Surrey-Fleetwood’s choice on public safety: Jagrup Brar, a cabinet minister, or Garry Purewal, a former military police member.

On 3 February, Premier David Eby sat down with Surrey business leaders to talk about the extortion that had been terrorising their city. The next day the Surrey & White Rock Board of Trade published a photograph of the Premier with the business community, and standing in the line-up is Jagrup Brar, the BC NDP MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood.¹ After the meeting, Eby said the police had not been keeping the community informed, and he described what that meant for the people in the room:

The number one issue in their lives. Eight months later it still is. By 12 October, the Surrey Police Service had recorded 147 extortion reports in the city this year, already more than the 133 in all of 2025, along with 21 extortion-related shootings. In 2024 it recorded 9.³ In the first three months of this year alone there were 75 reports, against 3 in the same months of 2025.¹²

On 24 October, Surrey-Fleetwood chooses between Jagrup Brar and Garry Purewal, the Conservative Party of BC candidate.⁴ It is one of the closest races in the province, and 338Canada projects the Conservative narrowly ahead.¹⁵

01 Where Garry Purewal and Jagrup Brar stand on safety, costs and health care.

Here is where the two candidates stand. Jagrup Brar set out his own priorities in the Cloverdale Reporter’s questionnaire. Garry Purewal did not respond to it, and we found no positions he has published apart from his party’s, so his column gives the Conservative commitments he is running on.⁶

Garry PurewalConservative candidate

Jagrup BrarBC NDP MLA, incumbent

Extortion and public safety

His party’s Anti-Extortion Action Plan, launched in Surrey: “specialized investigators dedicated to extortion cases,” a repeat-offender court stream, and 1,000 more police officers, prosecutors and support staff.¹³

His government formed the RCMP-led provincial extortion task force, with 40 members, in September 2025, and in February 2026 added a community advisory group after the Premier met Surrey business leaders.²⁰²

Cost of living

“Raise the province’s basic personal exemption from $13,216 to $32,000,” which the party says is worth $1,000 a year to working British Columbians.¹⁸

“Our gas plan suspends 10 cents per litre of fuel tax and lets the B.C. Utilities Commission cap excessive price gouging, for savings of up to 30 cents per litre.” He would keep ICBC rates frozen through 2030.⁶

Health care

“Complete the new Surrey Hospital in Cloverdale, and build a new Women and Children’s Hospital in Surrey.”¹⁹

“Opening three more team-based primary-care clinics in Surrey and adding 1,000 health-worker training seats.”⁶

Who they are

A Military Police member with the Canadian Armed Forces, then more than 20 years in business, including a property restoration company.¹¹

“I came to Canada after playing for India’s national basketball team and built a career helping Surrey residents start businesses and strengthen their community.” Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals since November 2024.⁶⁵

Garry Purewal

Conservative Party of BC candidate, Surrey-Fleetwood

Service

Military Police member, Canadian Armed Forces

Business

Has owned and managed companies, including a property restoration business

Experience

More than 20 years in business leadership, public service and community involvement

Community

A leader in youth sports; community advocacy with neighbours and local organizations

Portrait and biography: Conservative Party of BC¹¹

02 Jagrup Brar has represented Surrey-Fleetwood for thirteen years, and today he is the Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals.

Brar is one of the longest-serving New Democrats in Surrey. He first won a seat in the Legislature in a 2004 by-election, held Surrey-Fleetwood from 2009 until he lost it in 2013, and has held it again since 2017. Premier Eby made him Minister of State for Trade in December 2022 and Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals in November 2024.⁵ Before politics he played basketball for India’s national team and ran a Surrey non-profit that trained people to start businesses.⁵

That is a long record and a senior seat at the cabinet table. In our view, it also means he shares responsibility for what has happened to Surrey on his government’s watch. In 2024 the city recorded 9 extortion reports. This year it has recorded 147.³

Some of what his government promised Fleetwood is being built. The Surrey Langley SkyTrain is going up along Fraser Highway, through the heart of the riding. Its cost also rose from just over $4 billion to just under $6 billion, and its opening slipped from 2028 to late 2029.⁷

03 Brar’s priorities for this campaign are gas, groceries, ICBC and health care. Public safety is not on his list.

The Cloverdale Reporter asked every Surrey-Fleetwood candidate for their top three priorities. Brar’s answers were these:⁶

Jagrup Brar’s top three prioritiesTo the Cloverdale Reporter, 15 October 2026

1. Lower fuel and grocery costs for families and small businesses.
2. Keep ICBC rates frozen through 2030.
3. Strengthen health care and recruit more workers in Surrey.

