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Candidate Interviews

Candidate Interviews. A report on interviews of Surrey MLA Candidates completed by PA/PR. Surrey-Cloverdale. * Stephanie Cadieux was the MLA for Surrey-Panorama but is running in Surrey-Cloverdale following the resignation of Kevin Falcon

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Candidate Interviews

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  1. Candidate Interviews A report on interviews of Surrey MLA Candidates completed by PA/PR.

  2. Surrey-Cloverdale • * Stephanie Cadieux was the MLA for Surrey-Panorama but is running in Surrey-Cloverdale following the resignation of Kevin Falcon • Stephanie Cadieux’s campaign did not respond to request for an interview • Harry Kooner’s campaign agreed to an interview.

  3. Harry Kooner Interview • Harry Kooner is currently employed by the City of Surrey, is a member of CUPE and is the father of two children enrolled in Surrey schools in grades 8 and 12. His uncle is a former Surrey School District trustee. • Harry realizes that smaller class sizes allow teachers to establish a closer teaching relationship with students and he is in favour of having class size limits specified in the collective agreement.

  4. Harry Kooner Interview cont’d • On FSAs, Harry favours testing that is developed by the classroom teacher and that is fair to all students, including students with special needs. • Harry supports having full collective bargaining rights restored for teachers, including the right to strike, where necessary. He also supports a salary increase for teachers in order to attract well-educated people into the profession, but he did say this would depend on the size of the deficit.

  5. Surrey-Fleetwood • Peter Fassbender’s campaign agreed to an interview. • JagrupBrar is the incumbent candidate for the riding. • JagrupBrar’s campaign agreed to an interview. • Tim Binnema’s campaign agreed to an interview • Murali Krishnan’s campaign did not respond to our request for an interview.

  6. Peter Fassbender Interview • Peter Fassbender is currently the Mayor of Langley and was a Langley city counsellor from 2002-2005. He has been an active member of the community for many years and was awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal. • Peter said that he believes that the Liberal government has really dealt with class size quite significantly over the years and is one of the first governments to put class size into legislation. He said he wasn’t sure it was necessarily part of the bargaining process.

  7. Peter Fassbender Interview cont’d • On the FSAs, he said that anything we can do to identify the needs in education and where we stand on comprehension is a good thing. He said that testing can provide us with good, valuable information as long as we use it appropriately. • On collective bargaining, he said that education is a fundamental right for our society and children and anything that would disrupt that needs to be looked at in the context of what is that impact. He pointed out that the premier’s desire for a 10 year deal is absolutely what we should be looking at to ensure stability.

  8. Jagrup Brar Interview • JagrupBrar is the incumbent candidate for the riding. He was first elected in a by-election in 2004. Jagrup most recently served as the Opposition Critic for Small Business. • On class size and composition, Jagrup said that in order to deliver quality education we need to have a cap on class size which is manageable. He said that he believes that teachers should have the right to negotiate class size, learning conditions and that should be a part of the negotiating process, which the NDP should respect.

  9. Jagrup Brar Interview cont’d • On the FSAs, Jagrup said that we need to bring all parties together and teachers should play an important role in this, to come up with a system so that we can all work in cooperation. He didn’t provide an answer when asked whether the FSA should continue. • On collective bargaining, he said that the last 10 years confrontation has dominated and this impacts the education system significantly. He said that we must respect teachers and the negotiation process and respect the agreement, whatever it is. He said he think teachers should have the right to strike. • Jagrup also mentioned the importance of having a poverty reduction plan.

  10. Tim Binnema Interview • Tim Binnema works as an engineering manager. His volunteer involvement has included working with the building and maintenance committees at his children’s school and leadership positions at his church. • On class size and caseload limits, Tim says that smaller class sizes enable the teacher to respond to those students who need extra care. He said there needs to be some flexibility in the overall system.

