Provincial NDP, Conservatives have duelling campaign promises for Newton SkyTrain expansion

One of Surrey mayor-elect Doug McCallum’s major campaign promises was to bring SkyTrain service to the city’s Newton neighbourhood. Now, both major provincial parties in B.C. are pledging to make that wish come true.

On Tuesday, BC Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson did not hold any press conferences, but the party sent out a release that says they’ve “outlined a plan” to work with the feds to make it happen, despite it not being mentioned in their costed platform.

“There will be no cuts to anything,” said Mandeep Dhaliwal, BC Conservative MLA candidate for Surrey-North.

“This project will be budgeted, this project will be planned, according to real budgeting regulations and needs.”

Shortly after the announcement, McCallum released a statement praising the Conservatives for their “commitment” to a transit route and project timeline. He also slammed the BC NDP, saying, “Surrey residents deserve to know the difference between a commitment and conversation.”

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Then, just minutes after McCallum’s statement, the BC NDP also pledged to “support” the project, pointing to the $250 million earmarked in its platform for transit expansion to the area.

“The commitment is that we’ve got this money set aside,” said NDP Leader David Eby.

“We will work with you, and we’ll find a way to deliver that SkyTrain to Newton”

Jessie Sunner, BC NDP MLA candidate for Surrey-Newton, says Eby spoke with the mayor the day after the election to “advance these conversations.”

“That’s where the conversation came from,” Sunner said. 

“As you can see from our release, this is a commitment, not a conversation.”

After what seemed like a quasi-endorsement from McCallum for the Conservatives, CityNews made contact with his office but was told the mayor-elect would not be available for any interviews until after the provincial election.

Meanwhile, TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn says a Newton SkyTrain expansion isn’t on the corporation’s radar and that the project would be starting from scratch.

“We sit here today without a funding model of how we’re going to keep our existing services running in the long term,” Quinn said.

“So yes, that 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 adds that a SkyTrain expansion project would cost billions.

Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., says the political agenda for both parties is clear in these duelling announcements. He adds that the wide shuffle in municipal election results could threaten some seats for the governing BC NDP.

“We know the election is going to come down to Surrey,” Canseco said.

“Because of the sentiment for change we saw throughout Metro Vancouver, I think they’re worried about losing Surrey and they don’t want to not join in on the possibility of the SkyTrain going to Newton, because they feel that seat is at stake.”

Meanwhile, across the Georgia Strait, Vancouver mayor-elect Pete Fry joined BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan on the campaign trail, knocking on doors. 

This comes following David Eby calling for support from Green voters to avoid a vote split.

Lowan says that when they look at the numbers, the BC Greens grow the vote, not split the vote.

“That’s supported by my experience on the doors,” she said.

“People feel it’s a cynical power grab.”