Surrey mayoral candidate Linda Annis and two other Metro Vancouver city councillors are slamming Premier David Eby for "quietly abandoning" a review related to the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant Project and its billions of dollars in cost overruns.
Councillors Annis, Daniel Fontaine (New Westminster) and Kash Heed (Richmond) issued a joint press release Sept. 9 expressing "outrage" after receiving a letter Sept. 5 from Assistant Deputy Minister Tara Faganello they say indicates the provincial government won't pursue an inquiry or review and "expects the matter to resume only after litigation between Metro Vancouver and Acciona concludes—a trial that is not expected to begin for years and may never occur if an out-of-court settlement is reached."
“We’ve now seen the letter, and it confirms what we feared—Premier Eby has quietly backed away from his commitment to transparency,” Annis said. “This project is over $3 billion off the rails, and instead of taking action, the Province is washing its hands of responsibility. That’s just not acceptable.”
Fontaine accused Eby of "walking away when it matters most" and Heed remarked that "everyone knows this court case is unlikely to go to trial.
"If it’s settled behind closed doors with a non-disclosure agreement, the review will be permanently buried and taxpayers will be left in the dark,” Heed warns.
The three councillors said this letter confirms a refusal to invoke Inspector of Municipalities powers under Section 764 of the Local Government Act that could trigger an inquiry.
"Instead, the government’s position is that the matter does not warrant intervention because it doesn’t impact the broader local government system," the press release states.
Meantime, in a "secret vote" in July Metro Vancouver's board of directors halted an independent review of the project.
In 2025, the Metro Vancouver (MV) sewer levy for Surrey increased by 37.6 per cent compared to 2024 with 76 per cent of this levy hike being imposed to fund the treatment plant project.
In February, council approved utility rate "adjustments" related to water, sewer, drainage, solid waste, parking and district energy self-funded (ie. user pay) utilities that contained a "significant cost escalation" related to the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant (NSWWTP) that's estimated to cost $2.86 billion more than it was supposed to be.
Surrey city manager Rob Constanzo and finance manager Kam Grewal told council at the time this is "resulting in increased sewer levy amounts for a period of 30 years for North Shore residents and 15 years for residents of all other municipalities in the region, including Surrey."
Also, Metro Vancouver sewer rates are projected to rise by an average 7.1 per cent per year for each of the remaining four years of the Five-Year Plan. The annual impact on sewer customers as proposed is $174.14 for metered single family accounts, $967.41 on metered commercial and $386.96 on non-meter residential.
Members of the public had an opportunity to voice any concerns at the finance committee meeting but nobody showed up.
