[LabComm] Jagrup Brar to run for BC New Democrats in Surrey provincial by-election

[BC NDP NEWSWIRE]

VANCOUVER – Jagrup Brar will carry the BC New Democrat banner in the upcoming provincial by-election in Surrey-Panorama Ridge.

500 people turned out last night for the nomination meeting held at the Newton Community Centre where Brar was acclaimed. “Surrey is ready for change,” said Brar. “The people I talk to in our community are very concerned with the direction of the Campbell government. They’re angry about the chaos and cutbacks in health care, angry about the state of our local schools and skyrocketing tuition fees, and they’re angry with a government that refuses to listen to local communities. They want positive solutions, not constant conflict and extreme policies.”

Brar is currently the Executive Director of the Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society in Surrey, an organization that helps people to develop and launch small business ventures.

A recent poll released in April by the NDP showed New Democrats would win by a wide margin over the Campbell Liberals in Surrey-Panorama Ridge (http://nid-594.newsdetail.bc.ndp.ca to view the poll). Brar is confident he can win the by-election. “Surrey-Panorama Ridge is the first community in British Columbia with the opportunity to send Gordon Campbell a strong message to get back on track,” said Brar. “And this will be one message from our community that he can’t ignore.”

Brar said the Campbell government will finally have to face the public and face up to its mistakes.  “It’s time for Mr. Campbell to take a good look in the mirror. The province is seriously off track, his government is mired in scandal, they’ve broken too many promises, and they seek conflict and confrontation instead of dialogue and consultation. And the crisis the Campbell Liberals caused last week in our health care system is a further indictment of their entire approach to government.”

BC NDP leader Carole James said Brar’s experience and his commitment to the community will make him an effective and responsible voice for Surrey-Panorama Ridge. “I’m very excited about working with Jagrup. He has incredibly diverse support from the Surrey community," she said. "When he joins Joy and Jenny in the Legislature he will bring his considerable talents to bear on holding the Campbell Liberals to account."

Supprt for Brar’s nomination was widespread, including the business community (including the Scott Road Business Association, the Indo-Canadian Business Association, and two recipients of the Surrey Chamber of Commerce’s 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year awards); the Sikh and Muslim communities (Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Gurdwara Singh Sabha, and Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, the Jamal Mosque, Fizi Islamic Centre); a host of social service organizations; and Surrey city councillors Bob Bose, Penny Priddy, and Judy Villeneuve.

“It’s Jagrup’s commitment to the economic needs of communities combined with his passionate dedication to social justice that will make him a formidable addition to our team,” said James. “It’s time to build a better British Columbia,” said James.  “It’s time to send New Democrats back to Victoria and get this province back on the right track. Ordinary British Columbians in every region will be watching us here in Surrey. We won’t let them down.”

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Media contact Scott Perchall 604-862-7747

BIOGRAPHY OF JAGRUP BRAR:

Jagrup Brar is the Executive Director of the Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society (SEEDS) in Surrey where he works to help individuals develop and launch successful small business ventures. Prior to working at SEEDS, Jagrup managed the employment, ESL, and children’s programs for Progressive Intercultural Community Services in Surrey, and was the Assistant Director of Youth Services for the Punjab government in India.

Jagrup has lived and worked in Surrey for nearly ten years, since moving to British Columbia from Winnipeg in 1995. For over a decade, he has worked in the public and non-profit private sector, assisting professionals with career development and working with employers to develop strategies to recruit a highly-skilled, multicultural workforce.

A dedicated and active member of his community, Jagrup is active in both the Indo-Canadian Business Association and the Surrey Chamber of Commerce. He has served in volunteer capacities for a variety of services, sports, and cultural events, including the United Way, Boys and Girls Club of Winnipeg, Surrey Farm Workers Child Care Support program, and the visible minority advisory committee for Human Resources Development Canada.

Jagrup played basketball at the national level as a member of the Indian National Basketball team.

He has a master’s degree in Philosophy from Punjabi University in India, and a MPA in public administration from the University of Manitoba.

Jagrup lives in Surrey with his wife Rajwant and their five-year old daughter Noor.

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Below is a copy of Brar’s speech to the nomination meeting

May 6, 2004

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Fellow members, honoured guests, friends and community supporters, thank you for coming this evening and welcome to Surrey Panorama-Ridge, the next constituency in British Columbia to be represented by a New Democrat!

Welcome to all of you (perhaps also say welcome in Punjabi).

I feel privileged to accept the nomination as your candidate in the upcoming by-election and will proudly carry the NDP banner in Surrey. 

 I would not be here today without the very active support, love and guidance of my wife Rajwant.  

The unflagging support of my family – my wife and my daughter Noor – provides me with the courage to be a strong voice for our community, to stand up for Surrey and help defeat the Campbell government.

 Tonight I want to thank our leader Carole James whose strong and powerful voice is carrying the New Democrat message to every community in British Columbia



 That message is the message of hope. 

While Joy MacPhail and Jenny Kwan hold the Campbell government to account in the Legislature day after day, Carole’s tireless efforts hold the government to account in communities throughout the province, and say to people, “There’s a better way.”

And I will help to carry that message here in Surrey. 

I have lived in Surrey-Panorama Ridge for 10 years and have put down strong roots here. 

I am committed to this community. 

I love our neighbourhoods and the great diversity of Surrey



 the true face of today’s British Columbia. 

I have always been committed to social justice, to building a world based on the values and needs of ordinary people



 A society that’s fair. 

