The final Insights West poll before last fall’s Surrey municipal election had the three front-runners in a dead heat. Linda Hepner and Doug McCallum were tied for first, and city councillor Barinder Rasode was only three percentage points behind.
However, the polling turned out to be way off the mark as Hepner crushed her two main opponents, garnering more votes than McCallum and Rasode combined. While McCallum has since retreated from the spotlight, Rasode has shown resilience since her November defeat.
Rasode is the director of social responsibility for Resource Works, a non-profit society that promotes B.C.’s natural resources sector. She is also on the board of the Fraser Health Authority and co-founder and chairwoman of SheTalks, an organization that hosts conferences and events featuring female speakers from various industries. But wearing three hats doesn’t mean Rasode has forgotten her top job.
“My No. 1 issue has always been the future of my three kids,” Rasode said. “And so looking at that future and having a community that is not only economically viable but is creating jobs and innovation for the future – that is something that is a priority for everyone but especially for me and parents with kids who are looking at getting into the workforce.”
Born in Kamloops, Rasode moved to Surrey in 1988 but traces her career path back to one of her first volunteer positions in 1984 when she was 15.
“I volunteered at Royal Inland Hospital [in Kamloops] as a candystriper and at the art gallery,” she said. “I also used to be in the debate club and student council at school. I ... will always believe that good outcomes are achieved by being a part of something.”
Rasode represents a South Asian population that is growing in Surrey and all over the Lower Mainland. Had she been elected last fall, she would have been the first female South Asian mayor in North America. A single mother of three kids, she ran under the slogan “One Tough Mother” and campaigned for massive safety reforms as her linchpin issue. First elected to council in 2008, Rasode credits her time as the chair of Surrey’s Community Safety Committee, in which she worked closely with the RCMP, as a turning point for her political career.
“That is where my passion for crime reduction came from.”
With her work for SheTalks, the board of Fraser Health and Resource Works, Rasode said she still feels as if her life hasn’t changed much since she lost her council seat in her unsuccessful mayoral bid.
“I’m very fortunate to be doing three very connected but three very distinct roles,” she said. “One of the skills you develop as a councillor is engaging in very specific roles but connecting all the things we do and how they all impact each other. So in a way things have been fairly similar.”
SheTalks’ inaugural Vancouver conference this March was recently featured on CNN.com as one of 10 International Women’s Day events. Rasode said the goal with SheTalks is to feature “inspirational speakers who share stories of leadership, transformation, innovation and how to succeed in today’s rapidly changing world.” Recent talks have included Ladies Who Lunch founder Maria Kritikos, magazine publisher and marijuana activist Jodie Emery and the co-founder of Ghana-based consultants Amplify Governance, Bethany Borody. All proceeds from SheTalks events go to the SheTalks Scholarship.
Mona Forster, executive vice-president of Vancouver-based mineral resource company Entrée Gold Inc., and Rasode have been working together since January through Resource Works. Forster said Rasode brings important skills to the table when it comes to advocating for the province’s resource industries.
“She has reinforced for me the importance of community building,” Forster said. “Of being a leader in thought and action. And that it’s not always the position or status that makes a leader but that anyone can make a difference no matter their station in life. She meets all challenges head on, and since the election has continued to focus on the matters that are important to her: her family, community and making a positive difference.”
Fraser Health is the largest health authority in the province, serving more than 1.6 million people and with an operating budget of $3.3 billion. Rasode said she takes pride in sitting on the board and being a part of B.C’s fastest-growing region with a wide array of health-care challenges.
“They’re making some very significant strides on the issues of building capacity and quality of patient care, which are two top priorities,” Rasode said. “So this is a natural step for me from the work that I’ve done on council and my volunteer work within the City of Surrey around issues such as mental illness. And looking at issues around how the health authority is dealing with capacity, given the level of growth that we have right now, to ensure that the quality of care is also going along with that.”
Rasode, who broke publicly with then-mayor Dianne Watts in 2014 and ran as an independent, said she has come to terms with her loss in that election.
“We’re very blessed to live in a democracy, and people who exercise their vote are really fulfilling the responsibility that they have as a Canadian,” she said. “However, I’m still a part of that equation, just from a different place now.”
Rasode was guarded when asked if she plans on returning to politics one day; however, she did say she still feels strongly about municipal politics.
“I think that the responsibility that locally elected officials have is a great one because they are the most direct level of government in the community in terms of implementing change. Municipal government is something that I have always had a strong passion for, and people are very fortunate to represent their city, as I was for two terms as councillor.” •
