Frankly Speaking

Sunday’s fatal crash involving a car and a train at the Langley Bypass crossing was the second in just over three years on the Canadian Pacific rail corridor to take the lives of elderly Langley residents. In September, 2015, an ambulance was hit by a train at the Crush Crescent crossing, killing the 87-year-old patient inside. Sunday’s terrible tragedy involving a car and a train needn’t have happened. The crash, detailed in this Langley Times story https://www.langleytimes.com/news/watch-two-seniors-reportedly-hit-and-killed-by-train-in-langley/ , took place on a sunny December morning. The victims, a 90-year-old man and an 88-year-old woman, were in a vehicle that somehow became stranded on the Langley Bypass crossing. The crew of the westbound CN coal train had no ability to stop the train, which would have weighed in excess of 10,000 tons. The train pushed the car the couple were riding in close to a kilometre down the tracks before it stopped. The couple were identified on M

Santa Claus has a bag full of goodies for the newsmakers among us. This is an update of a sneak preview of gifts Santa has for some of the newsmakers who affect our lives. The original was written in the midst of the windstorm of Dec. 20, just before the power went out at my home and in thousands of other places on or near the B.C. south coast. Of course, that was the day the White Rock pier broke apart in the storm, and the day the electoral reform referendum results came down. As a result of all that, Santa let me know that an update of the gifts he was giving was required. Over a bowl of Christmas cheer, I acquiesced. Santa had to change his list quite dramatically this year – even as late as Thursday, Dec. 20. So many of the politicians he had gifts for were summarily dumped by voters in October, and that didn’t give the elves in his workshop much time to retool. However, he’s managed to do his best with the time he had available. He knew earlier that Linda Hepner

Minor hockey players in Surrey often have to travel to other communities to practice and play hockey, because of a shortage of available ice in Surrey. Mayor Doug McCallum wants to delay building a new Cloverdale Arena, which would have two sheets of ice. The new Surrey council is looking at delaying a number of capital projects, out of concern for the level of debt. These include a new ice arena in Cloverdale, on the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Clearing of the site has already taken place, but no construction has started. Also on the postponement list are a community centre and library for the Grandview Heights area and expansion of the Fleetwood Community Centre. Several other capital projects also face delay. Mayor Doug McCallum made a lot of noise about $514 in capital debt last week. Yet the debt level is not that high. At present, it sits at $378 million. The delayed projects would add another $136 million in debt. That’s where the $514 million figure comes in. Debt

The SkyTrain system in Surrey will finally expand past King George Station, if the new Surrey council has its way. It voted Monday to scrap plans for LRT and put the money committed to it towards a SkyTrain line along Fraser Highway. Surrey has had no rapid transit extensions since 1994, despite a huge influx in its population since that time. Surrey council’s inaugural meeting Monday night was a very different type of meeting. While the usual formality was still part of the meeting, the most important part of the meeting came after the formal swearing in of council members. Council held a “special regular meeting,” where two motions were passed – one to begin the process of changing from the RCMP to a local Surrey police force, and another to scrap LRT in favour of SkyTrain. Both of these motions are a direct result of Mayor Doug McCallum’s successful campaign with the Safe Surrey Coalition. A new police force and a push for SkyTrain instead of LRT were the coalition’s two

The voting packages for the referendum on how B.C. voters will elect the next provincial government are either in the mail, or have been received. Mine came on Wednesday. Everyone on the voters' list should receive their ballots by today. If they don't, they should contact Elections BC. There is an ongoing rotating postal strike, but voters have yet to hear if there will be alternate ways to get them back to Elections BC - perhaps by dropping them off at designated locations. The municipal election is over, althoigh inaugural meetings of most new councils and school boards won't take place until next week. Now voters are being asked to cast another vote. The province is conducting a referendum, using mail-in ballots, on the issue of proportional representation. Voting was to start on Oct. 22, just two days after the municipal election. All completed ballots must be in the hands of Elections BC by Nov. 30. No date has been publicly set as to when results will