BC NDP and BC Conservatives both say they will support expanding SkyTrain service to Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood following Doug McCallum’s election win.
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Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum’s campaign promise to bring SkyTrain service to the city’s Newton neighbourhood was met with duelling commitments from both provincial parties, with the BC Conservatives outlining a plan to work with federal partners and the BC NDP pointing to transit money in its platform.
On Tuesday, BC Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson sent out a release instead of holding press conferences, saying the party has “outlined a plan” to work with the federal government to make the Newton SkyTrain project happen, even though it is not mentioned in their costed platform. Mandeep Dhaliwal, a BC Conservative MLA candidate for Surrey-North, said there would be “no cuts to anything” and added the project would be “budgeted” and “planned” under “real budgeting regulations.”
After the Conservative announcement, McCallum released a statement praising the party’s “commitment” to the transit route and project timeline, while criticising the BC NDP for what he called a “conversation” rather than a “commitment,” saying: “Surrey residents deserve to know the difference between a commitment and conversation.”
Just minutes after McCallum’s statement, the BC NDP pledged to “support” the project, pointing to $250 million earmarked in its platform for transit expansion to the Newton area. NDP leader David Eby said, “The commitment is that we’ve got this money set aside,” adding, “We will work with you, and we’ll find a way to deliver that SkyTrain to Newton.”
NDP candidate Jessie Sunner said Eby spoke with McCallum the day after the election to “advance these conversations,” and Sunner described the difference between the parties’ messages, saying: “As you can see from our release, this is a commitment, not a conversation.”
Outside the political debate, TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said a Newton SkyTrain expansion is not on the transit agency’s radar and that any expansion would have to start from scratch. Quinn said TransLink currently sits “without a funding model” for keeping existing services running long-term, which he said makes it “a bit tough to try to contemplate or even have a conversation around expanding the system that we don’t even have the funding today to operate and maintain.” Quinn added that a SkyTrain expansion would cost “billions.”
In a separate comment attributed to Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., he said the focus on Newton reflects each party’s political priorities ahead of the provincial election, noting the campaign is likely to come down to Surrey. Canseco said sentiment for change in Metro Vancouver could threaten some seats for the governing BC NDP, and he argued the parties are seeking to avoid losing momentum in the region over the possibility of SkyTrain service to Newton.
The developments follow David Eby’s call for Green voters, with BC Greens leader Emily Lowan and Vancouver mayor-elect Pete Fry canvassing together across the Georgia Strait. Lowan said she believes the Green vote grows rather than splits, saying, “That’s supported by my experience on the doors,” and added that some voters describe it as “a cynical power grab.”
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