OPINION: BC NDP is failing Surrey on housing and infrastructure
Published 7:00 am Thursday, May 14, 2026
Premier David Eby tried to make the case on Friday that Surrey gets plenty of government spending to help build infrastructure and the economy in the province’s fastest-growing city. His case is lukewarm at best.
Most certainly, the province is paying the lion’s share of the construction cost of the new SkyTrain line between King George station and Langley City. Work has progressed rapidly all along Fraser Highway, and most Surrey residents are very pleased with the pace of the construction and the prospect of much better rapid transit. Many are hoping that the construction will end sooner than expected, so that the line opens to passengers before the projected time of fall 2029.
Eby was at the Willowbrook station site on the Surrey-Langley boundary to take part in a groundbreaking ceremony. Construction of that station has begun, and work is now underway at all eight new station sites.
He also cited construction of the new Cloverdale hospital, opening of a new medical school at Simon Fraser University and Highway 1 expansion as evidence that his government knows the importance of infrastructure spending.
Of course, he failed to mention some of the promised projects that his government has delayed or stopped. Mayor Brenda Locke told Black Press Media reporter Tom Zytaruk last week that the province has cancelled eight separate supportive housing projects in Surrey, which would have provided 954 units to people who really need the assistance. In some cases, the city actually purchased properties so that these housing projects could be built.
Locke said the projects included women’s transition housing, youth housing and Indigenous housing. Two projects have been completely cancelled, according to BC Housing – the other six are being “deferred” due to the government’s enormous $13.3-billion deficit – the worst in B.C. history.
Other projects being deferred nearby include a seniors’ care home in Delta and Phase 2 of redevelopment of the Burnaby Hospital. These will put enormous pressure on hospitals and other existing health-care facilities in Surrey and other parts of the Lower Mainland. The construction of four other seniors’ care homes has been delayed.
B.C. seniors’ advocate Dan Levitt has noted that the seniors’ care homes are critical, as the long waiting lists to get into assisted living and extended care means that hospitals remain crowded with people who have no other place to go. The situation is getting worse each day, he has said.
Eby’s government has run up a huge deficit at the same time as the B.C. economy is struggling. While he keeps blaming this on stalled trade negotiations with the U.S., the fact is that his government has put pressure on businesses at every level and created an environment where many business leaders will not commit capital to any projects in B.C.
Uncertainty about land title just adds to a reluctance to invest and create jobs. Philosophically, many NDP MLAs (including the premier) have a reflexive anti-business attitude. A quick conversation with a small business owner will reveal just how many roadblocks the province puts up to their success, and each year the number of roadblocks increases. The expansion of the provincial sales tax regime later this year is just the latest.
There was new energy and a spirit of getting things done when the NDP regained power in 2017 under Premier John Horgan, after 16 years out of office. What we now face as a province is a series of challenges that seem insurmountable for the current NDP government.
Frank Bucholtz writes twice monthly on political issues for Black Press Media publications.