Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Mike Starchukwhile responding to BC Budget 2022 said that the Budget is making key investments in Surrey and is moving forward the new hospital, new schools, Skytrain expansion, and more.
$1.66 billion is provided for the new Surrey Hospital and Cancer Care Centre with ground breaking slated for 2023 with an opening expected in 2027. Land has been acquired and $2 million has already been spent on preliminary work.
It will include 168 in-patient beds, emergency department, medical imaging department, five operating rooms, and state-of-the-art Cancer Centre. (Health Service Plan, p. 26)
“BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon has promised to halt work on the hospital. As Finance Minister in 2012, Falcon initiated the sell-off process that sold land in Surrey that was set aside for the hospital,” Starchuk said.
“For 16 years, Kevin Falcon’s BC Liberals gave tax breaks to the richest 1% while refusing to properly invest in Surrey and making us pay unfair tolls. Our BC NDP government is delivering for people in Surrey. We’re moving forward with the second hospital, expanding Skytrain, replacing the Massey Tunnel, and making record investments in new schools,” he added.
Budget 2022 includes $589.5 million over the next three years for Surrey-Langley Skytrain. The project will be complete in 2028, two years earlier than originally planned. It will include eight stations, three bus exchanges, and park and ride spaces. Work is already underway to widen Fraser Highway and relocate utilities.
A new toll-free, eight-lane Massey Tunnel replacement, listed in Budget 2022 as the ‘Fraser River Tunnel Project’, has been allocated $4.1 billion.
Kevin Falcon has promised to cancel the tunnel and go back to the BC Liberal bridge plan, a project that included tolls,Starchuk said.
In addition to schools funded in previous budgets, Budget 2022 includes funding for new schools in Surrey, including the Regent Road Elementary School, Snokomish Elementary School, Ta’tula Elementary School, and the completion of Grandview Heights Secondary.
