Surrey mayor highlights growth, critiques NDP government in state of the city address

Brenda Locke used her state of the city address Wednesday to highlight Surrey's growth and call out the provincial government.

SURREY, B.C. — Surrey’s mayor used her state of the city address Wednesday to highlight her city’s growth, while calling out the NDP provincial government on a number of issues ranging from education to child care.

Brenda Locke’s backdrop during the speech featured the new Pattullo Bridge under construction, and she couldn’t resist taking a pot shot at the project.

“The province is building a four-lane bridge to replace a four-lane bridge,” she said to laughter at her sold-out state of the city address.

Locke went on to highlight other areas of concern, including around health care and education.

“In education, I don’t need to tell any of you of the dire situation our children face in Surrey schools,” Locke said. “We have more kids in portables in Surrey than all the other districts combined. We even, sadly, have portable washrooms. Just simply unacceptable.”

Much of Locke’s speech took on an assertive tone – demanding more school spaces, more hospital beds and better transit from the provincial government – and noting Surrey is on track to eventually become the province’s biggest city and first to hit a million residents.

The mayor also reiterated plans to go ahead with a 10,000-seat arena north of city hall.

“We’re in the very early stages of procurement, and we’re working to partner with an operator,” Locke said. “This isn’t just about building an arena. It’s about creating a destination through mixed-use development, including a hotel, conference facilities and retail and restaurants.”

But the fact that the arena project isn’t funded is prompting concern from one city councillor who feels it was irresponsible to highlight it before the money is in place.

“We don’t have funding in place, and there were several other projects that were announced, including the ice arena, that we do not have funding in place,” Coun. Linda Annis told CTV News.

“I think it’s premature to be announcing them until we have the funding.”

As for Locke’s concerns about health care and education, Annis feels the city could do more to advocate for itself when dealing with the provincial government.

“We do have almost 400 portables here,” Annis said of portable classrooms. “We need to be meeting on a regular basis with the school trustees, the MLAs, as well as the (provincial education) minister to find a solution to this problem. This is not a new problem. It’s a problem that’s been going on for a long, long time.”

Locke also outlined that the city will move ahead with a Surrey 2050 plan, which will set targets for files including housing, transit and employment.