Eby pledges to build on $12 billion in Surrey investments as Conservative MLA says health care would “take the brunt” of cuts

VANCOUVER - A re-elected NDP government would work with municipal leaders who have offered land to the province to build a new healthcare facility in Surrey.

NDP leader David Eby was asked during a media availability Tuesday if he would work with the City of Surrey if land were made available to expand healthcare services.

“If the local government is offering land for sites to develop to deliver healthcare in this fast growing community, then of course, yes, we would work with them,” said Eby. “We've got lots more work to do on health care in Surrey and across the province of B.C. and that's why we're asking the wealthiest to pay a little bit more so we have the resources to be able to deliver that care.”

Already the NDP has invested heavily in Surrey healthcare by:

• Opening the first medical school in 50 years in Surrey to train the next generation of doctors
• Expanding capacity and adding new services to Surrey Memorial Hospital so that people can get more care faster here:
  • New MRI machines and a new CT scanner on the way
  • A new front-door triage team and Emergency Department Satellite Centre are on the way to cut ER wait times and get people care faster
• Building a new hospital in Cloverdale
• Expanding cardiac and dialysis services at Surrey Memorial hospital
• Opening four Urgent and Primary Care Centres, and committing to build three more if re-elected.

At Surrey Memorial Hospital, the BC NDP government has hired 200 doctors and 360 nurses over the past two years. The BC NDP is tripling B.C.’s recruitment of U.S. health-care workers, including doctors and nurses. The BC Conservatives have attacked the program and said they would cancel it, calling it “irresponsible.”

“Surrey is on track to be the largest city in the province, and it’s a shame previous governments ignored the growth here,” said Garry Begg, the BC NDP candidate for Surrey-Guildford. “David Eby has a plan to grow healthcare and will work with the city to meet the communities’ needs because people deserve care close to home.”

The BC Conservative leader has not held a media availability since Friday, when a scandal involving his campaign director and racist comments erupted. He has made several promises but has never said how he plans to deal with the more than $3 billion dollar hole the Conservative tax plan alone would create in the provincial budget.

However, his candidate for Fraser-Nicola, Tony Luck has been clear that healthcare and education would take the brunt of Conservative cuts.

Doerkson won’t answer follow up questions and won’t say how his magic math works. He’s not being honest with British Columbians.