B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson is doubling down on his election promise to cancel construction of the new George Massey Tunnel, arguing a bridge would be cheaper and faster to build. The long-running political battle over how to replace the ageing crossing has emerged as a front-burner issue in the provincial election campaign and prompted a sharp rebuke from his opponent. B.C. NDP Leader David Eby targeted Doerkson during a campaign stop directly in front of the active construction zone for the $8.5 billion project. “I would challenge the Conservative leader to show up at this site, look these workers in the eye and say, ‘I’m firing you,’” Eby said. “The idea that we would abandon this project at this stage is the stupidest idea I have ever heard.” Eby added that scrapping the active project would “vaporize” the $3 billion the federal government promised in funding. But Doerkson estimates a bridge could be built in five years for $6 billion. “The fear that I’m hearing from residents is that this tunnel will never be built, and so residents are beyond frustrated,” Doerkson said. The Conservative leader also labelled the current NDP plan a “pipe dream,” because it has yet to pass all environmental hurdles. Replacing the Massey Tunnel has remained a decades-long headache for Metro Vancouver drivers, marked by political reversals and shifting designs.
