Local Issue

Get what’s yours this tax season with a few tips from H&R Block to help you make the most of your tax return. You can thank them when your refund lands in your bank account. 1. Timing is everything. Consider this your save-the-date notice. The deadline for filing your 2016 personal tax return is May 1, 2017, and June 15, …

THE Integrated homicide Investigation Team on Friday announced that Hershan “Shawn” Bains, 36, of Maple Ridge was shot dead in a targeted shooting on Thursday night in Newton (Surrey). Just after after 8 p.m. on January 26, Surrey RCMP were requested to check the well-being of a male found unresponsive in his vehicle in the 7400-block of Sinclair Crescent. When police arrived, the …

WELL-KNOWN Punjabi journalist Sukhminder Singh Cheema, who had been an editor of several Punjabi newspapers (including the Indo-Canadian Awaaz, Chardi Kala and Punjabi Tribune) as well as a talk show host for a number of radio stations in the Lower Mainland, has passed away. Cheema also wrote for newspapers in Punjab. Cheema leaves behind his wife, Gurdeep Kaur Cheema, son …

THE 26 newest members of the Vancouver Police Department, Recruit Class 153, who were sworn in on Thursday, included four South Asians – three Punjabis and one Tamil: Gary Athwal, Mandy Grewal, Gurpal Mann, and Kevin Regie Gnanaseelan, who becomes the department’s only Sri Lankan-Tamil police officer.  GARY Atrhwal was born in Vancouver and raised in North Delta, B.C.. He attended …

THE holidays are just around the corner and many drivers will be traveling to visit family and friends to celebrate together. With increased traffic and unpredictable road conditions, it’s important for everyone to plan ahead and stay safe, says ICBC. Over Christmas and New Year’s, on average, 460 people are injured and five people are killed in crashes every year …

The community at South of the Fraser has a reason to smile. A non-profitable society aims to solve un affordable dental care problem of this region By Surbhi Gogia The expensive dental care in Canada prevents many Canadians from visiting a dentist office on regular basis. Families covered under insurance plan can still think of affording dental services. However, it …

By Vinder Sandhu Weddings have become big business in the South Asian community in the last decade. In fact every year, they are becoming bigger and bigger, each more extravagant than the previous. It seems to grow on its own, morphing into an uncontrollable monster gulping down tens of thousands of dollars in its way down the aisle. I love …

Meet Manjot and Careena, for whom a big wedding was a way of expressing love and gratitude towards their family and friends When a couple decides to get married, the first and most difficult question that pops up is whether to have a big or a small wedding. Some of the common factors that influence every couple’s decision are — …

Pardip Narwal, a wedding planner, talks about some latest trends in Indian weddings and bizarre demands of the customers on their big day By Surbhi Gogia Weddings have always been a grand affair for South Asians. Back home they are super fun. Food and chatter all around, excitement in the air, a hundred different delicacies to gorge on. It’s like …

Sukh Dhaliwal is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Surrey-Newton. He has served the Surrey community before when he was MP for Newton-North Delta from 2006 to 2011. After earning his Bachelor of Science (Surveying Engineering) from the University of Calgary, Sukh started his own business Dhaliwal & Associates Land Surveying Inc. As a former member of the Surrey Board …