The BC Liberals’ asset Fire Sale sold out Surrey for political gain

SURREY– The BC Liberal Fire Sale of Crown assets will leave the residents of Surrey scrambling to find space for future hospitals, schools and social housing.

“Yesterday’s Auditor General report shows just how short-sighted the BC Liberal Government was when it came to investing in the services people need,” said Jinny Sims, MLA for Surrey-Panorama. “In selling off this valuable crown land, they clearly made a choice to pad their budgets instead of investing in the services people count on, to look for immediate political gain instead of planning for the future.”

In 2012, the BC Liberal government launched a two year program called the Release of Assets for Economic Generation (RAEG), to help balance the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 budgets. During that time the government sold off more than 100 real estate assets across the province.

The province sold off hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of crown lands across the province, including in Surrey where a population boom will undoubtedly necessitate ongoing capital projects in the future. One such property, sold near East Panorama Ridge, comprised of 15-acres zoned for institutional use. Sold in 2014 for $20.5 million dollars, it is estimated that the same swath of land is worth $31.7 million dollars today.

In her report the Auditor General noted that although RAEG was supposed to take three factors—revenue, generation of economic activity, and cost savings—into account when determining appropriate assets to sell, they only focussed on the revenue target. This means that the BC Liberals refused to look at the ways that such spaces could be used to promote a healthy growing economy, or assess the potential economic implication of selling these assets into the future.

“Because the BC Liberals chose to sell off tax-payer assets to balance their budgets in 2014 and 2015, going forward it will be more difficult for any new government—regardless of political affiliation—to build public housing, health care centers, or schools around the province,” Minister Sims added. “The BC Liberals simply did not take the long-term needs of our community into account when they chose to ignore the potential costs of such ventures. This is yet another example of the BC Liberals robbing Peter to pay Paul in order to produce a ‘balanced’ budget.”

Despite BC Liberal MLA Tracy Redies’ claim that their fire sale of public assets were of land “not requited for future use”, it is interesting to note that former BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell, who visited Surrey-Panorama in 2005, agreed it could be a good place for a much-needed hospital in order to cope with Surrey’s rapidly increasing population.

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Media contact: Selina Wall (250) 387-0314