Did the B.C. NDP government turn down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to help pay for its new George Massey tunnel replacement?
Turns out: Yes.
Delta MP and federal cabinet minister Carla Qualtrough has revealed to the Delta Optimist that Ottawa put cash on the table for the new $4.15-billion, eight-lane tunnel under the Fraser River, but was rebuffed by Premier David Eby’s provincial New Democrat administration.
“At some point, just before the last provincial election, there was a legitimate, multi-hundred-million dollar offer that the province didn’t take at the time,” Qualtrough told the paper.
Qualtrough, who is not seeking another term appears to be spilling the beans in her final hours in office on the eve of Sunday’s expected federal election call.
“I’m absolutely shocked by this,” said Delta South MLA Ian Paton, who has long been a critic of the NDP tunnel plan and favours the original BC Liberal bridge proposal.
“I’m flabbergasted by this announcement. Are you kidding me?... what government wouldn’t at least cash the cheque if the federal government offered them a billion dollars or something towards the project?”
Qualtrough told the Glacier Media outlet that the people of Delta need to know the federal Liberal government “made good on its promise. We put a lot of money on the table that would have ensured a second exit out of Ladner.”
That second exit out of Ladner would have been in the form of an overpass across Highway 99, at River Road — something that has never been part of the scope of the tunnel project because the province said it would require additional funding.
And yet when Ottawa offered that money, B.C. appears to have said no.
Premier David Eby has for more than two years been calling on Ottawa to help fund the new Massey tunnel. New Democrats have been slow-playing construction on the project since taking office in 2017, due to budget constraints.
Eby has raised the issue several times directly with former prime minister Justin Trudeau. But he’s never revealed that he turned funding down.
The B.C. government in a statement did not deny federal cash had been offered, but disputed whether it had ever formally been put “in writing” and therefore did not constitute a “formal offer.”
The statement also shed light on what appears to be the core of the issue: B.C. wanted at least 50 per cent of the project cost, which would have been $2 billion and far more than the “hundreds of millions” Qualtrough had said was offered.
B.C. balked at the smaller amount. Ottawa balked at B.C.’s request. And so nothing was ever formally put “in writing,” it appears.
“B.C. believes the Government of Canada should support this important project with a significant financial contribution comparable to what other provinces are receiving for their major transportation infrastructure, like the Toronto to Quebec City high-speed rail project,” read the provincial statement.
Eby has long complained the federal government fails to give B.C. a fair share of funding compared with Ontario and Quebec.
“Significant money was offered prior to the last provincial election and the province chose not to accept that offer at the time and hasn’t, as of yet, kind of accepted the money the feds are … able to pay, given the economic realities of our time,” Qualtrough said.
Maybe B.C. will reconsider? Or maybe new Prime Minister Mark Carney will up the offer during the election that’s expected to be called March 23? We’ll see.
Secondary Suite Program Flops, is Cancelled
A lack of funding also curtailed another B.C. program this week designed to help pay owners to develop secondary suites in their homes.
The Secondary Suite Incentive Program opened April 17, 2024, and didn’t even last a year before the housing ministry pulled the plug, this week citing “uncertain financial times.”
The program was intended to spur the creation of new rental suites by offering homeowners up to $40,000 in rebates if they rented the new suites at below-market rates.
“This is a win for homeowners, a win for renters and a win for communities throughout our province,” Eby said when the program launched.
The intention was to “add thousands of long-term, below-market rental homes to urban and rural communities across B.C.” at a rate of 1,000 homeowners per year, for three years.
Instead, in the first year, only 200 loans were approved or pre-approved, according to the housing ministry.
The program had a $91 million budget. Only $1.94 million has been spent, the government says, with another $5.77 million pre-approved for once construction is complete. The remaining $83.29 million will be “reallocated to other housing programs,” according to the province.
In other news:
• Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to create “shovel-ready zones” with pre-approved construction permits for major resource or energy projects. If he’s elected and follows through, the move could have big implications for B.C., which is fast-tracking several mining, natural gas, LNG and pipeline projects, but which in the past has tied up natural resource and energy projects with red tape and onerous environmental reviews.
• The B.C. government continues to face fierce opposition to Bill 7, its proposal to bypass the legislature for two years and hand extraordinary wartime powers to Eby under the guise it is necessary to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Opposition Conservative jobs critic Gavin Dew penned an op-ed in BIV this week urging the business community, which at first appeared to publicly support the legislation because it also contained clauses to drop interprovincial trade barriers, to step up and show opposition.
• Glacier columnist Kirk LaPointe also chimed in with criticism of Bill 7’s undemocratic intentions, as did Times Colonist columnist Les Leyne. Both are worth a read.
• Finally on the Bill 7 file, the BC Greens, who have a written agreement with the NDP to be meaningfully consulted on the legislation, and have their questions answered privately, have emerged to say they have … more questions. The two Green MLAs say they need answers about the bill. Eby has said he’s willing to go to an election if the legislation fails to get support, which would make Bill 7 a confidence matter. Under the NDP-Green deal, the Greens are supposedly obligated to vote with the NDP on confidence matters.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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