BURSTBC NDP leader David Eby was in Surrey on Thursday morning (Oct. 15) for another campaign event as the B.C. election date nears.
A Chevron gas station on 120 Street is where Eby and other NDP candidates gathered for two transit-related promises and a vow to give Surrey its own charter.
If re-elected, Eby said the NDP would eliminate the $45 charge for low-income seniors to get a bus pass, and would commit to have Bus Rapid Transit run from Surrey to White Rock with $250 million in funding for a project now in TransLink planning stage.
“The last piece though, really reflects where Surrey is in its evolution,” Eby said. “We know that Surrey will be the largest city in British Columbia — if it’s not already, pretty close. It will also be the hub of economic activity for the province (and) for the entire country.
“I’m honoured to announce today that we will support the City of the Surrey, the people of Surrey, in taking the next step in their evolution with a Surrey Charter, so that Surrey can take control of its own destiny and deliver for the residents here, just like the Vancouver Charter, recognizing that Surrey has arrived.”
Two years ago, in 2024, Surrey city council approved “in concept” a proposed charter for the city that would provide city hall with “additional powers, responsibilities, and exemption” aimed at “appropriately” addressing Surrey’s size and diversity.
The Vancouver Charter, a statute passed by the provincial government in 1953, allows the city to operate under its own unique set of rules and powers unlike other B.C. municipalities, which are regulated under a provincial Local Government Act.
Under the Vancouver Charter, “City Council has the authority to pass bylaws to regulate such things as noise and land use, buy and sell property, collect certain taxes, approve expenditures, take on debt, give grants, and hire and discharge employees,” explains Vancouver’s website.
Two weeks ago, on Oct. 1, Eby was at a Fleetwood gas station with an election promise to suspend the provincial motor fuel tax by 10 cents a litre as part of a two-part effort to help protect drivers from rising prices at the pumps.
All month, B.C.’s political leaders have frequently visited Surrey, a city split city between NDP and Conservative support in the 2024 provincial election.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday (Oct. 13), Eby said a re-elected NDP government would work with municipal leaders who have offered land to the province to build a new healthcare facility in Surrey, referring to a civic election promise by Safe Surrey Coalition to build a new hospital in Newton on King George Boulevard.
Watch Eby’s Thursday event in Surrey here: https://www.youtube.com/live/BuATf_3NOK8.
—with a file from Tom Zytaruk