  11. Tim Binnema Interview cont’d • On FSAs, he said that he doesn’t support that it tends to take a lot of energy for something that is perhaps arbitrary. He said the Green Party wants to keep assessment on the ground and not driven by someone outside of the system. • On collective bargaining, he said he hadn’t thought that out too much. He said we have a lack of good will in BC and that the union needs to have the right to negotiate and that right now they have lost that and don’t have any power and he doesn’t think that is fair. He said he would support teachers getting a good wage. • Tim’s children go to a private Christian school. He said that the school is half funded by the government, so it fall under the public system.

  12. Surrey-Green Timbers • Amrik Tung’s campaign did not respond to our request for an interview. • Sue Hammell is the incumbent candidate in the riding. • Sue Hammell’s campaign agreed to an interview. • Richard Hosein’s campaign did respond but it was at the deadline and there was not time to coordinate an interview.

  13. Sue Hammell Interview • Sue Hammell was first elected in Surrey-Green Timbers in 1991. Most recently, she has served as the Official Opposition Deputy House Leader and as the Deputy Opposition Critic on Women’s Issues, Child Care and Early Learning. Sue is a former teacher, teaching in Verdun, Quebec, in Courtenay and in Surrey. • On class size and composition, Sue said that the NDP supports smaller class sizes. She said that the NDP are going to work on both class size and composition.

  14. Sue Hammell Interview cont’d • On FSAs, Sue said that the tests are not consistent in how they are marked or who is taking them and that the results are abused. She said that there should be randomized testing in the first year and then consultation with teachers and other educational stakeholders with a review, leading to some other process. • On collective bargaining, Sue said the NDP agrees with free collective bargaining and that she believes that working conditions can be part of the process. She said that she believes the right to strike is part of free and fair collective bargaining and that it is embedded in the process.

  15. Surrey-Newton • Sukhminder Virk’s campaign did not respond to our request for an interview. • Harry Bains is the incumbent candidate in the riding. • Harry Bains’ campaign agreed to an interview. • Satinder Singh’s campaign agreed to an interview. • Alan Saldanha’s campaign did not respond to our request for an interview.

  16. Harry Bains Interview • Harry Bains was first elected in 2005. He was an elected officer of Steelworkers-IWA Canada local 2171 for over 15 years. He also served on the Kwantlen University College Board of Governors. He served as Opposition Critic for Transportation and Infrastructure. • On class size and composition, Harry said that this needs to be negotiated. He said that deteriorating conditions in schools are what is leading to the stress levels of teachers and new teachers leaving after the first 5 years.

  17. Harry Bains Interview cont’d • On FSAs, Harry said that Adrian Dix has said that they will be replaced. He said that in the first year it will be replaced with randomized testing and that in the second year they will replace it with a better test. He said it will be replaced through a consultative process with teachers and parents. • On collective bargaining, he said that he has been a trade unionist all of his adult life and that he believes in free collective bargaining. He said that government should show respect for the work that teachers do and that for the last 12 years, government has not shown teachers respect. He said that the NDP believe that free collective bargaining the key to changing the relationship between teachers and government.

  18. Satinder Singh Interview • Satinder Singh works for TD Canada Trust in Surrey. He is fluent in English, Punjabi and Hindi. He lives in Surrey with his wife and two and a half year old daughter. • On class size and composition, Satinder said that he thinks smaller class sizes are better for students. He said he wouldn’t paint all classes with the same brush but some classes need to be smaller. He also said that there needs to be more specialist teachers. He said he would lobby government for smaller class sizes and more specialist teachers if elected.

  19. Satinder Singh Interview cont’d • On FSAs, he said he asked his mom about this issue. He said that there has been cheating on the FSAs and other unethical behaviour. He said he thinks teachers do a great job and we need input on how students are doing but not the FSAs. • On collective bargaining, he said that teachers should have the right to free collective bargaining. When asked about teacher salaries, he said that he believes in free enterprise and that the public loses sight of where teachers stand in comparison to other provinces and other professions.

