With less than six weeks left until Surrey residents elect their new members of Parliament to represent them in Ottawa for the next four years, there are still opportunities to hear directly from the candidates.
Scroll down for a list of all-candidates meetings across the city.
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Meetings in North Surrey/Cloverdale
- Sept. 23: The Surrey Homelessness and Housing Task Force is hosting an all-candidates meeting on Sept. 23 at the Surrey Centre Library (room 120 at 10350 University Dr.). The debate will begin at 7 p.m. and run to 8:30 p.m. Candidate registration begins at 6:30 p.m. For more information, or to RSVP, contact Jonquil Hallgate at jonhallgate@yahoo.ca.
- Sept. 25: Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce is hosting an all-candidates meeting on Sept. 25, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at KPU’s Cloverdale campus, located at 5500 180th St., Surrey.
- Sept. 26: KPU is hosting an all-candidates meeting on Sept. 26 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at its Surrey campus (12666 72nd Ave.) for Surrey-Newton candidates.
- Oct. 2: Surrey Board of Trade is holding a “Federal Candidates Dialogue” on Oct. 2, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel (15269 104th Ave., Surrey). There will be no live questions at the end, but residents can send potential questions to jasroop@businessinsurrey.com ahead of time. “Whoever becomes the Members of Parliament for the Surrey area will be critically important to the business community,” states an event post. “Will that person be responsive to business needs? Will economic development and cooperation with communities be a priority? What will party’s vision be for the future? Attend and listen to the candidates as they describe what they would do as Surrey’s Members of Parliament.” Register for this event at businessinsurrey.com.
- Oct. 8: Downtown Surrey BIA is hosting an all-candidates meeting for the Surrey-Centre riding only on Tuesday (Oct. 8) at Civic Hotel starting at 6:30 p.m.
Meetings in South Surrey/White Rock:
- Oct. 4: South Surrey/White Rock Chamber of Commerce and the White Rock BIA have organized an all-candidates forum for Oct. 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Star of the Sea Hall (15262 Pacific Ave.). The Chamber forum is to focus on business and what the candidates have planned to increase economic development in the area. The Chamber is accepting questions for the candidates at info@sswrchamber.ca. Attendees will be not be able to submit questions during the debate. Candidates who have not yet registered with the Chamber event can do so by contacting 604-536-6844.
- Oct. 9: Gracepoint Community Church will past host to another all-candidates forum organized by the Peninsula Homeless to Housing (PH2H) task force, set for Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. The debate is to focus on homelessness, poverty and federal actions to address the relating issues. At the most recent PH2H meeting Sept. 6, PH2H member Joan McMurtry said organizers “want to hear from the person; what their will and passion is,” and not just a page from their party’s book. PH2H member Pat Petrala said there will be an opportunity for guests to write down questions, which will be vetted, and possibly asked, by PH2H.
- Oct. 10: An all-candidates forum is to take place at Semiahmoo House (15306 24 Ave.) on Oct. 10, hosted by the Self-Advocates of Semiahmoo (SAS) from 6:30-9 p.m. SAS was formed by Semiahmoo House Society members to support their peers with developmental disabilities, raise awareness and promote inclusion. Candidates will be questioned about how they will support issues relating to cost of living, employment and business, transportation, housing, enhancing community, health care, climate change, taxes and accessibility. Candidates will receive the questions prior to the meeting.
- Oct. 16: On Wednesday, Oct. 16 the Surrey-White Rock Political Engagement Society will host a forum at the White Rock Community Centre, at 15154 Russell Ave., beginning at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome and Mandarin translation will be provided for the event, which will be moderated by Black Press Media columnist Frank Bucholtz. “It will be the first debate organized by the Chinese community to encourage more Chinese to get involved in voting in the federal election,” a release from the society states.
Click here to read more about federal election candidates in Surrey.
Residents will cast their votes on Oct. 21. Advance polling days are Friday Oct. 11 to Monday Oct. 14.
Email us about other all-candidates meetings at edit@surreynowleader.com.
amy.reid@surreynowleader.com
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