over BC Liberal Ajay Caleb by over 6500 votes, 69-26 per cent.
History & Geography: The boundaries of Surrey-Newton have shrunk slightly, which, based on 2013 returns should give the NDP a slight bump, but Bains should easily win re-election once again. One of the three ridings created for the 1986 election when Surrey grew out of its one original two-member riding (White Rock-Cloverdale and Guliford-Whalley were the other two), Surrey-Newton is the smallest of the Surrey ridings, spanning from Scott Road to 152nd Street, going as far north as 80th Avenue and far south as 64th Avenue.
Candidates
BC Liberals’ Gurminder Singh Parihar is a CGA and CPA. He is a partner with Parihar & Associates accountants. Over the past few months, he’s been a key player in bringing together the government and trucking industry. Has served on several boards of governors, including the BC India Business Network and the BC College of Optometrists.
NDP’s Harry Bains is most recently the Opposition critic for Forestry. Bains was first elected in 2005. He was a union official with the Steelworkers for over fifteen years before entering politics. Bains was on Kwantlen’s board of governors in the 1990’s and has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.
Green Party’s Richard Krieger is a co-founder and the first CEO of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, and one of the founding Directors of the BC Green Party. Krieger moved to B.C. from San Francisco in 1975 and was involved in the efforts that led to the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve.
Balpreet Singh Bal is running as an independent candidate. He is the owner of Bal Realty Services.
2017 Stats: Surrey-Newton
Population (2014): 58,340 (33rd)
Population Deviation from Average: 9.8 per cent
Area: 12 sq km (82nd)
Pop Density: 4,861.7 (6th)
Average Age: 34.7 years (85th)
English as Second Language: 64.71 per cent (7th)
Top 3 Second Languages:
Panjabi (Punjabi) – 43.09 per cent
Hindi – 4.41 per cent
Urdu – 3.05 per cent