** This story has been updated
Provincial election candidates running in the Surrey-Whalley riding had their say Tuesday (Oct. 20) during a virtual debate hosted by Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association.
The hour-long all-candidates meeting was held on the Hopin conference app, via invitation from eventbrite.ca.
All four candidates running in the riding were invited to attend, according to the BIA, but only three – NDP incumbent Bruce Ralston, Liberal candidate Shaukat Khan and Communist Party hopeful Ryan Abbott – took part in the forum. The riding’s other candidate is B.C. Vision’s Jag Bhandari.
(Story continues below video of the meeting)
DSBIA Candidate Forum from Swansea-SummersDirect on Vimeo.
BIA-posed questions and some candidates’ answers are posted to downtownsurreybia.com. Advance questions from voters were sought by email prior to the submission deadline of Oct. 13.
Ralston has held Surrey-Whalley since 2005.
CLICK HERE to read our riding profile for Surrey-Whalley.
Voters go to the polls this Saturday, Oct. 24.
Later Tuesday, the BIA hosted a forum called Homelessness vs. “Houselessness”: Bridging Empathy for the Marginalized, with guest speaker Keir Macdonald, CEO of the Phoenix Society.
The free event is part of the BIA’s Community Conversations series.
“In collaboration with the Phoenix Society, our second topic uncovers how communities can work towards destigmatizing the negative labels associated with homelessness, mental health and drug abuse,” event planners says. “What is the difference between being homeless and being ‘houseless’? Does race and ethnicity play into an individual’s exposure to vulnerabilities? And as communities, what can we do to bridge empathy with those facing these vulnerabilities?”
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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