SURREY (NEWS1130) – She’s one of the most popular politicians in BC and a recent poll gave Dianne Watts a 68 per cent approval rating; that’s the fourth-highest for city mayors across Canada.
Watts has six candidates running against her for the mayor’s chair but she’s expected to easily win her third term in office. Her campaign has been focusing on the city’s economy.
“Jobs are number one,” she says. “We want to make sure that we have access to jobs in this city. Our young people, our people with families, our single moms need to feed their children.”
Watts was harshly criticized for inviting former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to Surrey for an economic summit , but that’s not expected to have much of an impact on election night.
Mayoral candidate Ross Buchanan has slammed Watts for relocating city hall to Surrey Central, which he calls a big waste of taxpayers’ money. The other high-profile candidate, Vikram Bajwa says he wants to bring transparency to city hall, and scrap the RCMP for a municipal police force.
It’s expected most of the incumbent city councillors under the Surrey First banner will keep their seats.