The Current - Surrey’s booming population deserves more investment: businesswoman

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

The former CEO for Surrey’s Board of Trade says her city doesn’t get the shine or the investment that it deserves. With its booming population, the businesswoman — who nearly ran for the Conservatives in this election — explains what kind of dedication to local business it will take to get her vote.

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and let your email do the talking. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. Tell me about Surrey. For people who don't know, across the country, what is so great about Surrey? Nothing beats Surrey. I don't know if it's the people or the vibe or the culture, which I'm a

Punjabi. So I find Punjabi culture here. So it's kind of welcoming thing for me. Where did you move here from? India, Punjab, which like every other every second person in Surrey is. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway. You're listening to The Current. Today, we're in Surrey, British Columbia on the first stop of our election road trip. As we've been hearing, Surrey is a bustling, growing city. And the voters here want to make sure the people running for prime minister have this community's concerns in mind. Definitely cost of living has gone up in the last few years, but inflation and feeling what interest rates on property has been a big factor.

So it has a knock on effect on the rest of your household expenses. The main key for the people who can have the affordable houses and the crime is the second. Of course, inflation is the top priority at this moment, right? We're in the halls of a private college. This space is crammed with young people running from class to class. It's one of the flashy new towers of Surrey's Health and Technology District, an area that's showing off how fast the city is growing. We're meeting Anita Huberman. She's the college's Public Affairs Officer and for 18 years served as the CEO of Surrey's Board of Trade.

She knows this city inside out, and she left that job to run for the federal conservatives in this election, but was passed over by the party for a different candidate. We've been asking people over the course of the day as we've been just going through different industries what the rest of the country needs to know about Surrey. How would you explain this place to people elsewhere in Canada? Well Surrey is going to be the largest city in British Columbia. That is what people need to know. They need to know we're growing by 1200 to 1400 people a month.

We have the greatest number of manufacturers within British Columbia. We're a border city. You can fit the cities of Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby into our geographic limits. I mean it is absolutely amazing what's happening in our city, including an international docking facility linking us to the Asia Pacific gateway. Do you think Surrey and British Columbia get the recognition and the respect that they deserve, especially now we're in the midst of a federal election campaign, does this place get the shine that it deserves?

Absolutely not. And I don't think we get the investments that we need around infrastructure, whether it's transportation, housing, health care, et cetera. I think it's not all about Vancouver anymore. It's about Surrey. And we need those investments around housing, transit, workforce, mobility types of investments.

And that's what we're going to be looking for in this federal election that's coming up. How does that fit in with what a lot of people feel is the most pressing issue this country is facing, the most pressing issue this country has faced in maybe decades, which is the threat from the United States? Well, the threat from the United States is just another layer above, a very depressing layer of red tape and taxation that this country has been facing, and specifically businesses bearing the burden of that taxation and red tape. And so now you have the tariff layer and people don't

know how to move, they don't know how to invest. And so we're moving forward in this election with great uncertainty. You were the CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade for what, 18 years? So you would have worked with conservative and liberal prime ministers. Walk me through what that was like, working with former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and then with Justin Trudeau. Well, I think the main piece was that because I was nonpartisan, the whole Board of Trade Chamber of Commerce industry is nonpartisan, you speak from an economic

context. So the comprehensive tax review, the different industry focuses, I mean every conversation that I had with both prime ministers and their representatives was focused on economic productivity. I think they recognized that, but their approaches in addressing our shortfalls were quite different. How so? Well, number one is the conservative government said, you know, this is what we're going to do. But the liberals, they focused more on social programs in order to create

better outcomes for middle class families. They didn't really focus on businesses. And I believe from my perception, that was the difference between the two. What have you heard from those who want to lead this country about what they would do for this community? Well, we're still trying to figure that out. I think the candidates, many of whom are new to the political realm, they need to understand what businesses need, what middle class families need, and I think they're in this listening stage.

I think the quality of candidates on both sides needs to also be looked at in terms of their skills and experience in a very pivotal moment in our economy. You were going to be one of those candidates, right? Yes, I was. And unfortunately, the Conservative Party didn't give me my waiver for my membership. I was three weeks short.

And even though I have the skills and experience, they felt I wasn't going to get that waiver. What do you read into that? Well, what I read into it is that perhaps they had another candidate in mind. I know in Abbotsford South, with Mike DeYoung, the Conservative Party also said, you know, he wasn't experienced, he wasn't qualified. but he's a former finance minister for British Columbia. So what does that tell you about what the party is looking for? I'm not sure to be honest. We're all perplexed. Those of us that are part of the conservative type of paradigm and ecosystem, we don't know what the party is thinking. Why did you want to run under Pierre Poliath? What was it about what he was offering that you found attractive? Well what was attractive was really an

economic shift and we needed that economic shift. They needed people with skills and experience to make a difference. They needed young people to be able to move the economy forward not only locally but also globally and I thought that was me. Why do you think that, I mean the polls, it's early days, but the polls have shown that the enormous lead the conservatives had has largely been wiped away. Many people believe this is if not a dead heat then the liberals may have a slight advantage in this race.

Why do you think that's happened if that's what they were offering? I think a lot of it has to do with the Trump tariffs. We're in a totally different type of economic paradigm right now. I think the resignation of Justin Trudeau also made a difference to voters. I think he was a single point of consternation for many Canadians, but there is a lot at risk and the real poll is Election Day on April 28th. And so what will it take, I mean I have a sense perhaps as to how you're going to vote given that you're going to run for the Conservatives but you also were shut out of running for the Conservatives. So what would it take for you to to be explicit about who you would vote for given all of the things that you've talked about, this community needs what the country needs and what a lot

of people feel like is an existential moment. Well I think what I need to hear from both parties is what they're going to do to focus on economic growth, economic productivity. There have been tax cuts that have been announced, there have been different policies that have been announced, but how are families, middle-class families, going to be able to save more? How are businesses going to be able to reinvest into their businesses? Is there going to be a comprehensive tax review so that businesses can also partner with foreign investors to make it easy to do business in our nation?

These are types of solutions that I want to hear from both parties before making a decision on how I'm going to vote. I appreciate you taking time to talk to us. Thank you very much. My pleasure. Anita Huberman is the former CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade.