Article content continued

“If Mr. McCallum wants to raise taxes in Surrey to fill the gap he’s welcome to. I don’t think the people of Surrey will embrace that. But that’s the only way there’s going to be more money, it’s going to come out of his pocket not out of the federal or provincial pie.”

The region’s mayors will vote Thursday on whether to start planning for SkyTrain on a timetable of operation by 2025.

How to fund the apparent billion-dollar gap between LRT and SkyTrain remains a point of contention.

McCallum has said he thinks the entire Surrey to Langley SkyTrain line can be built for much less than TransLink estimates.

Mayors said in November that any SkyTrain proposal should only draw on the $1.65 billion set aside for Phase 2 — though that won’t be enough to build the full 16-kilometre line to the centre of Langley.

Phase 3 of the mayors’ plan also has another $1.9 billion allocated for rapid transit South of the Fraser, but that part of the plan has not yet been funded, and what kind of rapid transit it will be used for — SkyTrain, light rail or rapid bus — has not yet been determined. The Mayors’ Council will vote tomorrow on whether to direct TransLink staff to go ahead with a refresh of that rapid transit plan.

TransLink plans to prepare a business case for Surrey SkyTrain within the next year. To date, it has not asked the provincial or federal governments for any additional funding.

Horgan said it’s “just not on” if McCallum expects to turn to the B.C. government to cover his election promise of SkyTrain.