I’ve worked on the casino floor. Surrey doesn’t need more casinos.

By Chandan Chahal

Before I owned a business in Surrey, I worked security on casino floors in Langley and Coquitlam. Two in the morning. Cash on the tables. I learned what those buildings bring to a neighbourhood, and it isn’t only jobs.

Now I own two UPS Store franchises in this city, and I see the other side. The customer asking how to send money to someone they’ve never met. The senior who’s been told by a caller to go put cash into a machine at the corner store.

Here’s the pledge I’m running on, and I’m asking every candidate for mayor to sign it: no new casinos in Surrey. Not downtown. Not beside the arena. Not anywhere.

Surrey has one casino, at the Cloverdale fairgrounds. It stays, and so do the people who work there. My pledge is about the next one. The City’s gaming policy, on the books since 2001, allows a new casino as long as it comes attached to a hotel with convention space. Now look at the arena plan the current council approved this summer: a 10,000-seat arena, a luxury hotel, and a conference centre, on land traded away in closed meetings. Every ingredient is there. I’d like to hear every candidate rule it out. We have.

Surrey has been here before. In 1998 council ran a slots operator out of Newton. In 2013 a South Surrey casino died by one vote after a 13-hour public hearing. Residents keep saying no. City Hall keeps asking.

Second pledge: no crypto ATMs. In April, Ottawa said it would ban them nationwide, because federal investigators found they’ve become the primary way scammers pull cash out of Canadians and criminals wash it. Canadians reported over $700 million in fraud losses last year. The people losing it are often seniors, told by a voice on the phone that they owe money and the machine at the gas station is how to pay. The stores that host those machines hold Surrey business licences. We don’t have to wait for Ottawa’s bill. Write the bylaw.

Third: give the Surrey Police Service the job of following the money. The extortion calls to business owners in this city aren’t only a phone problem. Somebody collects. Somebody moves the cash. Surrey’s police should have a financial crime unit that works with the province and the new federal financial crimes agency, so the person picking up the envelope gets the same attention as the person making the threat.

I trained for this. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement Studies at the Justice Institute of BC. I walked foot patrols with Surrey Crime Prevention. I’ve stood behind a counter at 8:00 am wondering what the day would bring. I’ve been on both sides of the glass.

The same parties have run City Hall for decades. They spent eight years arguing over which uniform the police should wear. They approved a $360-million arena project downtown behind closed doors. They haven’t found the will to say “no” to the next casino or the next machine.

So here’s what I’d ask of you. Between now and October 17, a candidate for mayor will stand at a podium and talk about public safety. Ask them one question: will you sign? No new casinos. No crypto ATMs. Follow the money. If they won’t, you’ll know what the rest of their safety plan is worth.

I’m 34. I’m going to live with what this council decides for a long time. On October 17, vote for Mike Starchuk and the Imagine Surrey team.

Chandan Chahal owns two UPS Store franchises in Surrey and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement Studies from the Justice Institute of BC. He is an Imagine Surrey candidate for Surrey City Council.