MEDIA COMMENTARY ABOUT DIANNE:
“Watts could help the Liberals win back seats they lost to the NDP in Surrey, where she was a popular mayor for nine years.”
Mike Smyth – The Province (August, 2017)
“Ms. Watts was credited with transforming Surrey from its sometimes rough-and-tumble image to a multicultural, economically vibrant city. She was at one point viewed as a potential successor to B.C. premier Gordon Campbell and picked up more than 80 per cent of the vote in her final mayoral campaign.”
Sunny Dhillon, The Globe and Mail (October, 2015)
“Watts has been a popular leader for B.C.’s second-largest city, and received 80 per cent of the vote in the last municipal election, in 2011.”
Huffingtonpost.ca (April, 2014)
“… Dianne Watts is known for having a sharp business mind and an ability to cut through red tape to get things done. This unusual combination of skills propelled her, and the city she was responsible for, to a new level of respect and growth during her years as mayor …”
Shara Nixon, Surrey604 (April, 2017)
“If an election were held tomorrow, Watts may be the only potential candidate who would topple the current government. The poll suggests Dianne Watts would out-perform the governing party by a whole five points.”
News 1130 on Insights West Poll (August, 2017)
“As the former mayor of Surrey, Watts could improve the Liberals’ fortunes in an area where they lost votes …. Watts also pulled strongly ahead with baby boomers: 49 per cent of them want her as leader ahead of anyone else.”
Katya Slepian, Salmon Arm Observer (August, 2017)
“But it is her business sense and can-do attitude that have won her plaudits from average citizens and business leaders alike.”
BC Business (September, 2007)
“She draws people in with her relentless energy, her capacity for working alongside almost anyone, and most of all, her willingness to be unabashedly herself.”
Frances Bula, Vancouver Magazine (January, 2009)
“Watts, clearly the guiding light at Surrey First, is a popular mayor and a firm centrist. She is more issue-based than ideological. While she is associated with the BC Liberals, she doesn’t hesitate to criticize them over issues like portables, the Port Mann Bridge tolling plan and lack of transit.”
Frank Bucholtz – Surrey Now-Leader (May, 2011)
“When British Columbians ponder the possibility of Dianne Watts as leader of the BC Liberals, the party’s fortunes change dramatically when compared with other possible contenders,” said Insights West vice-president of public affairs Mario Canseco.
Emma Crawford-Hampel, Biv.com (August, 2017)
“At every place we visited, the mayor took time to listen to people. I’m ashamed to say she was a better listener than me, the journalist who was supposed to be listening closely to everything so I could write a story about it.”
Glenda Luymes, The Province (September, 2010)
“It comes down to a sense that in Watts you have a politician who listens to, and works for voters, versus a provincial government that often does things to voters while refusing to hear them. Watts’ name always comes up whenever people talk about who would make a good premier.”
Editorial, The Province (January, 2013)