Skip to content

Independent Surrey Voters Association joins election race

The new slate is running five council candidates in the upcoming election on Oct. 20
13439741_web1_180906-SUL-Independent-Voters-Association
Independent Surrey Voters Association says it is running 5 council candidates: From left, Derek Zabel, Saira Aujla, Bernie Sheppard, Nasima Nastoh and Asad Syed. (Submitted photo)

A new slate has materialized that intends to run in the upcoming Oct. 20 election.

Independent Surrey Voters Association (ISVA) says it is running five council candidates: Asad Syed, Bernie Sheppard, Derek Zabel, Nasima Nastoh and Saira Aujla.

In a release, ISVA says they are “privileged and honoured” to enter the race after hearing “frustrations and concerns of the community.”

The team pledges to bring a “fresh, new and inclusive voice to the governance of Surrey.”

Syed, Sheppard and Aujla were part of the now defunct Surrey Community Alliance team, that disbanded when then-president Doug Elford split to join former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition.

Syed is a realtor and past president of the White Rock Muslim Association, Aujla is also a realtor, and Sheppard is an arts and technology professional.

Nastoh — who has worked with Peace Arch Community Services’ Healthy Family Project and as an outreach worker in Abbotsford — started the Hamed Nastoh’s Anti-Bullying Coalition, after her son’s suicide in 2000, to “raise awareness about the issue of bullying and suicide.”

Derek Zabel, a former journalist who worked in Williams Lake and Terrace, moved to Surrey in 2004 with his family and later began working for Coast Mountain Bus Company and TransLink.

ISVA’s platform is outlined on its website, isva.ca. The slate proposes Surrey transition to a municipal police force, increase the number of bylaw officers and they say they would initiate a referendum on a ward system in the city.

As for housing, the team calls for increasing density with “price controlled” living spaces, with developers required to determine home prices in the application process. Another proposal is that multiple-unit developments be required to sell 20 to 30 per cent of homes to first-time, local buyers and low-income families at a reduced price.

The group also says that if elected, they would also put a “moratorium on the sale of all city land.”

Their platform also calls for more affordable recreation and sports programming, a “much-needed” Mental Health Centre for youth with a focus on addiction, and free transit for youth aged 15 to 21.

“The primary role of any councillor is to be an advocate for the people,” ISVA said in a statement. “There needs to be a vital and active communications link between the people and the city. When we speak with our neighbours and other concerned members of our community, we understand their needs, and hopes for their future.”

ISVA says the community is concerned with urban sprawl and lack of transit “as the area continues to be built up faster than the infrastructure can accommodate.”

“Several are concerned with transparency from local government as they feel elected officials do not listen to their own constituents,” the team added in a release. “ISVA has decided to run to give the people a true voice who will listen and address their concerns. There are many issues that will come before us in the next four years. We look forward to meeting many more people in the community, and solving challenges together with them.”

Other slates running in the upcoming election include Surrey First, led by mayoral candidate and Councillor Tom Gill, former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition, Councillor Bruce Hayne’s Integrity Now team, People First Surrey led by Rajesh Jayaprakash, and the “left-leaning” Proudly Surrey slate with Pauline Greaves as their mayoral candidate.

Surrey voters head to the polls on Oct. 20.

Click here to see a full list of candidates.

Click here to read more election stories.

Other election news:

See also: Imtiaz Popat to run for Surrey mayor, calls for interurban over light rail or SkyTrain

See also: VIDEO: Surrey First announces full slate of candidates

See also: Mayoral candidate Pauline Greaves joins Proudly Surrey slate

See also: Parshotam Goel joins Proudly Surrey slate

See also: Steven Pettigrew and Jack Hundial join McCallum’s Safe Surrey slate

See also: Proudly Surrey announces fourth school board candidate

See also: People First Surrey announces mayoral candidate, third council hopeful

See also: Brenda Locke, Mandeep Nagra join McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition

See also: BUCHOLTZ: Surrey First naysayer goes out with a bang

See also: Woods joins Hayne’s Integrity Now slate as Surrey council candidate

See also: Handgun ban issue fires up Surrey candidates

See also: Surrey Honeybee Centre founder to run for council with Integrity Now

See also: Councillor Dave Woods resigns from Surrey First

See also: New independent school board candidate in Surrey

See also: Dr. Allison Patton joins Safe Surrey Coalition slate

See also: Downtown Surrey BIA announces all-candidates meetings

See also: Retired teacher Julia Poole to run for Surrey school board

See also: Pauline Greaves joins mayoral race in Surrey

See also: Avi Dhaliwal joins Surrey Integrity Now as council candidate

See also: Proudly Surrey wants to build a Rita Johnston statue, rename the Pattullo to Bob Bose Bridge

See also: McCallum keeps ‘Safe Surrey Coalition’ name, announces new candidate

See also: Rina Gill joins Bruce Hayne’s ‘Surrey Integrity Now’ party

See also: Doug Elford resigns from his Surrey party to run with McCallum

See also: People First Surrey announces first two candidates

See also: Doug McCallum running for Surrey mayor

See also: Former Surrey First Councillor Bruce Hayne to run for mayor

See also: Tom Gill is Surrey First’s mayoral candidate

See also: Hayne splits from Surrey First: ‘It’s just not open and transparent the way I’d like it to be’

See also: Surrey First’s Mary Martin not seeking re-election this fall

See also: Surrey First Councillor Judy Villeneuve not seeking re-election this fall

See more: New civic slate Proudly Surrey aims to offer ‘sharp, strong, left-leaning’ candidates

See more: Proudly Surrey introduces two more candidates for Surrey council, schoolboard

See more: Surrey Community Alliance announces intention to challenge Surrey First in civic election

See more: Surrey Community Alliance unveils civic slate, but no mayoral candidate

See more: People First Surrey party reveals intention to run in upcoming civic election

See more: Five Surrey First councillors now reveal interest in mayor’s chair

See more: With Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner out, who is mulling a mayoral run?

See more: Hawthorne Park crusader to run for Surrey council