B.C.'s Transportation Minister Rob Fleming is defending his government's track record in delivering projects such as the recently tendered extension of Skytrain from Surrey-to-Langley.
"So we have a good track record under very difficult conditions that have changed considerably since the (COVID-19) pandemic and the recovery with significant supply chain disruptions and other pressures on the cost of materials, making it difficult to build," Fleming said, pointing to internal ministry statistics that show 93.5 per cent of projects came in on or below budget within timelines.
Fleming made these comments in response to specific questions about the proposed Skytrain extension and more general questions about government's handling of capital projects.
Figures released Thursday show the extension almost $2 billion over budget at $5.99 billion — up from $3.12 billion in 2019. It is also one year behind schedule with a new completion date of late 2029. Funding is coming from the province, Ottawa ($1.3 billion) and TransLink.
B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon called these new figures "alarming" and the "latest in a string of massive cost overruns under the NDP." Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad also criticized the new figures.
"This $2 billion blowout is an absolute disgrace," Rustad said, adding it is the direct of result of "gross" incompetence.
"We are happy that the project is getting under significant construction this year, disappointed to find out, along with other provinces and parts of the world, that the cost of construction since the pandemic and since the 2023 record inflation...that the cost for building infrastructure like this is considerably higher," Fleming said.
But Fleming aid the business case for the project is "incredibly strong". He pointed to benefits such construction jobs and affordable housing units expected to spring up around the eight stations on the 16-kilometre extensions.
He added the new cost of the project is not unlike a comparable project in Calgary.
"In actual fact, that project has now been cut in terms of its scope and is running at about $500 million per kilometre," he said. "The Surrey-Langley Skytrain (extension), based on the new number, will cost us $375 million."
Other projects elsewhere in Canada are also coming in more expensive, he added.
Looming behind this back-and-forth is competition for votes in the fast-growing suburbs in Metro Vancouver south of the Fraser River. That aspect shone through in comments from Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, who will be running in Surrey-Cloverdale.
"Residents of Surrey and Langley are being forced to shoulder the burden of this government’s failure," Sturko said.
Fleming said the project is the first extension of SkyTrain south of the Fraser River in 30 years. "(When) you think about all the growth that has occurred since 1995 in that region, it's shocking that people like John Rustad and Kevin Falcon neglected the region for so long," Fleming said. "So it would have been cheaper if they had done so and kept their promise," he said.
B.C. United recently unveiled plans for a cut in the provincial income tax that would cost about $5.4 billion and Falcon has in part promised to pay for this cut through better management of capital projects.
"Just imagine if we could take these billions of dollars in overruns, unnecessarily wasted due to NDP mismanagement, plus the billions in cost overruns on all of the other projects they’ve bungled and apply them to tax relief in the middle of an affordability crisis," Falcon said on social media. He also tied cost overruns to contracts that unduly benefit NDP-friendly unions -- so called 'community rip-off agreements.'
"Kevin Falcon shows his true colours," Fleming said in response. "He's anti-union, he is yesterday's man in every way...when he was in government, B.C. Hydro used project labour agreements with unions to build infrastructure. This is not unique to us."
Fleming also pushed against the suggestion that the opposition parties could reduce costs.
"These are market costs, determined through a competitive process," Fleming said. "So if John Rustad is out saying that somehow his Conservative Party can wave a magic wand and reduce the costs...he's just not telling the truth."
