BC Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux on Tuesday called out the NDP to provide a real plan for affordable childcare in Surrey.

“When the NDP was elected in 2017, they promised to bring in $10-a-day childcare,” said Cadieux. “Well, it’s five years later, and Surrey residents are still waiting.”

In a statement last week, the NDP announced 1,818 new childcare spaces across the province to be offered at the $10-a-day program rate. Of these, only 12 new affordable childcare spots are in Surrey, a city of almost 600,000 people. By comparison, Bowen Island, with a population of less than 4,000 people, received 88 $10-a-day spaces, and Squamish, with a population of 20,000 people, received 152 spaces.

“John Horgan and the NDP promised to make childcare more affordable, but their childcare plan has failed Surrey families,” said Cadieux. “The NDP is taking Surrey residents for granted. We need a new approach to deliver affordable childcare for Surrey families who are already stretched to the limit by the increasing cost of living.”

She said once again, the NDP had failed to deliver for Surrey. On top of the NDP’s failure to deliver needed childcare spaces, the number of portables at Surrey schools continues to increase, despite an NDP promise to eliminate portables by 2020. The NDP is also proceeding with a Pattullo Bridge replacement project that will not add any new lanes to the crossing, as well as an urgent care center that does not come close to meeting Surrey’s needs after promising a hospital.

Surrey is one of the fastest-growing communities in the province, growing at a pace of a thousand new residents a month. It’s time for a real plan to make life more affordable for Surrey residents, said Cadieux.