VICTORIA, B.C.: After years of underfunding Fraser Health and shelving critical infrastructure, the BC NDP government is facing serious questions after a letter to Burnaby Hospital staff confirmed the Alliance contract for the Burnaby Hospital Redevelopment has been cancelled, directly contradicting what the Finance Minister told the Legislature.

“The Minister stood in this House and told British Columbians these projects wouldn’t be cancelled,” said Misty Van Popta, MLA for Langley-Walnut Grove and Critic for Infrastructure. “Now, they’re calling it ‘re-pacing’. Try telling that to the construction workers who lost their contracts or the patients in Burnaby who are waiting for cancer care.”

Across Fraser Health, this story is becoming familiar. Despite $15 million in taxpayer dollars already spent and nearly $20 million raised by the community, the NDP broke its commitment to build the Beedie Long-Term Care Centre in Delta. The cancellation prompted residents, doctors, and municipal leaders to rally at the stalled construction site, a community that fundraised millions now demanding the government honour its word.

“The NDP needs to answer to the people in Delta who trusted them, fundraised for them, and got a cancellation in return,” said Ian Paton, MLA for Delta South. “The Minister stood up and said this project is not cancelled. I’d like her to come to Delta and say that to the seniors who were promised it.”

Fraser Health serves 40% of BC’s population but receives only 22% of provincial health funding, and half of all cancelled infrastructure projects in the province are concentrated in that one health authority.

“This isn’t a fiscal strategy,” said Van Popta. “It’s Fraser Health getting shortchanged again while the government books a $13 billion deficit and tells people to be patient. British Columbians deserve a government that builds what it promises and treats healthcare as a priority. The NDP has proven it is not that government.”

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Media Contact:
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