PARAM Grewal is all set to be a Delta councillor and he’s well qualified to be the first ever South Asian councillor of that city. Indeed, he’s a solid candidate with a solid slate.

Param is running with the Achieving for Delta slate led by George Harvie, the long time Chief Administrative Officer and Manager of Delta, who knows the city inside out.

In his opening speech introducing Harvie at the New Era Banquet Hall recently, Param said he was very impressed with Harvie and the calibre of his team and was proud to be part of this dream team.

The other council candidates on the slate are South Deltans Alicia Guichon and Dylan Kruger and North Deltans Dan Copeland (former fire chief) and Cal Traversy (former Delta police officer). This makes this slate very balanced and a force to reckon with.

Param is multilingual. He speaks Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi / Urdu and English and has a good grasp of Gujarati as well.

Param had his schooling in Kolkata (Calcutta), the capital of West Bengal state in the eastern part of India. He did his Bachelor’s in psychology and sociology from the state of Punjab and went on to earn his MBA. For six years he worked in sales and marketing for some of the top companies in India, including Asian Paints.

In 1992, Param immigrated to Canada. He worked in social services and non-profit organizations for 15 years. He was on the Board of PIAC (Public Interest Advocacy Group) in Vancouver – a lawyers’ organization that has taken up cases against big organizations such as ICBC and BC Hydro and slum lords on behalf of the public as well as fought for farm workers’ rights.

Param also operated a small business for seven years.

Param is well known in political circles and is an astute, seasoned campaigner having been involved in many provincial and federal campaigns.

He has worked with Charan Gill of PICS as a Director of Social Programs and was recently an Executive Assistant to NDP Minister Jinny Sims. He has also worked as political and ministerial staff for elected officials at the provincial and federal levels.

Param has lived in Delta for 15 years – the last four years in Ladner.

“We are proud to have this accomplished problem solver on our team,” Harvie declared at the recent event to loud cheers from the gathering.

Hosting two packed back-to-back events, Harvie and Achieving for Delta are showing strong signs of building tangible momentum across all of Delta.

Harvie addressed the well-known disconnect between North and South Delta. “Fundamentally, it is about respect for over 60% of Delta’s population”, Harvie said, referring to the larger portion of the City’s population hailing from the North. “I commit that as mayor and with the support of my Council candidates we will have an equal number of Regular Council meetings in South Delta and North Delta.”

He added: “We will use the new Performing Arts Centre to have a regular Council presence in North Delta. We want to provide the opportunity for residents of North Delta to attend and provide input to Council without having to travel to Ladner. It’s about respect, and it’s about fairness, for all of Delta.”

Harvie made a commitment to help secure an upgraded track and training facility at North Delta Secondary School and convert more gravel fields into turf fields for kids to play on. He said Achieving for Delta is excited to begin knocking on doors and engaging with the community in the lead up to the municipal election.

A campaign organizer commented that the hundreds who attended came thanks to the efforts of Param who has generated a lot of buzz in the community.