One of Surrey city Coun. Bruce Hayne’s first business ventures was a small sandwich shop he operated with a friend growing up in southern Ontario. When Hayne, now a successful businessman and politician, was asked about the viability of his first stab at running a company, he offered a chuckle and a frank answer: “We existed.”
But since his troublesome sandwich venture, the Ontario native has become a key figure in the government of Metro Vancouver’s fastest-growing city. He’s also a driving force in the city’s groundbreaking push for technological innovation.
The son of a university professor, Hayne graduated from high school just outside of Toronto in 1979. He was a keyboardist in several bands, and it was his love for music that set him on his eventual career path.
“I took some marketing courses at Ryerson University and got into sales and marketing … and I landed a job with Roland – they make keyboards and pedals and PA equipment,” Hayne said.
“So I got a job with them as a rep all over Ontario, and travelled all over Ontario selling equipment.”
Roland Canada Music Ltd.’s head offices were in Richmond, so when Hayne was promoted to director of marketing for the company in 1988, he made the switch to the West Coast and never looked back.
“We told friends and family we were going to try it for two years, and I got here for a month and was like, ‘Toronto? What’s that?’”
Hayne settled in Cloverdale with his wife and two children before leaving Roland to start his own marketing business. He later merged it with another company to create ThornleyHayne Creative Communications.
“I got quite involved with the local business community in Surrey and ended up becoming the president of the Surrey Board of Trade and sat on their board for six or seven years.”
In 2012, after close to two decades with ThornleyHayne, he left the company. He had been elected to Surrey council the year before – having been recruited into politics by former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts – and found he could no longer juggle both roles.
“First of all I said yes because it was Dianne,” Hayne said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for her, and I liked where the city was headed. I liked what she and council were doing, and it seemed like an incredible opportunity and challenge because Surrey is not a mature city like Vancouver; there really is growth and some exciting things happening. So I saw it as an opportunity to help build a city, and that really appealed to me.”
While Hayne’s resumé includes numerous appointments, accomplishments and accolades, the portfolio he holds nearest to his heart is chairman of the city’s investment and innovation committee.
Inde Sumal, vice-president of residential mortgages for RBC Royal Bank British Columbia, has known Hayne for 17 years. Sumal said Hayne brings a sense of calm to a fast-growing metropolis hub.
“I like to think of Bruce as the conscience of council,” Sumal said. “He’s very calm and thoughtful and thinks each decision through before coming to a conclusion. And in a city like Surrey, where the challenges and opportunities are so fast-paced, it’s important to have that calming, thoughtful approach that weighs every side before making a decision.”
Having grown up in southern Ontario, Hayne said he sees similarities between Surrey and Mississauga, which reaped the benefits of being so close to Toronto. Despite setbacks such as a high crime rate and low public transportation service levels, Surrey can follow in the footsteps of Mississauga, which Hayne said now boasts one of the country’s most vibrant economies.
“In some respects, we will always be in the shadow of Vancouver. Internationally this area is always going to be known as Vancouver; it’s not going to be known as Surrey, regardless of if or when we surpass them in population. We will always be that outlying community next to Vancouver and part of Greater Vancouver. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t have a unique identity and attract the kind of business investment that’s integral to that growth.” •
