By Tom Zytaruk | Surrey Now Leader | Canada |
Surrey lawyer Harry Bains ranked second among 56 councillor candidates – second only to chart-topper Linda Annis in the Oct. 15 civic election – with 33,708 votes. Definitely not bad for a first-time foray into any political theatre.
Why does Bains think so many people voted for him?
“You’d have to ask them,” the Newton resident replied. “I don’t know. I’m happy they have a lot of trust in me and it puts a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, I mean, when you have that many people voting for you, you realize that these people are looking at you as somebody who will speak for them and act in their best interest. That’s something I don’t carry lightly, I don’t take that lightly – it’s important to me that we do the right thing for the citizens of the city.”
And why did he stand for election?
“I want to do something good for the city and I’ve always thought about politics, and this opportunity arose. I had a great conversation with Brenda (Locke, mayor-elect) and a lot of what she was saying made sense to me – things like transparency at city hall, accountability for our elected officials, and generally working for the benefit of the citizens of the city and it made a lot of sense to me, so it didn’t take a lot of convincing on Brenda’s part. When I heard what she had to say, I was happy to join.”
Bains moved here from Calgary “in between Grade 5 and Grade 6,” first attending Cougar Creek elementary school, then Beaver Creek elementary. He is a graduate of Tamanawis Secondary.
The Surrey Connect councillor-elect will be sworn in on Nov. 7, along with Surrey Connect Mayor Brenda Locke and fellow Surrey Connect councillors Gordon Hepner, Rob Stutt and Pardeep Kooner, Surrey First councillors Linda Annis and Mike Bose, and Safe Surrey Coalition councillors Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra.
Bains and his wife have two sons ages nine and seven. He describes himself as a “family guy” who goes to his kids’ hockey games. “I like being a dad. That to me is very important, I’m very involved with my kids,” Bains said.
“To me, nothing is more important than family. It’s important that my children be raised with the right values and the right people around them, and just be good people.”
Read the full story here.
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(Asia Samachar, x 2022)
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