Tuesday February 19, 2013 (Vol. 38 No. 15)
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Fun-raiser: A pair of Peace Arch Elementary students are planning a day of fun and games to raise money for a Ronald McDonald House expansion project. › see page 11
Funding announced
New school on way Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Sunset stroll
Gord Goble photo
With the tide out and the daylight waning, Manning Park resident Laura Robinson enjoys an ice cream cone during a sunset walk along South Surrey’s Crescent Beach Sunday evening.
Surrey will soon be home to another high school, which will take the pressure off of overcrowded Clayton Heights Secondary. The province announced Friday it is committing $10.5 million toward a $16.7-million school in north Clayton. The Surrey School District is funding the remainder. The province has secured an 18-acre property at 73 Avenue and 184 Street for the school, which is expected to have the capacity for up to 1,200 students. It will help take some of the pressure off Clayton Heights Secondary (located at 7003 188 St.), which is currently 300 students over capacity. Karishma Ram, 15, was delighted with the news, even though she will have graduated by the time the new school is built. “I’ve been at Clayton Heights (Secondary) for 2½ years now, and have watched it grow,” Ram told an › see page 4
BC Conservatives still vetting South Surrey nominees in advance of election
Provincial candidates line up for local ridings Alex Browne Staff Reporter
Forces are gathering on all sides of the political spectrum in all eight Surrey ridings, in preparation for B.C.’s impending 2013 provincial election. In Surrey-White Rock, incumbent BC Liberal MLA Gordon Hogg will face BC NDP candidate Susan Keeping, as well as challengers from two other provincial parties. BC Conservatives communications director Kristy Fredericks said the party has potential nominees for Surrey-White Rock, as well as Surrey-Panorama and Surrey-
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Cloverdale, noting all three south-end ridings are currently being vetted by the BC Conservatives’ candidate review committee, and should be announced by mid-March. BC Green Party provincial campaign manager Jonathan Dickie said the party also plans to run a candidate in Surrey-White Rock and, if there is no nomination meeting by late March, will nominate one directly. Don Pitcairn ran for the party in the riding in 2009. BC Liberal media representative Sam Oliphant confirmed that the party is still seeking a candidate in the Surrey-Panorama
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riding after previously nominated candidate Sukh Dhaliwal stepped down Feb. 8. Dhaliwal’s announcement followed news that he faces six charges under the Income Tax Act for failing to file returns for a company for which he is responsible. He is set to appear in court Feb. 21. The BC NDP already has its candidate for the riding, Amrik Mahil, in place, while the BC Green Party has nominated Sara Sharma. In the Surrey-Cloverdale riding, current Surrey-Panorama MLA Stephanie Cadieux (also the minister of children and fam-
ily development) has been nominated by the BC Liberals as a replacement for MLA Kevin Falcon, who last year announced his intention not to seek re-election. BC NDP Surrey-Cloverdale riding president Lloyd MacDonald said three potential candidates for that riding– Aditya Mohan, Vinay Sharma and Harry Kooner – will vie for members’ votes at a nomination meeting Feb. 23, 12:30-4:30 p.m. at Cloverdale’s Don Christian Elementary School (6256 184 St.). Both the BC Conservatives and the Green Party promised to announce candidates for the riding next month.
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