Board of Directors

Baljit Dhaliwal
Tinker’s Tax & Accounting

From Our 56th Board Chair – Chief Governance Officer

Indigenous Acknowledgement: I acknowledge that we are in the traditional territory of the Coast Salish people, specifically the Kwantlen, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Qayqayt, Semiahmoo and the Tsawwassen First Nations. As well, I acknowledge the Inuit and Metis Nations peoples who live and work on these territories.

I am honoured and privileged to serve as the next Chair of the Surrey Board of trade. It humbles me and reminds me of those aspirations, anxieties, and desires that a fellow SBOT member helped me overcome when I too was invited to a B2B event held by the SBOT many, many years ago. It took a few meetings and conversations to get the gist of networking. To start a business. To grow a concept. To build confidence. SBOT was there for me. And, it’s been there for you as well, especially through this past year.

So, now fast forwarding to today, as we stand together – safe enough to say post-pandemic – I thank this wonderful SBOT for helping us all to walk through this tough road to recovery. It is this resilience and steer headed approach by my predecessors who have strengthened the Boards relationship with you, our owners, by adopting a governance model making our accountability very transparent and forthright. It is our ENDS goal, “The Surrey Board of Trade exists so that its members and the wider community have a business climate conducive to their success at a cost that validates business members’ fees.”

Further, many media outlets have approached me, inquiring how my new leadership will prevail. Well, let me remind them, it is not I who is making any changes. I am only one member of an entire team of experienced, talented, and dedicated professionals who collectively lead and serve our owners. We commit to you today our allegiance in ensuring your business voice is heard, honoured, and advocated upon. My Board and I want to engage with you all so we can collectively grow, work, and live in this beautiful city. The Board and I have a very simple vision – to further strengthen the economic diversity of this city, as you have witnessed by the CEO, her executive team and entire staff through this very tough past year. Thank you for this honour.