Stephanie Cadieux
BC Liberal Party, Surrey South
Stephanie Cadieux – the BC Liberal candidate for Surrey South – says while she has represented the community for the past 11 years, she’s not yet ready to throw in the towel.
“I’m not done yet. I have other things that I’m planning, wanting to achieve,” Cadieux said Monday (Oct. 5), in explaining why she is vying to reclaim the title of MLA for the riding.
“Right now more than ever, I believe that we need a government that understands the very real link between a strong economy and our ability to provide supports to those people who need them.
“I’ve proven I can get things done, so I’m asking for the chance to do some more.”
Cadieux – first elected MLA for Surrey-Panorama in 2009, then for Surrey-Cloverdale in 2013 – won the Surrey South seat in 2017 with 50 per cent of the votes, beating out NDP candidate Jonathan Silveira.
Cadieux, 47, said she is proud of her track record both in the local community and for the province as a whole, citing the single-parent employment initiative which “helped thousands of parents move off income assistance and into the workforce so they can support their families”; and, finding homes for a “record number” of children in care that were waiting for adoption as examples.
Tops on her list of unfinished business – a pair of passion projects: her equal-pay legislation – calling for a law that will close the wage gap between men and women – and her accessible-housing legislation, to require new multi-unit housing projects to provide a minimum percentage of homes that meet adaptable standards, “so we can start building housing that works for everyone.”
Infrastructure, schools, hospitals and seniors are also priorities, she said, noting the pandemic “really illustrated that we can do better for our seniors than has been done in the past.”
“Those things that matter for people are things that you don’t get to do unless you have vision and drive and can see a way to solve problems,” Cadieux said.
“And I’ve got that and I want to be able to do more for our community and our province.”
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Pauline Greaves
BC NDP, Surrey South
Pauline Greaves is running for the BC NDP in the Surrey South riding, where she says she plans to “bring a sense of hope for the future not just for some of us, but for all of us.”
The longtime Surrey resident – who was born in Jamaica, grew up in Ottawa and has lived in Surrey for more than 20 years – lists better seniors’ care, school improvements and “making life more affordable” among her main concerns.
She also lists social justice as a chief concern, and is interested in finding ways to better connect young people, and immigrants and people of colour to the political process.
She realized there was a need to involve those groups, she told Peace Arch News, when she ran for mayor in the 2018 Surrey municipal election, where she finished fourth.
“I was the only woman, and the only Black woman, and I realized there was a lack of participation from these groups, and things like social justice, equality – those are crucial values to me,” she said.
Greaves is an instructor in Langara College’s school of management, and in the past she has served as director of the UBC Women’s Centre; executive director of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre and as policy director of the Elizabeth Fry Society.
She holds multiple degrees – a PhD in education, master’s degree in criminology and bachelor’s degrees in both education and social science. And as a longtime educator, she noted there has been a lack of attention paid to schools in South Surrey, noting that there are still the same number of public secondary schools here – three – as there were when her son attended high school years ago, despite the population increasing drastically.
Greaves said she has been a BC Liberal member for years, but said she chose to run for the BC NDP because “I don’t feel like the BC Liberals represent me anymore… especially when it comes to social justice and equality issues.”
“It’s an incredible time to be a part of John Horgan’s team and I’m hitting the ground at full speed. We’re going to need to dig deep in order to win this constituency and to elect a majority John Horgan BC NDP government.”
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Tim Ibbotson
BC Green Party, Surrey South
For Tim Ibbotson, the decision to run for the Surrey South MLA seat was about ensuring fair choice at the polls and that the BC Green voice would be heard in the district.
“I’m not a politician, I just found out that they had nobody in the riding, so people couldn’t vote Green,” Ibbotson said Tuesday (Oct. 6).
“Honestly, I just wanted them on the ballot… that was my driver.”
Ibbotson, a father of three, is co-owner of Levcon, a concrete-forming company.
With a master’s degree in “applying living systems theory to businesses,” nearly a dozen years mentoring South Surrey youth with the non-profit Young Life and seven years in the Canadian navy under his belt, he is one of three in the running to represent the riding.
Ibbotson described himself as “just a small business owner in the community… the most normal guy ever,” and said he believes there is potential for a Green government in the next decade.
Part of the party’s platform – announced later Tuesday – includes financial support for stay-at-home parents and exploring a four-day work week.
Ibbotson said he is passionate about small business and seeing them recover from the pandemic. At the same time, he’s “really fiscally conservative.”
“There’s not a magic wand,” he said.
“I want to help businesses, but you have to get around the table, hear what their issues are, then the business people together with government have to come up with, what are we going to do. Because the government can’t just give out money.
“Personally, I think the way to do it is through your community,” he added. “People in the community have to support the small businesses.”
Ibbotson said while he’s new to the campaign trail, he has no doubt about his ability to “figure out the political side.”
“I’m probably not going to be the future Green leader, but I’m sure going to do my part to pave the way for the next generation, because that’s where the world is going,” he said.
“I think the Green Party is bang on.”
Editor’s note:
In the print edition of the Thursday, Oct. 8 Peace Arch News, Tim Ibbotson was incorrectly identified as running in the Surrey-White Rock riding. PAN apologizes for the error.