As the Federal Election 2025 approach, apart from electing a Prime Minister who can lead the country, the election at a micro level also plays an important role. Electing a candidate who will represent your riding at Parliament is also important. Surrey is the fastest-growing city representing a vast majority of immigrant and South Asian population. Along with immigration, housing, crime reduction, job creation, and inflation are important issues that everyone should think about before voting. It is a big city which is divided into 3 electoral ridings: Surrey Newton, South Surrey—White Rock, and Surrey Centre. Here is a list of candidates and their brief profiles on who will be representing Surrey Newton and from which party. Spread with in area of 29 km, with a population of 119,560, according to Election Canada, the number of electors on list are 63,350.
Sukh DHALIWAL: Liberal Party of Canada
Sukh Dhaliwal is the Member of Parliament for Surrey-Newton since 2015. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Newton-North Delta from 2006-2011. As a professional engineer, Fellow of Engineers Canada, land surveyor and small business owner, Sukh has functioned in many community capacities in Surrey before entering public office. He currently serves as Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He has also served on other parliamentary committees including International Trade; Transportation; Infrastructure and Communities; and Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Harjit Singh GILL: Conservative Party of Canada
Gill grew up in a rural family in Punjab India and trained as a Civil Engineer. With work experience in India and then with an international engineering company in Oman, he immigrated to Canada in 1997. Since then he has been living in Surrey. He says, “Throughout my life including in my current role as a radio show host since 2009, I have been passionately engaged in community service and community affairs. Over the years, I have always highlighted and advocated for matters of concern to people of Surrey-Newton and beyond. These include those of people employed in transportation industry, agricultural workers, international students, housing crisis, and credential recognition of immigrants with professional training. It is time for change for Surrey-Newton and Canada! I am with Pierre Poilievre’s team because I believe our beloved country, Canada, is not on the right track and Common Sense Conservatives led by Pierre have the vision to ensure a prosperous future for our children and a respectable place globally for our country.”
Raj Singh Toor: NDP
Raj Singh Toor is an advocate with a proven track record of successfully driving initiatives that honour historical legacies and promote social justice. He was born in Punjab India and came to Canada in 1983. His grandfather was a passenger on the Komagata Maru, the ship forced back to India by the racist policies of the Canadian Government in 1914. Raj decided to build something positive out of one of Canada’s darkest moments, and so he became a founder of the non-profit Descendants of the Komagata Maru Society. From his vision of a fairer and more just Canada, he has tirelessly lobbied governments for apologies, public memorials, and infrastructure renaming to commemorate the Komagata Maru incident. Raj raised his children in the Surrey Newton area, and was responsible for the renaming of 75A Avenue in Surrey Newton to Komagata Maru Way. He also brought about the Komagata Maru storyboard that is installed nearby at R. A. Nicholson park. While he has accomplished a great deal in helping to build memorials all across Metro Vancouver and the rest of Canada, his Surrey Newton connections will always be a big part of who he is. He wants to bring the same energy that he channeled to educate Canadians about the Komagata Maru incident to help the people of Surrey Newton become a healthy and thriving community whose voice is heard by the government.
Salman ZAFAR: Communist Party of Canada
As a first time candidate, Salman is a proud union member and has called Surrey home for over a decade. He has been politically active in progressive movements since 2013 and has witnessed how establishment parties across the board have continuously ignored the needs of working-class people in Surrey-Newton.
Salman is a staunch advocate for Palestinian liberation, affordable housing and fighting income inequality, issues which the profit industrial complex is incapable of addressing. “Remodelling capitalism is not the solution” says Salman “the solution is an overthrow of this system altogether, towards socialism.”
