SURREY – There are a number of Gills (incumbent Tom Gill and SCC challenger Rina Gill) running in this year’s Surrey civic elections for City Council but one Gill has distinguished himself by having a criminal record
Independent candidate Kuljinder Singh Gill, who changed his name to Gill 22 for the ballot, was found guilty of uttering threats and mischief under $5,000 in July, 2004. He was also charged with assault the same year, and was found guilty of breach of his probation order.
He served two weeks in Surrey Pretrial Services Centre for the offenses.
“Those are the serious ones (charges), those are going to give me negative feedback for sure,” Gill told the Surrey Leader newspaper Tuesday. “In the past, I have had a negative side.”
He is now married with children, and said he realizes being on the wrong side of the law is not the way to live his life. He is in a recovery program and has taken anger management classes, Gill said.
The 31-year-old says he’s learned from personal experience that youth need more activities in the city.
“Here the kids are shooting each other. Why can’t we do something more positive, like paintball or laser guns, or batting cages and roller hockey?” Gill said.
His past, he said, gives him a range of experience those currently on council don’t have.
Gill is joined by another candidate with a colourful history is former Surrey councillor Gary Robinson, who left office in 1999 after it was reported he had been battling a cocaine addiction.
