Mayor unveils full slate of Surrey candidates

Mayor Brenda Locke’s political party Surrey Connect welcomed two new candidates to complete their slate ahead of the October municipal election — former city councillor Vera LeFranc and lawyer and real estate agent Michael Dunn. 

First elected in 2014, LeFranc ran alongside the Surrey First team, but said she has chosen to run with Surrey Connect this year because of Surrey First’s mayoral candidate and current Coun. Linda Annis’s leadership.

LeFranc raised concern about Annis’s messages with former-Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski about impairment checks. 

“That kind of judgment does not reflect the leadership that Surrey deserves. That is why I could only consider running with Mayor Brenda Locke and Surrey Connect. Brenda and her team are delivering for Surrey. They’re focused on the major community infrastructure our city needs,” said LeFranc during the Aug. 11 announcement. 

Dunn previously built up a law practice before becoming a Realtor based in South Surrey. He said he was excited to join the team after witnessing Surrey Connect commit to hiring more public safety professionals, as well as promises to upgrade ice rinks in the South Surrey Arena and build a new pool in Cloverdale.   

“Surrey Connect will deliver all this because they fixed [and] cleaned up the financial mess left behind by the previous administration. Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey coalition put Surrey in a financially desperate position … That is not the leadership we need. We need integrity, accountability, and ethics at city hall,” he said. 

Locke said the party is seeking re-election to continue delivering for residents — citing while in office they had invested $1.6 billion in infrastructure, opened the new Cloverdale Sports Arena and improved parks.

“We are working hard for Surrey’s trust once again,” Locke said. 

During the question period, Locke said public safety, affordability, and infrastructure were some of the biggest issues facing Surrey. She also said that if re-elected, Surrey Connect would keep property taxes low, but could not commit to freezing taxes — unlike other candidates — because it could mean cutting services or staffing. 

“We are building the next modern city in Canada. I truly believe that, and the opportunity for Surrey is enormous,” said Locke. 

The final list of Surrey Connect candidates: 

• Brenda Locke (incumbent) 
• Harry Bains (incumbent) 
• Gordon Hepner (incumbent) 
• Pardeep Kooner (incumbent) 
• Rob Stutt (incumbent) 
• Rona Tepper 
• Noemi Victorino
• Vera LeFranc 
• Michael Dunn