That’s why I joined the NDP shortly after I came to Canada over a dozen years ago.

 I am also committed to helping build a strong economy. 

At the Surrey Self-Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society – where I am Executive Director – we have trained over 500 new entrepreneurs, helping them on the road to achieving their dreams.

I am privileged to make my living helping people in our community put their entrepreneurial spirit into action



 to help them develop and sustain vibrant, successful businesses that serve the community.

The Surrey Chamber of Commerce has recognized several of our graduates with Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

We’re successful because we believe in small business. And I believe New Democrats offer a unique vision that will help small business to thrive in a strong economy



 An economy that works for ordinary British Columbians



 An economy that works to build our communities, not tear them apart



 Where the needs of working people and their families come first.

 Here in Surrey-Panorama Ridge we represent people from many countries and cultures
  

By working together, we learn from each other, celebrating each other’s values and faiths.


Surrey’s diversity is our strength. 

 But the Campbell government has let Surrey down. 

Surrey needs new leadership in Victoria, and a voice that will stand up for the community...


A voice that will carry a strong message to Victoria that our community wants a government that listens. 

We don’t need or want a government that rams it’s own agenda down the throats of taxpayers, regardless of local concerns. 

 Gordon Campbell’s MLAs in Surrey have done nothing for this community. 

They act more like public relations flaks for the Campbell government agenda than as real community representatives.

 The number one issue facing Surrey and every community in BC is the state of public health care in our province. 

Mr. Campbell promised to improve health care. And he promised not to privatize health care



 But health care is worse off under Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals



waitlists have grown dramatically.

 hospitals have been shut down.

 and the Liberals have embarked on a massive campaign to expand privatized health care in BC.

What did Surrey’s Liberal MLAs do when emergency services were cut back at Surrey Memorial?

What did they do when they laid off nursing staff?

Nothing.

And they continue to say nothing while Mr. Campbell spends tens of millions of dollars on television advertising telling British Columbians what a super job they’re doing for health care.


 While their government raised class sizes in our schools and cut funding to school boards, the Surrey Liberal MLAs stood by and cheered Gordon Campbell in the Legislature.

While the government increased taxes and fees for low- and middle-income families in Surrey, Gordon Campbell’s Surrey MLAs stood by and cheered him in the Legislature.

While the Liberal government took away resources for fighting crime and building safe communities, our Liberal MLAs stood by and cheered.

The Campbell government cut funding for services to victims of crime. It cut funding to the Crown Prosecutors office.

Campbell promised money from increased provincial traffic fines would go toward crime prevention programs



Yet another broken promise.

Not once did any of Surrey’s Liberal MLAs ever raise a voice to say it’s wrong to force seniors out of care homes



 to take away support for organizations in Surrey that provide food and shelter to our growing homeless population.

They stood by and said nothing when Gordon Campbell broke his promises to provide better higher education. At Kwantlen College, while the Campbell-appointed board raised tuition fees, it cancelled courses, fired instructors, and fired workers who provide services to students.

And, as we saw last week, not one of Surrey’s Liberal MLAs was willing to do the right thing and stand up to say Bill 37 was wrong.

Only Jenny and Joy and the independent MLAs who left the Campbell caucus because of the Liberals’ extreme agenda, stood up and voted against this brutal piece of legislation.

As a result of the Campbell Liberals confrontational approach to workers who deliver health care in this province, we saw chaos at Surrey hospitals.

People in Surrey cannot take another four years of Mr. Campbell.  His failed economic plan is bankrupting the province.

New Democrats should be proud of our ten years of work and accomplishments for ordinary British Columbians.  

When New Democrats were in Victoria, we proved that you can balance budgets without slashing programs, without de-moralizing families and communities and without devastating small business owners who are the back-bone of our economy.

 Surrey-Panorama Ridge will be the first community in the province to be given the opportunity to send Mr. Campbell a message.  

And all of you here tonight will be an important part of sending that message.

When I join our team in Victoria as the NDP MLA for Surrey-Panorama Ridge, I will bring all the discipline, energy and commitment that I have always brought to bear on the challenges I faced in both my work and personal life.

It will be up to the voters to examine my credentials, but I can tell you here today that my life has been about speaking out on important issues.  

Issues of social justice for minorities and new Canadians; issues that affect the health and well being of our families, our children and our communities
 


 Issues like public safety in our neighbourhoods and economic security for our communities.

Raising a family is hard work.  We have a sacred trust in shaping our children and preparing them to face the world.  Every child deserves the best we can offer in health care, education and in preparing for a meaningful career.

I have the skills, the drive and the commitment to help build a better province



 A province where we all feel safe and satisfied when we send our kids to school.  


 A province where parents can rest knowing their sons and daughters will return home in safety.

A province where small businesses can grow and individuals can prosper and feel hopeful about the future.
My Friends


Surrey is ready for change. The people I talk to in our community are very angry with the Campbell government.

When the Premier decides finally to face the voters of Surrey and calls a by-election, we’ll send him a strong message (
and a TALL messenger):

It’s time to build a better British Columbia.  It’s time to send New Democrats back to Victoria and get this province back on the right track.

Ordinary British Columbians will be watching us here in Surrey. We won’t let them down.

Again, it is my sincere privilege to represent New Democrats in Surrey-Panorama Ridge



To proudly carry the New Democrat vision of Carole James.

I’ll need your help. And I ask you to work with me when the by-election is called so we can win this by-election for our children, our families and our community.

Thank you

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