Frankly Speaking

Premier Christy Clark has taken to YouTube to announce that her government plans “bold action” on the very significant issue of housing affordability. Clark said, in a video released last week, that the province will be announcing specific measures to make housing more affordable in the coming weeks. On Sunday, Housing Minister Rich Coleman and his federal counterpart announced that the federal government will spend $150 million on affordable housing in B.C. Housing prices have gone from a curiosity to an annoyance to a full-blown problem in the past few years. It’s not a problem for those who have significant equity in their homes, but it is a big problem for everyone else – renters, homeowners with large monthly payments and those who want to buy their first home, or those hoping to relocate from one home to another. Prices have been rising sharply. Many realtors admit that it is very difficult to accurately price homes because of the demand. The supply is not coming close...

Crime has been the dominant issue in Surrey since well before the 2014 municipal election, which saw Linda Hepner succeed Dianne Watts as mayor and the Surrey First slate gain all nine seats on council. Back in 2007, when Watts was mayor, city council adopted a crime reduction strategy. One key element was introduction of a community court, similar to one that has been quite successful in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. However, Justice Minister Suzanne Anton has now put the brakes on that idea. At a recent groundbreaking for an expansion of Surrey Provincial Court – the busiest provincial courthouse in the province – she said “Community court is off the table.” The idea for a community court in Surrey followed a trip by Watts and seven other city representatives to New York. They found that community courts there addressed the root causes of crime and delivered swift justice. In such courts, people convicted of relatively minor crimes resulting from substance abuse ar...

Langley Township Coun. Angie Quaale, a former Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce president, congratulates Lynn Whitehouse as she was honoured at a Thursday retirement event. Quaale said of Whitehouse on Facebook " I can't think of a single person, professionally, that has had a bigger influence on the decisions I've made in the last 10 years. We should all be so blessed to leave such a legacy." After more than 30 years of managing Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce, Lynn Whitehouse is retiring. As was noted at a retirement party for her Thursday (June 16), she touched and changed a lot of lives during that period. Her friend, well-known speaker Peter Legge, likened her to George Bailey in the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life, whose influence in a town he stayed in largely out of loyalty was far more than he had ever realized. In many communities, the chamber of commerce is seen as exclusively a voice for the business community, with little in...

A recent trip to Colorado and New Mexico provided my wife Bonnie and I the opportunity to visit many legendary areas, including the former Denver, South Park and Pacific railway grade which leads up to Alpine Tunnel, the first tunnel ever pushed through the continental divide. The tunnel, built in 1880-81, is 11,500 feet above sea level. Regular readers of my columns and blog posts know that I have long had an interest in railways and history. A trip to Colorado and New Mexico provided the opportunity to combine those interests. My wife Bonnie and I took part in an organized tour of all but one of the Colorado scenic tourist railroads, organized by Special Interest Tours and also sponsored by Trains magazine. There were 35 of us on the tour, including two other British Columbians who are part of the Fraser Valley Heritage rail group, which operates the interurban trips from Cloverdale. There was also a couple from Japan and Americans from all corners of the country. It was a f...

The Alex Fraser Bridge is under more pressure each day, due to growth in the South Fraser region and the province's tolling policies Last week’s announcement of a new interchange at Highway 91 and 72 Avenue in North Delta shows that the provincial government is finally aware of at least some of the critical issues related to the Alex Fraser Bridge. Transportation Minister Todd Stone and Delta Mayor Lois Jackson announced the plans to turn the intersection into an interchange on Wednesday, June 8. The $30 million project will be completed by the fall of 2018. The Highway 91/72 Avenue intersection has been controlled by a traffic light since the bridge opened in 1986. The intersection has long caused significant traffic delays, particularly for northbound traffic, because of the ever-increasing volumes of traffic on Highway 91. Since the bridge opened, North Delta’s population has grown significantly, and Surrey’s has grown even more substantially. Much of the growth i...