Pubdate: Mon, 05 Oct 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Tara Carman
Page: A7

CRIME REMAINS TOP OF MIND FOR VOTERS

High-Profile, Gang-Related Shootings Put the Focus on Safe Streets 
Surrey-Newton (Redrawn) Federal Election Results 2011

If there is one thing voters and vote-hunters in Surrey-Newton agree 
on, it is that crime eclipses all other issues in a community that is 
desperate to be known for something, anything, else.

Yet the Conservatives, who have sought to brand themselves the "tough 
on crime" party, are seen as the long shot to win in a riding that is 
likely to be a bellwether for which opposition party might have the 
best shot at replacing the governing Tories.

New Democrat Jinny Sims beat Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal in the riding of 
Newton-North Delta by only 903 votes in 2011, the second-closest race 
in the province. Third-place Conservative Mani Fallon received just 
73 fewer votes than Dhaliwal, who held the riding for the Liberals 
between 2006 and 2011.

Sims and Dhaliwal will square off again in what is likely to be 
another tight race in the redrawn Surrey-Newton riding, which 
incorporates new parts of north Surrey and does not include Delta. 
Elections Canada figures suggest the NDP would still have won the 
riding in 2011 under the redrawn boundaries, but only by 400 votes. 
Throw in a Conservative candidate with significant name recognition 
in the Indo-Canadian community, and this could be anyone's race.

A spate of high-profile, gang-related shootings earlier this year 
have left the community reeling. There were six homicides and 28 
attempted murders in Surrey during the first half of 2015, which 
drove overall violent crime up 36 per cent compared to the same 
period in 2014, Surrey RCMP statistics show.

It is the first thing that comes up at voters' doorsteps, Sims said, 
adding that some of the shootings have been just blocks away from 
where she lives.

Sims questioned the Conservatives' commitment to keeping Surrey's 
streets safe, noting it has taken years for the government to deliver 
the 100 additional RCMP officers the city requested. Even now, only 
half that number are in place.

"We're concerned about gun violence here. It's easier for people to 
move guns around now under a Conservative government than it was 
before," Sims said. "Also, we've seen more and more weapons - guns - 
being taken off the restricted list under this government."

More police are needed, but that is only the first step, said Sims, a 
former head of the B.C. Teachers Federation who has lived in Surrey 
for five years. The federal government must ensure community groups 
have the resources they need to engage youth at risk of becoming 
involved with gangs and steer them in another direction, she said.

The Conservatives, for their part, agree. Last week, the party chose 
Surrey-Newton as the backdrop for local candidates to announce that a 
re-elected Conservative government would increase contributions to 
its Youth Gang Prevention Fund and create an official list of 
organized criminal gangs. This would eliminate the requirement for 
prosecutors to repeatedly prove a specific gang is a criminal 
organization, the party said in a news release.

Liberal Dhaliwal said the Conservative emphasis on tougher sentencing 
may have filled prisons, but has not made Surrey safer.

"Irrespective of which party we (represent), we have to work 
together, because when it comes to crime, when it comes to ... youth 
getting involved in these gangs, it is not about party politics. It 
is about family," he said.

"Surrey is the area where I raised my family and I still have young 
sons going to school. This is the community I built my business in, 
and this is the community where my parents live," said a visibly 
emotional Dhaliwal, whose father had died just hours before he sat 
down with The Sun at his Newtown campaign office.

Dhaliwal held the Newton-North Delta riding for the Liberals between 
2006 and 2011, when he was defeated by Sims, and is looking to take 
the riding back in this election. The polling website Three Hundred 
Eight. com suggests he has a good chance of doing so.

Dhaliwal had planned to run as a Surrey candidate in the 2013 
provincial election, but stepped down after The Vancouver Sun 
revealed he and his wife faced charges under the Income Tax Act 
related to a failure to file tax returns on behalf of their company, 
Genco Consultants Inc. Dhaliwal pleaded guilty last year to three 
charges and was fined $3,000; his wife was fined $5,000 after 
pleading guilty to five charges.

Conservative candidate Harpreet Singh, a former journalist who had 
his own television program, said it is important for disaffected 
youths susceptible to gang influence to become more involved in the 
community. He vowed, if elected, to involve constituents directly in 
finding solutions to the community's problems.

Singh said he would hold town hall meetings every two months, 
alternating between four quarters of the riding. A major theme of his 
campaign is integration, he said, adding that it concerns him that 
there are parts of the riding where people don't speak English.

"All the communities are just becoming silos and cocoons. There needs 
to be better interaction. So ... my focus will be on integration, 
while being proud of your own culture."

Surrey-Newton has the highest proportion of residents born in India 
of any electoral district in Canada, with almost a third - 31 per 
cent - hailing from that country, according to the 2011 National 
Household Survey. About half the people in the riding, some of whom 
are Canadian-born, trace their ethnic origins to India.

Having another Trudeau at the helm of the Liberal party may appeal to 
some segments of the Indo-Canadian community, said Satwinder Bains, 
director of the Centre for Indo-Canadian studies at the University of 
the Fraser Valley.

"As the bulge of immigrants who came in the '70s and '80s will 
attest, (Pierre) Trudeau's legacy of multiculturalism and 
liberalization of immigration rules is well remembered. His son 
carries that legacy," she said in an emailed statement.

However, the Liberal party's favourable stance on marijuana 
legalization could also be offputting to some Indo-Canadian voters, Bains said.

"They do not like drugs of any kind, and legalizing marijuana is seen 
as another western ideal of loosening the strings that tie us to our 
safe children and communities."

All four candidates in Surrey-Newton are of Indian descent. Dhaliwal 
and Singh both immigrated from India, in 1984 and 2002, respectively. 
Sims was born in India, raised in England, and immigrated to Canada 
in 1975. Green candidate Pamela Sangha has lived in Surrey all her 
life. She has a degree in political science and works in sales.

She is eager to move the political conversation in the riding beyond crime.

"I get that there's a spree of crime and gun violence here and that 
kids are being shot at. But we're also big in clean-tech energy and . 
a vibrant, beautiful community."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom