Imagine Surrey has full civic slate
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, April 8, 2026
Surrey mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk introduced his Imagine Surrey slate’s final two councillor candidates on Tuesday night – Perminder Chohan and Chandan Chahal.
They joined Starchuck and fellow candidates William Li, Kevin Wilkie, Narima Dela Cruz, Yousef Aldabainah, Ashiyana Hanif and Dr. Margaret Mubanda at a rally at Royal King Palace and Convention Centre in Newton.
Starchuk – a retired chief fire prevention officer with the Surrey fire department, former Surrey First councillor and former NDP MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale – laid out five “core commitments,” if he and his slate are elected on October 17: Safe Streets, Fast Commutes, Smart Investments, Lower Costs, and Strong Services.
“Our slate looks like Surrey,” Starchuk told his audience. “We are not career politicians. We are frontline workers, professionals, and public servants who quietly fight for this city every single day – and we are no longer going to be quiet.”
He argued that Surrey voters “cannot afford to recycle the same leaders who created its current problems.” Starchuk said there are “only two futures for this city – one where the same old players keep fighting the same old fights and nothing changes – or one with a bright future where a team of frontline workers gets us unstuck so we can build the city we all deserve.”
That said, Starchuk reiterated what he said on Dec. 8 during his Imagine Surrey reveal at the Majarajah hall in Newton, that “my experience makes me the most qualified to lead and manage this city.
Imagine Surrey’s “Safe Streets” pledge includes “regular public briefings modelled on the COVID-era updates led by Dr. Bonnie Henry.
“Under my leadership, it is the extortionists who will live in fear – not you,” Starchuk declared.
On “Fast Commutes,” he would see the R6 RapidBus converted “into a full Bus Rapid Transit route” between Newton and Scott Road Station, and create a BRT route from Surrey Central SkyTrain station to Semiahmoo via Guildford and 152 Street, and under “Smart Investments,” build an “international” cricket and rugby stadium.
On “Lower Costs,” Starchuk pledges to cut recreational fees for seniors by 50 per cent as well as “a free swm lesson for every child aged 5 and under.” Under “Strong Services,” if elected, part of Imagine Surrey’s campaign platform involves hiring frontline workers and opening three new community centres “to address capacity shortfalls.”
Meantime, of the two most recently revealed and final slate candidates, biographies provided by the slate say Chohan is a long-time Surrey resident who, as president and CEO of Lifewise Financial Group Inc., “spent over two decades leading organizations that now support hundreds 0f representatives and their families across Canada.”
Chahal, 34, of Fleetwood, is described as a small business owner, youth mentor and community advocate “who understands firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing our city.”