BC Conservatives promise major infrastructure spending on campaign trail

BC Conservatives Leader John Rustad is making some big provincial election promises aimed at commuters across the province.

If sent to office in the upcoming provincial election, Rustad is committing to expanding the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge between Vancouver and North Vancouver, rebuilding Highway 1 interchanges like the Brunette in Coquitlam, and developing new bridges in Kelowna, Kamloops and over the Peace River.

He is also promising to expand to expand Highway 1 to six lanes all the way to Chilliwack.

“Highway 1 is becoming a parking lot for too long during the day,” Rustad said

“We’re going to make sure that it’s six lanes all the way to Chilliwack. It’s a critical link for us as a province, for the Lower Mainland, to the rest of the province and the rest of the country, it desperately needs to be done.” CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!

While speaking at an Independent Contractors and Businesses Association event in Vancouver, Rustad also promised to expand the new Pattullo Bridge from four lanes to six and replace the George Massey Tunnel, criticizing the NDP for cancelling a bridge replacement in 2017 while in power.

“Here we are now seven years later and now they’re talking about a tunnel, that’s going to take probably eight to 10 years to get through environmental assessment, if they can even get through the process,” he said.

“It’s crazy, we can’t wait another decade for this. As a Conservative government, unless we can get the approval process for the tunnel, we’re going to scrap that, just go back to the bridge and get the bloody thing done.”

He’s also promising to expand SkyTrain service to Newton in Surrey and studying regional rail for the Fraser Valley.

“A growing population needs a growing transit network. Metro Vancouver’s Mayors and TransLink have done excellent work to identify projects that would get people moving, but their work has fallen on deaf ears in Victoria by the NDP,” the Conservatives shared.

The party also wants to expand regional transit in the Sea-to-Sky corridor and implement a “zero-tolerance policy” for drug use, threats, and violence on transit.

“Offences against both riders and operators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and we will work with TransLink and the Transit Police to make sure they have all tools needed to keep the system safe,” the Conservatives said.

Speaking in Surrey Thursday, Rustad said the NDP have ignored a serious problem in TransLink’s $600 million reported deficit. 

“So as a government, we will make sure that we fund TransLink through the next few years — make sure that we don’t have that service interruption,” Rustad said. 

“We will do an audit of what TransLink is actually doing. We’ll make sure we put a model in place that’s actually sustainable going forward.”

However, Rustad did not provide any kind of framework for how it would all be funded, only saying it would not come from new tolls.

The Conservatives leader also doubled down on his promise to end what he calls ICBC’s “bloated monopoly” in the province.

“Under the NDP’s no-fault insurance system, many individuals with life-altering injuries have found themselves unable to receive the support they deserve,” the party said Wednesday.

Speaking on Thursday, Rustad explained that his party promises to “remove no-fault on serious injuries,” but plans to keep the equivalent for minor injuries.

“Because that’s where about 85 per cent of the cost is. So that’ll help to make sure to keep costs low.”

He promised to implement a plan to keep rates “as low as possible for younger drivers and older drivers.”

Once the party has introduced privatized competition, Rustad says, insurance would become more fair.

“There’s so much to be done in this province,” said Rustad. “But from my perspective, it’s just the beginning of what we need to do.”

The Conservatives also released their economic and fiscal policy Thursday, which includes a commitment to increasing private-sector job growth and cutting back on red tape and regulation by 25 per cent.

Rustad and the Conservatives have yet to release their full platform as the countdown to the Oct. 19 election continues.

With files from Monika Gul.