“If you want to see the change, you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty and make it happen.”
Simran Walia has grown up practicing and understanding virtues like perseverance, resilience, giving back to the community, hard work and smart work since a young age. “My childhood has been nothing short of inspiration from my hard working parents, my father being a construction engineer and my mother being a nurse. Growing up in a household of working parents, I learnt to be independent very early on in my childhood,” says the Ladner resident, who is an IT Business Intelligence Team Lead at Wenco, the software arm of Hitachi. With the backing of these very virtues, Walia hopes to make Delta a growing city that people take pride in calling their home. She has already taken the first step towards this vision by running for City Council in Delta in the upcoming municipal election in October 2018.
Walia’s passion for politics is driven by one principle – “If you want to see the change, you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty and make it happen.” She hopes to make Delta a place where young generation thrives and grows feeling safe and confident about their future and seniors feel at home and well taken care of. “The governance, the council needs new energy and new perspective to look at issues. To make a better world for the next generations to come including this one, is the reason I keep going and will keep at it,” says Walia, who was inspired by her children to run for Council.
Her curiosity to understand politics and policies sparked her interest in the political field. “Civic politics has always fascinated me because it influences and shapes our day to day life,” she adds. To understand the dynamics of politics, Walia enrolled herself in the Summer Institute for Future Legislators program offered by the UBC Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions in 2016. “In simple terms, it was a “boot camp” for future politicians! Seeing the 360 degree view of policy making during the course of this program, I was even more determined to enter the arena of politics to contribute towards the success of the city I call home,” she further explains.
Driven by passion to do greater good ad serving the community, Walia today serves as a Commissioner on various city committees. Since March of 2017, she serves as Commissioner on Parks, Recreation and Culture Committee and Seniors Advisory Committee. She is an active contributing member of the elementary school Parent Advisory Committee; and a member of the working group of a pilot project called Cycling without Age which focusses on enhancing the quality of life of seniors in Delta. Walia is the Director and one of the founding members of Save Canadian Kids, a not-for-profit organization that fights against the drug overdose problem and gang violence. Elaborating on the organization’s goal, Walia says it is “an attempt to save the future of Canada, our youth, by ending the stigma surrounded against open conversation on these life altering topics.” For Walia, her involvement with various organizations was another factor that motivated her to take part in the municipal election. “Serving on the Parks Committee has not only given me an insight into the greatness of the city I live in but also exposed to me areas of improvement and how I could constructively contribute towards it. Running for Delta City Council is a natural progression towards fulfilling that vision.”
As a Councillor, the young candidate will strive to enhance the lives of Delta residents, through growth and empowerment of youth in sports and technology, growth of the industrial sector and job creation, preservation of nature and farmlands, and other policies. “There is so much room for innovation and improvement. By synergizing and connecting with residents, I intend to take that leap and grow together to make Delta a role model of preserving the core values while growing and excelling at the same time,” adds Walia, promising a new, young and innovative perspective.
Being a mother of two young kids and with experience working in the field of Information Technology and in the community on social issues, Walia brings on board a broad range of skills and ideas and understands the value of connecting with Delta residents at a cultural and intellectual level, that will eventually build trust within the community and lead to positive change. “Delta is home to a lot of cultures and history we should be proud of and I intend to preserve and enrich our culture and heritage and celebrate diversity,” she declares in conclusion.
Connect with Simran Walia at simrancampaign@gmail.com or follow her on Facebook @Walia4Delta.
