By Maninder Gill
The provincial budget added one more bullet point in the long list of disappointments, the City of Surrey has faced from the provincial NDP government. By 2029 the City of Surrey is projected to be the largest City by population in BC. One would expect the province to pay proportionate attention to Surrey’s needs, but the provincial budget which was a great opportunity to set the tone for future development, turned out to be a squandered opportunity.
Other than committing for continued capital investment in Surrey Langley Skytrain and Cloverdale Hospital the provincial budget has nothing significant for Surrey. The Surrey-Langley Skytrain and Cloverdale hospital are ongoing projects which have been election issues in provincial and municipal elections in the past. The province has failed to provide the requisite investment for alleviating the crisis in healthcare and schooling sector in the City. The NDP government came to power with a promise of removing portables from Surrey’s Schools but they ended up installing portables at the Surrey Memorial Hospital itself.
The Budget lacks the vision to strengthen the public transit network. The Surrey-Langley Skytrain project is not the answer to the public transit challenges of the bustling population of Surrey. The uncovered bus stops and terminals are monuments of governmental apathy towards public transit. The budget has also disappointed by remaining silent on any big ticket announcement for creating public facilities such as sports complexes and recreational centres. No investment has been made in the road networks for reducing the traffic jam.
The transition from Surrey RCMP to Surrey Police Department remains a hotly debated topic in Surrey. The Province weighted in for Surrey Police by suspending the Police Board and appointing an Administrator. Mayor Brenda Locke who has remained steadfast in her stand for keeping the RCMP in Surrey, has flagged her concerns about the mounting costs to City taxpayers in case the transition is proceeded with.
The province had offered $150 million to support Surrey, if the City agreed with the police transition. However no agreement could be reached between the City and Province on this issue. Now after mandating the City of Surrey to continue with the police transition, a move which a lot of people see as a transgression on the City’s right to have a police of its choosing, the Province should have provided necessary funding in the Budget to see this transition through. It seems as if the transition favoured by the Province, does not have the provincial government’s financial backing. Are the people of Surrey prepared to fund this transition from their property taxes?
The Budget is remarkable in the aspect of the budgetary deficit it creates. With a historic deficit budget of $7.9 billion, the provincial debt is expected to soar to $123.3 billion by the end of fiscal year 2024-25. How does the government plan to bridge this deficit in the future? It raises a serious possibly of increased taxation and reduced investments in critical infrastructural needs
Questions should be asked as to where this deficit has been spent? The fact that John Horgan’s NDP government delivered four surplus budgets and the surplus left by the predecessor BC Liberal government cannot be discounted while looking at Eby’s monumental deficits. David Eby has provided some relief by increasing family benefits and a one-time rebate in BC Hydro bill, which is meagre when compared to rising cost of living in BC.
The people of Surrey who were expecting a provincial intervention to stem the crisis in health and education sector, have been left high and dry by the Budget 2024. The City of Surrey that elected 7 NDP MLAs and is proudly represented by 4 ministers in the cabinet deserved a better deal from the NDP. It did not deserve the trick of putting old wine in a new bottle.
(Maninder Gill is Managing Director of Radio India)
