Frankly Speaking

Today is the final day of my 17 years as editor of The Langley Times. Here's some thoughts about the many interesting people I've worked with and encountered over the years, as published in The Times' July 1 edition. As a 37-year career in community newspapers winds down this week, it’s time for me to thank all those who have made it possible. First, I wish to thank all those who have passed on good wishes over the past few weeks, and in particular those who honoured me with their attendance at a retirement party last week at Langley Golf Centre. Many thanks to publisher Jean Hincks, incoming editor Brenda Anderson and assistant ad manager Kelly Myers in particular, for their hard work in organizing a very special event. Second, many thanks to the great group of people I have worked with at The Times. Brenda is taking over as editor. She has been here for all the time I’ve held this position, and a bit longer. She knows the community well and will do a great ...

Speakers at a housing forum sponsored by the Urban Development Institute brought a measure of common sense to the often-overheated rhetoric about housing prices in Metro Vancouver. As they pointed out, the price of townhouses and condominium apartments in the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board area (which includes Surrey and Langley) has actually fallen since 2008. Only the price of detached homes is rising. The significant change is the development of a two-tier market. There is one market for detached homes, no matter what size the lot, and another for multi-family units. The gap between the two has risen from $200,000 in 2009 to between $300,000 and $400,000 today. It continues to widen. In some ways, this should not be a surprise. Ever since the Agricultural Land Reserve was created in 1972, there have been significant limits on land available for urban development. Up until recent years, there has been enough supply available. But that has changed. Much of Surrey has been develope...

The federal election is set for Oct. 19 of this year. It will be a hard-fought contest, with the Conservatives, NDP and Liberals all polling quite close together thus far, although there are significant regional differences. In Surrey, the election got a lot more interesting yesterday. Garry Begg, a recently-retired inspector with Surrey RCMP, announced he is seeking the NDP nomination in Fleetwood-Port Kells. There will be five Surrey seats in the next House of Commons, thanks to redistribution. Surrey continues to grow and the number of MPs seats does as well. Fleetwood-Port Kells is currently held by Conservative MP Nina Grewal, who is seeking re-election after winning the past four elections. She has usually won by comfortable margins, but never by a landslide. The demographics of the riding (and indeed all Surrey ridings) are changing, and the change in electoral boundaries likely benefits the NDP. The new riding loses some areas to the east and south, which were likely stron...

It is with both a sense of sadness and excitement that I pass on the news that I will be retiring from my position as Langley Times editor at the end of this month. I have held this position for almost 17 years — far longer than I had initially anticipated. There are two reasons — the terrific people I work with at The Times, and all the amazing people in Langley whom we are privileged to write about and photograph each week. The community newspaper business is very different from most media businesses. Our job is to present news and information to our readers which helps them get to know this community and its goings-on, from information that is just not easily available to them elsewhere. Some people think there is no need for print media any longer, given the advances in technology. There is no shortage of information on the internet, and it is easier than ever to get at, with new mobile devices coming out all the time. However, I challenge them to check out what th...