His plan for his first 100 days follows the same lines: a fuel-tax cut, a cap on grocery margins, the ICBC freeze, three more primary-care clinics and 1,000 health-worker training seats.⁶ Those things matter to families in Fleetwood. But in a city where extortion reports went from 9 to 147 in two years, the word extortion does not appear in his answers, and neither does public safety.³⁶

In our view, a minister who stood beside the Premier in February while Surrey’s business community asked for help should have that at the top of his list in October.

04 Brar’s campaign posts drew more than 2,000 replies and comments. We found no answer from him to any of them.

Brar campaigns hard online, with 121 campaign items on X, Facebook and Instagram in our read. The voters who answer him get nothing back. His posts on X drew 1,441 replies, and we found no answer from him to any of them. On Facebook and Instagram we read 792 comments under 57 of his posts, and we found no reply from him there either. When we graded every BC NDP MLA’s campaign accounts, he failed on open replies and on answering voters, and his overall grade was F.⁹

On some posts he did not let people answer at all. He restricted who could comment on 14 of the 74 campaign posts we read, 12 of them on Facebook.⁸ One of them was his post of 11 October promising help to the small businesses of Surrey:

Jagrup Brar on Facebook11 October 2026, 9:11 p.m.

The post as Facebook displayed it to us on 17 October 2026, with the notice beneath it: “Only people who follow this Page for more than 24 hours can comment.” The photographs in the post are cropped out.¹⁰

A business owner who came across that post and wanted to ask the minister a question could not, unless they had already followed his page for more than a day.¹⁰ We set out the full record, for every BC NDP candidate, in our account of how the BC NDP silenced voters online.

In our view, thirteen years in a seat is long enough to know that an MLA works for the people who disagree with him too. Brar’s campaign accounts are built for broadcasting to Fleetwood, not for listening to it.

05 Garry Purewal served in the Military Police and built his own business. His party has made stopping extortion its first promise to Surrey.

Garry Purewal is a first-time candidate. His party’s account of him begins with his service:¹¹

After his military service he went into business, owning and managing companies including a property restoration business, and he has been a leader in youth sports.¹¹ His biography makes the case that matters most in a city of small businesses:

When the party named him to its Surrey team on 29 September, it said small business owners are struggling under “a wave of extortion and violence that has left many afraid to open their doors.”¹⁴ Two weeks later, in Surrey, it launched an Anti-Extortion Action Plan. The plan promises “specialized investigators dedicated to extortion cases and clear reporting and protection pathways for businesses and families who are threatened.” It adds a dedicated court stream for repeat offenders, tougher bail and warrant enforcement and more electronic monitoring, on top of the party’s commitment to hire 1,000 more police officers, prosecutors and support staff.¹³

In our view, a former military police member who has met a payroll is the kind of MLA Surrey’s business owners need: someone who understands both the threat and the cost of it.

06 Surrey-Fleetwood is a two-point race, and 338Canada projects Garry Purewal ahead.

338Canada turns the published polls into a projection for every riding. Its update of 16 October rates Surrey-Fleetwood a toss-up, with the Conservatives at 44% and the BC NDP at 42%, each with a margin of eight points either way.¹⁵

Surrey-Fleetwood, projected vote

338Canada, update of 16 October 2026. Bars show the projection; the thin lines show its margin either way.¹⁵

Garry Purewal, Conservative

44%

Jagrup Brar, BC NDP

42%

Tim Binnema, BC Green

8%

Carolyn Hofbauer, OneBC

3%

Paul Brar, CentreBC

3%

0%30%60%

Tim Binnema, the BC Green candidate, is projected at 8%, and Carolyn Hofbauer of OneBC and Paul Brar of CentreBC at 3% each. 338Canada gives the Conservatives a 63% chance of taking the seat and the BC NDP 37%.¹⁵

The last result shows how little it would take. In 2024, Brar held Surrey-Fleetwood by 753 votes over the Conservative candidate, Avtar Gill, with 48.6% to his 44.9%. If 377 of Brar’s voters had chosen the Conservative instead, the seat would have changed hands.¹⁶

In our view, this seat can change hands, and Garry Purewal has earned the chance to take it.

07 In February he stood with the Premier on extortion. In October it is not on his list.

Advance voting runs until 21 October, and Final Voting Day is Saturday 24 October. Elections BC’s Where to Vote app lists every voting place in Surrey-Fleetwood.¹⁷

In February, Jagrup Brar stood in the photograph while the Premier told Surrey’s business community that extortion was the number one issue in their lives.¹² Eight months later, with 147 extortion reports recorded this year, it is missing from his priorities, and the voters who reply to him online get no answer.³⁶⁹ His challenger served in the Military Police, has run his own business, and belongs to a party that has made stopping extortion its first promise to Surrey.¹¹¹³

Fleetwood has waited long enough. In our view, Garry Purewal is the MLA to put its safety first.