Sikh Youth Slate return as Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara’s executive committee

LARISSA CAHUTE
VANCOUVER DESI

Worshippers attend the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Temple on 120th Street in Surrey, B.C. May 30, 2012. Ric Ernst/PNG

The Sikh Youth Slate are returning for another term as Surrey’s Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara’s executive committee after a landslide vote in Sunday night’s election.

The 18-member slate – with three returning members from the previous committee, including incoming president Rajinder Singh Dhaliwal – came in with nearly 10,300 votes – the opposing Chhina slate at 4,300.

Gurdwara members voted at Princess Margaret Secondary School on Sunday, with results coming in around 1 a.m. Monday.

The election of a new committee comes every three years and this year the gurdwara society hired a third party, Ron Laufer, to run the election to avoid “contention” from years past.

Current director, Sukhminder Virk, told Vancouver Desi in a past interview that in previous elections opposing slates often wound up in court, so Laufer was hired to run the vote independently.

The new executive committee will take office as of Jan. 1.

About the Sikh Youth Slate

An 18-member slate, made up of three returning members of the outgoing committee, including Rajinder Singh Dhaliwal as incoming president.

The youth slate was voted in as executive committee in 2010 and the new committee plans to continue the programs and services the previous group started.

Their election manifesto promises to unite the community and stray from past divisions, focus on family by organizing social and family-based events. They also want to complete construction at the gurdwara, continue religious education and provide interactive activities to inspire youth to the Sikh way of life.