Douglas Todd: It’s not only bus drivers apologizing. So are staff at the city’s only hospital. So are principals running overflowing schools in Surrey, the second fastest growing large municipality in Canada.
“You wouldn’t believe how many buses drive by, saying, ’Sorry, this bus is full.’“
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So offers Mayor Brenda Locke, who can’t get over how frequently she sees that message on the front of buses making their way through Surrey, the second-fastest-growing large city in Canada, after Brampton, Ont.
“Our transit is absolutely packed.”
It’s not only bus drivers apologizing. So are the staff at Surrey’s only hospital. So are principals running Surrey’s schools. So are planners who can’t keep up with demands on sewers, water systems and housing.
Locke said it’s been unfortunate — and a distraction — that for two years the biggest news headlines coming out of Surrey have been over council’s conflict with the provincial government, which insisted on erasing the city’s RCMP and imposing a municipal police force.
Surrey’s official population was 700,000 as of last year, says Statistics Canada.
But Locke wonders if such figures actually capture all residents. For instance, she said, “often times people don’t disclose the secondary suites in their house. So often times they don’t say (to Statistics Canada) there’s people living in them.”
Few dispute Surrey will officially pass the city of Vancouver in population in the next few years. And that’s placing incredible pressure on infrastructure.
“I feel we’re at a tipping point now. How much can we really tolerate?”
Possibly an even more pressing, and tragic, issue is the crush on the health care system.
“The hospital, as everybody knows, is pushed beyond the limits that are safe or fair,” Locke said.
Surrey Memorial Hospital has the busiest emergency room in Canada, she said. “If you’re under eight hours waiting time, that’s usually an OK day.”
She’s always pleading with the Ministry of Health for more support, she said.
When Locke talked to emergency room staff, she said, “They told me there are times when Surrey Memorial is virtually closed. They said over 10 per cent of the people who come to the ER leave without seeing a doctor. And some of those people are leaving with serious health issues.”
It makes no sense, Locke said, that Surrey has only one hospital while the city of Vancouver has many, including Vancouver General, St. Paul’s and several provincial facilities, such as G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, B.C. Women’s Hospital and B.C. Children’s Hospital.
“We all know that the children are here, in Surrey. We have the largest school district,” she said, while neighbouring Langley is growing just as fast. “So, obviously, the children’s hospital should be here in the south Fraser.”
Another 17 residential towers are to be erected in North Delta. But the directives to build even more, she said, keep coming from Eby and Ravi Kahlon, minister of housing and MLA for Delta North.
Locke feels the residents of Surrey are on board to meet the demands of a soaring population.
“Surrey is dynamic. It’s growing by leaps and bounds. It’s always on the move. It’s got a wonderful demographic, with so many cultures.”
But who’s going to pay for it? When Surrey staff reported on providing sewer, water and electricity hookups for a city full of multi-unit dwellings, Locke was told the price tag for taxpayers would be $800 million.
“I said that to the housing minister (Kahlon). I said this is a case of unintended consequences.”
What did he say in response?
“Nothing.”