BURSTB.C. political party leaders remain laser-focused on Surrey in days leading up to Saturday’s provincial election.
Clearly the city is a key battleground for votes as candidates promise to make major projects happen in Surrey, if elected.
Thursday (Oct. 22), Conservative Party of BC leader Lorne Doerkson hyped the party’s Surrey Success Plan, focused on health care, transit and transportation, to recognize Surrey’s “rightful status as the economic powerhouse it is and should be.”
Meanwhile, BC NDP supporters and candidates rallied around Eby at Surrey City Hall on Wednesday evening (Oct. 21), and Doerkson plans to lead a Conservative rally in Newton on Thursday. CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko, running in Surrey South, has also focused on Surrey with platform announcements.
The Conservatives say they’ll build a new women’s and children’s hospital in Surrey and also extend SkyTrain to Newton, among other election promises.
Doerkson talked about his Surrey roots during a morning press conference at Taj Park Convention Centre in Newton, where many of Surrey’s Conservative candidates gathered but weren’t invited to the podium for a group photo-op with the party leader.
“Surrey, of course, is always going to have a special place in my heart,” said Doerkson, schooled at Bridgeview Elementary. “I grew up here and some of my earliest memories are from childhood here.… The population has doubled in the past 25 years and is growing by approximately a thousand people every single month, which is just staggering.”
Under NDP rule, he said, Surrey’s infrastructure has not kept up with growth.
“Schools are crowded, emergency rooms and maternity wards are constantly closed and nobody can find a family doctor here, like the rest of the province. Crime and extortion keep getting worse, and after nine years of NDP neglect it’s time for a government that actually cares about Surrey.”
At Surrey City Hall, Eby said Surrey has received $12 billion in major projects with the NDP in power. Video of the rally, in a 13-minute clip starting at 21:00, is shown on the party’s Youtube channel.
“Surrey will soon be B.C.’s biggest city, and it’s at the heart of my vision for our province’s future,” Eby said. “Building a stronger British Columbia starts right here. Our plan is fully costed, so I can tell people in Surrey exactly what we’ll build. Mr. Doerkson can’t. He wants to ‘review’ the infrastructure budget, and he won’t say what gets cut.”
Surrey’s major projects over the past decade include the new hospital in Cloverdale, Surrey-Langley SkyTrain and SFU Surrey medical school, all under construction, Eby says.
The NDP also promise SkyTrain to Newton and to “use the land offered by the city to build a new health care facility” in that area of Surrey.