THE BC Liberals on Friday accused Surrey NDP MLAs of continuing to abandon their commitments to the region despite repeated promises from Premier John Horgan and the NDP that bed capacity at a new Surrey Hospital would match the growing needs of the city,

“The people of Surrey are relying on the new hospital to meet the growing demand, yet the NDP seemed to have abandoned that promise with a commitment of only 168 beds — a small fraction of what is being allocated for other new Metro Vancouver hospitals and what is needed to serve the third fastest-growing city in Canada,” said Surrey South MLA Stephanie Cadieux. “Not only is there no funding allocated to begin construction for the next three years, but the NDP has also provided two conflicting timelines for completion of the project, which has further confused Surrey residents as to when they will finally see new hospital services.”

The delays to the Surrey Hospital completion come as hospitals throughout the Lower Mainland continue to see reduced surgical services and chronic staff shortages.

“It’s clear that the NDP has forgotten about and abandoned the promises it made to voters south of the Fraser,” said Trevor Halford, MLA for Surrey-White Rock. “Not only is there serious confusion around the new Surrey Hospital, but the NDP has also left a trail of broken promises including eliminating all portables from Surrey schools. The people of Surrey deserve so much better than this continued disrespect.”

The list of broken ​NDP promises continues to grow, with no $400 annual renters’ rebate, no universal $10-a-day childcare, a 32 per cent increase in school portables since the NDP first took office, and no funding in the government’s three-year fiscal plan for a new Surrey Hospital. People are also still waiting for key transportation investments to move forward like the George Massey Tunnel Replacement ​Project and Skytrain to Langley.