B.C. Conservatives pledge new children's hospital in Surrey, with no estimated cost or timeline

Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks during a campaign stop in Surrey, B.C., Monday, on Oct. 14, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

The B.C. Conservative Party has promised to build a new children's hospital for families south of the Fraser River, though details on the proposal are currently slim.

At a campaign stop on Thanksgiving, leader John Rustad announced plans for a "dedicated pediatric hospital" in Surrey that would allow more families to get care close to home.

Surrey Memorial Hospital's pediatric ER is operating at more than double its original intended capacity, Rustad said, and hundreds of patients are transferred to B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver annually for emergency care.

"Pediatric health care, there's a definite shortage here in the community," he said. "We need to make sure these services are here, they're local, and they're available."

But the B.C. Conservative Party – which still has not released a costed campaign platform, less than a week out from voting day – could not provide an estimated budget or timeline for the project.

"There's no question with a project like this, it's going to be quite an expensive project," Rustad said, in response to a question about the potential cost of the hospital.

"That costing will have to come at a later date as we build out just what it will be."

In a statement, B.C. NDP candidate Adrian Dix noted that the provincial government has already begun construction on a new hospital in Surrey, plus a "major expansion" to Surrey Memorial Hospital that includes a new maternity unit and expanded pediatric services.

"People in Surrey remember that John Rustad and the B.C. Liberals sold off land meant to be a hospital and rejected a second medical school," Dix said, in a statement. "Now, it seems he will say anything, but he has no plan, no costing and no intention to follow through."

If re-elected, the NDP would "be happy" to work with Surrey to "further strengthen health-care services for families" if the municipality has land for use, he added.

Dix called the Conservatives’ hospital promise "another hastily made-up announcement" designed to distract voters from a growing number of controversies surrounding the party’s candidates.

On Sunday, social media posts resurfaced of Surrey South candidate Brent Chapman casting doubt on the official accounts of mass shooting events, including the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting that killed six people and left five others seriously injured. 

"Look, I really hope no one was actually killed at any of these events but in the Orlando night club shooting, the people that talked to the press were not actually shot,” Chapman wrote, in part.

Chapman issued a social media statement overnight acknowledging the mass shootings referenced in his post were all “very real.”

Asked about the candidate's comments, Rustad called the remarks "offensive" and "wrong," but said he couldn't respond further because Chapman has "retained legal advice."

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