BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson Sold Off $1 Billion In Publicly-Owned Properties During His Days As Minister

BC NDP Minister of Citizens’ Services Jinny Sims says Andrew Wilkinson put his rich donors first and made Surrey families pay for it in the $1 billion selloff which included 21 prime properties in Surrey. Sims notes that Wilkinson’s sell off happened while the BC Liberals were cutting taxes for the richest 2% of British Columbians. Wilkinson is hiding from the media and not responding to the story’s troubling allegations of why many properties were sold under price and why the same properties were flipped for profit on the same day they were sold. And in some cases, the government sold the properties only to lease them back from the buyer at taxpayers’ expenses.

SURREY– A Vancouver Sun report published this week shows that when BC Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson was Minister of Citizens’ Services, he led a selloff of $1 billion in publicly owned properties, including 21 sites in Surrey – more than any other community.

BC NDP Minister of Citizens’ Services Jinny Sims notes that Wilkinson’s sell off happened while the BC Liberals were cutting taxes for the richest 2% of British Columbians.

“Andrew Wilkinson sold off land in Surrey to pay for tax cuts to the richest 2%,” said Sims. “He helped his rich friends cash in while giving up possible sites for much needed schools and hospitals. He’s shown that when given the chance, he’ll put his rich donors first and make everyone else pay for it.”

Sims says that as one of the fastest growing communities in BC, Surrey was particularly hard hit but the land sales.

 “If any community needed this land, it’s Surrey,” said Sims. “The decision to sell these lands shows that Andrew Wilkinson and the BC Liberals weren’t planning to build schools and hospitals here.”

In opposition, the NDP fought against Wilkinson’s sell off. In 2017, Sims stood at a the proposed site of a new Surrey hospital, which had been sold off by Wilkinson and Christy Clark. (Video)

 “Andrew Wilkinson’s BC Liberals left people in Surrey behind for years. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re on the right track now by building new schools and planning for a new hospital,” said Sims. “Andrew Wilkinson would undo our progress and take us back to a time when the top 2% got all the breaks. We can’t afford to take that risk.”

Wilkinson is hiding from the media and not responding to the story’s troubling allegations of why many properties were sold under price and why the same properties were flipped for profit on the same day they were sold. And in some cases, the government sold the properties only to lease them back from the buyer at taxpayers’ expenses.