Surrey council candidate Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat pledges 50 kilometres of new sidewalks

Yousef Aldabainah-Barakat is a Newton father of four. He spent years connecting newcomers and employers through settlement services and WorkBC, and founded the Canadian Arab Forum of BC. He is a former diplomat.

His three main priorities are safe, walkable neighbourhoods; protecting small businesses from extortion; and welcoming newcomers with strong services. On walkability, he says children in Newton walk to school on the road shoulder because there is no sidewalk, while too many corners are dark by 5 p.m. Surrey has grown, he says, but sidewalks have not kept pace.

He says he will push for 50 kilometres of new sidewalk on streets that have none, prioritizing school and transit routes, with brighter lighting and safer crossings. He also promises to publish a map so residents can check whether the work was done. He says he is raising four children in the neighbourhood.

He says his career has involved bringing employers, newcomers and communities to the same table, and that he would do the same at City Hall for every neighbourhood. He supports a ward system, which he says is part of the reason. Voters can reach him at imaginesurrey.ca, yousef@imaginesurrey.ca, on X at @yousefaa, Facebook at Yousef Barakat, Instagram at @yousef4surrey, LinkedIn at Yousef Barakat, TikTok at Yousef Amer Barakat, or by phone at 604-767-6782.