  20. Surrey-Panorama • The campaign’s of Marvin Hunt, Sara Sharma and Kevin Rakhra did not respond to our request for an interview. • Amrik Mahil’s campaign agreed to an interview.

  21. Amrik Mahil Interview • Amrik Mahil’s sister is a teacher in the U.K. and Amrik is familiar with the British public school system. Amrik’s two children were both educated in Surrey public schools and are now attending UBC and BCIT. • On class size and composition, he said that he taught for 2 ½ years at the Justice Institute with class sizes of 20 and highly motivated students. He said the limit of 20 students was better because it enabled more one-to-one communication.

  22. Amrik Mahil Interview cont’d • On FSAs, he said that there needs to be a system that is fair to students and is more equitable to disadvantaged communities. He said we need to find a system where we can keep students involved and engaged and not destroy their self-esteem. • On collective bargaining, he said that bargaining in good faith needs to be restored. He said the NDP is committed to free collective bargaining. He said that catching up on years of cutbacks will take time but that teachers should be reasonably compensated.

  23. Surrey-Tynehead • The campaigns of Amrik Virk, Barry Sikora and Suki Gill did not respond to our request for an interview. • Avtar Bains’ campaign agreed to an interview.

  24. Avtar Bains Interview • Avtar is a small business owner and volunteer in the community. He is a “staunch supporter” of the public education system. He graduated from North Surrey Secondary on 1983 and has been involved with their scholarship funding since 1986. • On class size and composition, he said there should be a limit on class size and caseloads. He said that with lower class sizes, the students get better attention from their teachers, this should be written into the contract.

  25. Avtar Bains Interview cont’d • On FSAs, he that that a big problem with them is that the Fraser Institute has used the results to rank schools without taking into consideration the background of students. He said the NDP plans to introduce random testing in the first term of office. • On collective bargaining, he said that he thinks it is a fundamental right in Canada. He said that there should not be bargaining through the media. He said that he supports the right to strike but hopes it wouldn’t get to that point. He said teachers should be able to bargain class size and composition, as well as salary.

  26. Surrey-Whalley • The campaigns of Kuljeet Kaur, Pradeep Kumar and Jag Bhandari did not respond to our request for an interview. • Bruce Ralston’s campaign agreed to an interview.

  27. Bruce Ralston Interview • Bruce Ralston is ending his second term as the MLA for Surrey-Whalley. His father was a public school teacher and later taught at university and his mother was also a school teacher. Bruce is a lawyer. His sister is a teacher and his three children attended public school. • On class size and composition, Bruce supports smaller classes, citing research that concludes that lower class sizes indicate better learning outcomes. He also supports smaller caseload limits. Bruce said it would be better to negotiate class size and composition.

  28. Bruce Ralston Interview cont’d • On FSAs, he stated that the NDP position is that a different form of assessment needs to be achieved through consultation. • On collective bargaining, Bruce supports the NDP position that calls for full and free collective bargaining. He declined to comment on salaries.

  29. Surrey-White Rock • Gordon Hogg’s campaign did not respond to our request for an interview. • Susan Keeping’s campaign agreed to an interview.

  30. Susan Keeping Interview • Susan Keeping is a South Surrey resident and mother of six children. She has worked in the non-profit sector for 20 years. • On class size and composition, she said that teachers are under a lot of stress and need the right amount of support in the classroom. She said this does a disservice to teachers, students, and parents.

  31. Susan Keeping Interview cont’d • On FSAs, she said that they can cherry pick the good results and that this evaluates teachers based on the students they have and the area in which they teach. She said this tool is a problem. • On collective bargaining, she said that negotiations need to be done fairly and honestly. She said that she is cautious about creating more deficit with an increase to teacher salaries. She also said she didn’t want to see teachers leaving BC to get better salaries elsewhere. She said the NDP would have to look at the fiscal reality.

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