Most trusted Name in the NRI media
 
Serving over 22 millions NRIs worldwide
HOME

Jagrup Brar

Jagrup Brar- New Democrat MLA for Surrey Panorama Ridge.


Oct 25, 2020: The NDP's Jagrup Brar has won the election in Surrey-Fleetwood....Read More

May 13, 2008: Jagrup Brar NDP with 8,543 beat Jagmohan Singh BC Liberal Party 6,687 and Chamkaur ......Read


Surrey, May 18, 2005

Jagrup Brar was first elected as the MLA for Surrey Panorama Ridge on October 28, 2004 and was re-elected on May 17, 2005.

Jagrup serves as Opposition Critic for Employment and Income Assistance.

 


VANCOUVER, Oct 29 2004

The NDP's Jagrup Brar has won the byelection in Surrey-Panorama Ridge with more than 53 per cent of vote – 20 points ahead of his Liberal rival Mary Polak. JBrar received 6,662 votes. Polak was well back with 4,160 votes.

The victorious New Democrat sees it as a sign of things to come. "We have re-energized our party, and we are re-energized for the campaign in 2005 – May 2005," says Brar.

"It's a warning that three-and-a-half years of Gordon Campbell's mismanagement, scandals, cuts and broken promises have come home to roost here in one of Gordon Campbell's strongest ridings."

Brar says he wasn't expecting his party would do so well. The NDP had been worried that the Green Party would split anti-Liberal votes.

But Green leader Adriane Carr was a distant third with 1,052 votes. That's less than nine per cent of voters, and isn't much of an improvement over the party's support in the last election in Surrey-Panorama Ridge.

The win expands the NDP caucus by 50 per cent. The party now holds three seats in the 79-seat B.C. legislature.

"This byelection indicates the rebirth of the NDP," says Joy MacPhail, one of the two New Democrats elected in 2001.

"People declared us dead two or three years ago. We are back, fighting and fit."

FROM SEPT. 30, 2004: Byelection race on in Surrey

Premier Gordon Campbell had campaigned hard for Polak, and says the defeat is an important lesson for his government.

"One lesson is they were very well organized," he says. "There were a lot of dollars that came into this riding from big labour and they worked very hard at it.

"It's important for us to understand that the election in May is going to be a tough-fought election. There's no question about it."

The premier also noted that byelections in B.C. have traditionally gone against the party in power – with governments losing every byelection in the past 23 years.

FOR THE RECORD: Liberal candidate Mary Polak and Premier Gordon Campbell after the loss.

The Liberals had held the seat since the 2001 provincial election, until MLA Gulzar Cheema stepped down earlier this year to run unsuccessfully for the federal Liberals.

Cheema had won the seat handily in the 2001 general election, with nearly 60 per cent of the vote – and the NDP well back at 20 per cent.

 

 

 

 





NDP leader Carole James and Jagrup Brar


  • Jagrup Brar re-elected MLA in May, 2005
  • Jagrup Brar elected MLA in oct., 2004
  • He earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from University of Manitoba
  • Jagrup moved to British Columbia from Winnipeg ten years ago. Since then, Jagrup and his family have put down strong roots in Surrey
  • Jagrup is a dedicated local volunteer, and has taken time to help a variety of local organizations
  • Jagrup worked in the public and non-profit sectors, assisting professionals with career development and working with employers to develop strategies to recruit a highly-skilled, multicultural workforce. As the Executive Director of the Surrey Self Employment and Entrepreneur Development Society (SEEDS), Jagrup trained new entrepreneurs to develop and launch successful small business ventures.
  • He married Rajwant and lives in Surrey with his daughter.