Health care top issue in Surrey South byelection

A byelection inSurrey South on Sept. 10 is shaping up to be a battle overwhichprovincialpolitical partyis perceived as the front-runneron health care.

B.C. Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieuxwon the last election in 2020with1,176 more votes than the NDP's Pauline Greaves.Cadieuxresigned at the end of April tojoin thefederal government as Canada's first chief accessibility officer.

Now Greaves,who teaches business at the Langara School of Management,is running again with the help ofhigh-profileNDP MLAsincluding Health Minister Adrian Dix.

On Monday, NDP leadership candidate David Eby joinedGreavesat an announcement promotinga new hospital in the Cloverdalearea of Surrey.

The NDP government has promised asecond hospital in Surrey, at acost of $1.7 billion,tobe builtnear Kwantlen Polytechnic University and180 Street. They say it would include168 beds, an emergency room with 55 spaces andoperating rooms.

Greavessaid when B.C. Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon was finance minister in 2012,he sold land that had been designated for a second hospital.

"For too long, the people of Surrey and Cloverdale have been waiting for a second hospital," said Greaves.

Liberals, NDPalso battle overMassey Tunnel

She is up against Liberal candidateElenore Sturko, a well-known Surrey RCMPsergeant and media spokespersonwho is now on leave from work.

Sturko wasintroduced as the party's star candidate back in May.On Friday, Sturko saidthe proposed hospital should be built in a different location near the plannedLangley-Surrey SkyTrainextensionalong Fraser Highway because it ismore accessible.

"We would like to see a full-service hospital that means a maternity ward, ICU, more beds than 168. One-hundred and sixty-eight beds is not enough to make it a full-size hospital in our opinion," Sturkosaid.

Sturko, if elected, also wants to advocate for a bridge over the Fraser River to replace the aging Massey Tunnel. That differs from the government's current planto dig an eight-lanetunnel under the river. Liberals argue a new tunnel will not meet environmental standards and will causetraffic congestion for Surrey South commuters for years to come.

Political scientist Hamish Telfordofthe University of the Fraser Valley says the government's decision toschedulethebyelectiononSept.10 appears to be a strategic move to hold it at a busy time. It fallsjust after the first week of school and on the same day the federal Conservative Party willannounce the results of its mail-in leadership vote.

"So it's almost like the NDP didn't want anyone to notice this race was happening, perhaps their voters would come out and Liberal voters wouldn't know," Telford said.

In a tight race, the support gained by the B.C. Greens or the B.C. Conservatives could also play a role in deciding the winner.

Simon Fraser University student Simran Saraisaid she put her name forward as a Green candidate becauseshe'sconcerned aboutclimate change,environmental policy and affordability issues that affectyounger people.

B.C. Conservative candidate Harman Bhangu, who owns a trucking business, says some government policies dealing withclimate change areharmingindustries.

He recently gained support from Nechako LakesMLA John Rustad, who was recently removed from the B.C. Liberal caucus for his social media posts questioning climate change science.

Bhangusaid he is running to win and not to act as a spoiler for the B.C. Liberals in the race.

Jason Baxwill also be on the ballot representing the Libertarian Party.

Leadership test for B.C. Liberals

Telfordsaidbyelections are often viewed as a referendum on the current government, but in the case of Surrey South, if the NDPcandidate wins then the contest could be a sign of trouble for the B.C. Liberals.

"If ...the Liberals lose this seat I think that makes life a little bit more uncomfortable for [Liberal Leader] Kevin Falcon because it's traditionally a Liberal seat... With everything going on with the health-care crisis, the inflation crisis, if the Liberals lose this seat I thinkit tells us something more about that party than the NDP if they lose."

Falcon won aseat inVancouver-Quilchenaduringa byelection earlier this year.

Ifthe Liberals win, the byelection could allow the party to build momentum as the province inches closer to a general election in 2024.