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Tory MP says Trudeau leaving Surrey "out of the mix"

Dianne Watts says PM Trudeau 'wrongheaded' for shutting four Surrey Liberal MPs out of parliamentary secretary jobs
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

SURREY - Surrey's lone Tory MP Dianne Watts says the city is being "left out of the mix" by the new federal Liberal government.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has shut out Surrey's four Liberal MPs in his selection of 35 parliamentary secretaries, which are like junior cabinet members.

Watts said it was "wrong-headed" for Trudeau to pass over his Surrey MPs given the city has more than half a million residents.

"I think that Surrey deserves better than that," she said. "I think that speaks volumes."

The four local Liberal MPs who have been overlooked are Ken Hardie (Fleetwood-Port Kells), Sukh Dhaliwal (Surrey Newton), Randeep Sarai (Surrey Centre) and John Aldag (Cloverdale-Langley City).

Meanwhile Watts (South Surrey-White Rock) is one of five B.C. Conservative MPs with a shadow cabinet position. She is her party's infrastructure and community critic.

Parliamentary secretaries earn $16,600 on top of a regular MPs' salary of $167,400.

tom.zytaruk@thenownewspaper.com



About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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