SURREY’S mayor-elect Doug McCallum in his last term showed that what appeared to be impossible could be done: Surrey Police Service and Surrey Langley SkyTrain. He had both the provincial and federal governments bend over backwards to accomplish his goals.
Now, its the SkyTrain to Newton.
And already both the main contenders for the premiership are trying to outdo each other to please McCallum on that score.
That must have come as a surprise to the biased rightwing mainstream media that is also trying to denigrate South Asians – and Newton because it is synonymous with the South Asian community.
On Tuesday, McCallum said in a press statement that on the commitment that matters most to Newton — SkyTrain down King George Boulevard — “the Conservative Party of BC has committed to deliver, while the NDP has offered Newton a conversation.”
He added: “Newton is the largest community in Surrey, with more people than most cities in British Columbia, and it has no rapid transit. Surrey is the fastest-growing city in the province, adding roughly a thousand residents a month, and for many years the governments in Victoria and Ottawa that decide where rapid transit gets built have left Newton off the map. Residents have been told their turn would come. They are still waiting.”
McCallum noted: “Today, Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson committed a Conservative government to fund and build SkyTrain along King George Boulevard to Newton Town Centre with Ottawa, on time and on budget. The NDP’s answer, in the Premier’s own words on Sunday, was that he welcomes “that conversation” and is glad to sit down with the City, the Prime Minister, TransLink and the Mayors’ Council “to talk about what it would take.” A commitment to build is not the same as a willingness to talk.”
He said: “Surrey is the fastest-growing city in British Columbia and Newton is its largest community, and for years it has been underserved by transit and neglected by the governments that decide where rapid transit gets built. Newton has been promised its turn for as long as I can remember. This week one party committed to build SkyTrain to Newton, and the other offered a meeting. Newton has been in meetings for years. It needs a commitment, and it needs shovels.”
His press statement added: “McCallum, who worked with provincial and federal governments of every stripe to deliver SkyTrain to Fleetwood, Clayton Heights and Cloverdale, said the City’s part will be ready the day the new council is sworn in. Surrey will decide the route down King George Boulevard and issue the permits, the same way it did for the line now under construction to Langley. What Surrey needs from Victoria is a government that has already said yes.”
McCallum said: “I have built SkyTrain in this city before, and I know what a yes looks like. It is a commitment with a route, a partner in Victoria and Ottawa and a timeline, and that is what the Conservatives have put on paper for Newton. I will work with whichever government Surrey elects on Saturday. But residents deserve to know the difference between a commitment and a conversation, and on SkyTrain to Newton, only one party has made a commitment.”
Shortly after that blunt statement, the BC NDP issued a press statement titled: “BC NDP will work with Surrey to build SkyTrain extension to Newton.”
It read: “A re-elected BC NDP government will support the development of a SkyTrain extension to Newton along the King George Boulevard corridor.”
BC NDP Leader David Eby said: “Surrey voters have spoken clearly: They want us to get results for them, which includes reliable transit for the rapidly growing Newton community. The mayor-elect and I worked together to get the SkyTrain to Langley under way, and I’m committed to partnering again to achieve his vision for improved public transportation in this city.”
Eby then criticized the Conservative platform that criticizes the BC NDP for tripling infrastructure investments and promises a review of infrastructure spending. “They set no targets of their own for infrastructure spending. That’s a sure sign of hidden cuts and cancellations to come, especially for projects like this that are getting underway or under construction – just as Doerkson has promised to do with the Massey Tunnel,” he said.
“Commitments to Surrey need to be backed up with real funding, or they aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” said Eby. “It takes real investments to deliver for Surrey. You simply can’t cut the budget for infrastructure and expect people to believe you’re going to build the projects Surrey needs. We are putting money where our mouth is in this city.”
The BC NDP said: “Under the BC NDP, Surrey has received $12 billion in major projects, more than any other community. This includes investments in a new hospital, construction of a medical school at SFU’s Surrey campus, and the SkyTrain extension to Langley.”
The BC Conservatives said in a press statement on Monday: “Surrey is growing into one of British Columbia’s largest cities, and its rapid growth demands transportation infrastructure that keeps pace. Newton is a major and growing urban centre, home to thousands of families, small businesses and workers who depend on King George Boulevard every day. Yet the community has been left at the back of the line for rapid transit for years.
“When plans for light rail to Newton were scrapped in 2018, residents were told their turn would come. Eight years later, they are still waiting. Under David Eby’s NDP, the province’s main transit project in Surrey has run over budget and behind schedule, while Newton has been left off the map entirely.”
Doerkson said: “Families in Newton shouldn’t have to keep waiting on promises that never get delivered. This community has been patient for far too long. I’m committing to this project now, and a Conservative government will build it on time and on budget.”
He added: “The NDP has spent nine years announcing transit projects that cost more and take longer than promised. A Conservative government will take a different approach, with disciplined project management, clear timelines and accountability to taxpayers for every dollar spent.”
