Newly elected Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and his team say they would waste no time getting to work on key campaign promises once they were sworn in.
McCallum, who was inaugurated Monday evening, has pledged to scrap already approved plans for light rail transit through the city in favour of a SkyTrain line and to replace the Surrey RCMP with a dedicated municipal force.
The incoming council plans to introduce a bill to address each issue that very night.
According to councillor-elect Jack Hundial, the first bill's purpose will be "serving notice to the RCMP to end the contract with the RCMP for policing in Surrey and the second one is for LRT to be halted and moving forward with SkyTrain in Surrey."
Critics say $50 million has already been spent on LRT planning and a SkyTrain line would be significantly more expensive. Others, including Langley Coun. Nathan Pachal, on the other hand, are hoping McCallum's plan works.
"From a Langley perspective, if he's able to get SkyTrain built—which means King George and Langley's downtown and it's all the same phase—that's really good news for Langley City," he told CTV News.
Still, even Pachal has his doubts.
"My concern would be if funding is constrained, we'll only see a portion of that being built," he said.
TransLink estimates the 16.5-kilometre LRT line from Surrey to Langley would cost $1.95 billion and a SkyTrain along the same route would cost around $2.9 billion.
And if Surrey wants to opt out, McCallum would also have to convince the Metro Vancouver Mayors' Council that the SkyTrain is a better option, despite the money that has already been spent.
Despite the hurdles, Hundial believes Surrey will get the support it needs to be successful in its plans.
"I think there'll be some challenges moving forward," he said.
When it comes to policing in the city, critics have raised concerns about the amount of time and money a transition away from the RCMP would cost.
McCallum, however, remains adamant that the switch will help improve the city's growing gun violence problem despite a lack of clear evidence that a local force would necessarily benefit public safety.
"It will cost us a little bit more money for our police force, but the people of Surrey tell us very clearly they're willing to pay a little more to make their community safe," he told CTV late last month.
McCallum, who previously served as the city's mayor between 1996 and 2005, will take the reins from outgoing mayor Linda Hepner, who announced back in April she would not seek re-election.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Michele Brunoro