Premier David Eby spoke to a sold-out crowd at Northview Golf & Country Club on Friday (March. 3).
Surrey Board of Trade hosted the event with the Premier as they keynote speaker. The Premier spoke about the recent B.C. budget and the impact it will have on the city of Surrey.
The event ended with a time for questions and answers from the crowd.
Kiran Toor, the president of KidsPlay Foundation, asked the Premier and the province to do more for non-profits like KidsPlay. She acknowledged the work the province has done thus far but asked for more.
KidsPlay Foundation is a Surrey-based organization that has locations across Canada and several around the world, including India, Colombia and Uganda. The organization runs a number of different programs from sports camps, educational forums, mentorship, community patrols, and more.
“I think it’s our responsibility to just do a little bit better because I’m telling you, these kids are dying because this is kids’ lives we are talking about.”
Toor then told the story of a young man who was kicked out of school late last year.
KidPlay received a call from the youth’s mother.
She was in tears, unsure of what to do. He was not going down a good path.
Through mentorship from KidPlay this young man was able to get the help that he needed.
Toor then started to choke up.
“It is very difficult to keep taking calls from crying mothers to say my kids are not coming back home.”
“I’m really hoping we can come up with some solutions we can work together.”
Premier Eby previously worked as a legal advocate for unhoused individuals in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Eby spoke from that experience.
“That when you’re a frontline, when you’re talking to people who are struggling like that, whether it’s parents or kids, you see gaps, you see opportunities to intervene and change people’s lives in the system,”
Eby spoke to what he sees at his level as a politician.
The funding needs for breakfast programs, and mental health and addiction resources.
“But that’s what I see at my level what you see at your level is totally different. So I need your experience. I need your help.”
anna.burns@surreynowleader.com
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