Langley political activity at low levels, considering provincial election's proximity

Premier Christy Clark's job is on the line. Voters in 87 B.C. ridings will decide on May 9 if her government deserves another term.

The 2017 provincial election takes place on May 9 – less than three months from now. Yet in Langley, the level of political activity thus far has been quite subdued.

Perhaps the biggest change is that one of the two Langley ridings has been renamed, and significant portions of eastern Langley are no longer part of the former Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding. The riding, in place since 1991, has been renamed Langley East. All of Langley Township east of 248 Street and south of Highway 1 is now located in the Abbotsford South riding, while the portion east of 264 Street and north of Highway 1 is in the Abbotsford West riding.

This effectively takes Aldergrove out of Langley, for provincial purposes. While this seems strange, considering that the two Langleys have been served by two ridings continuously since the 1991 election, it is not without precedent.

When the first Langley riding was established in time for the 1966 provincial election, it included a portion of eastern Surrey, the two Langleys and a significant portion of what was then Matsqui municipality (now Abbotsford).

As of early February, there were just three nominated candidates in the two Langley ridings. The two incumbent BC Liberal MLAs are both running again, and Gail Chaddock-Costello, who ran in Fort Langley-Aldergrove in 2009 for the NDP is running again – this time in the Langley riding. Randy Caine, who ran for mayor in Langley City in 2014, is also planning to run in the Langley riding as an independent.

In Abbotsford South, BC Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas is seeking re-election. He is the only nominated candidate thus far. He was first elected in 2013. Abbotsford West is represented by BC Liberal Mike de Jong, the current finance minister, who has been an MLA since 1994. He is running again, and is opposed by NDP candidate Preet Rai, an Abbotsford school trustee.

The two longtime Langley MLAs have both held their jobs for many years, and both play significant roles on the provincial scene. Rich Coleman, MLA for Fort Langley-Aldergrove, was first elected in 1996, not long after de Jong. Recruited by then-BC Liberal leader Gordon Campbell, Coleman spent first five years as an MLA in opposition.

When the BC Liberals cruised to an overwhelming victory in 2001, winning 77 out of 79 seats in the legislature, Coleman was named minister of public safety and minister of housing. Over the years, he has held a number of other portfolios, but has continued to be responsible for housing right up to the present. He is currently deputy premier and minister for natural gas development, and has spent much of the last four years trying to get LNG projects to the “final investment decision” stage. This has involved extensive travel and lots of negotiations and meetings, but he remains confident that at least one major LNG project will be built in B.C.

Mary Polak was first elected MLA for Langley in 2005, after the BC Liberals’ first term in government. She had been a Surrey school trustee, and ran unsuccessfully for the BC Liberals in a Surrey-Panorama byelection in 2004.

She too has held a number of portfolios, most recently minister of environment. She has held that post since 2013.

Chaddock-Costello is a longtime Langley teacher who has been very active in her union. She served as president of the Langley Teachers Association for five years, and is currently on the executive of the B.C. Teachers Federation.

Langley has long been a stronghold of right-leaning parties, but there was a significant shift in the 2015 federal election, when Liberal John Aldag won the new Cloverdale-Langley City riding as part of a wave of Liberals who won B.C. seats. The federal Liberal party is different from the provincial party, which is more of a coalition of federal Liberals and Conservatives.

Indeed, in almost all of the years since a coalition government was first formed in B.C. in 1941 by the Liberals and Conservatives, Langley’s MLAs have represented right-leaning parties.

One of the exceptions was 1941-45, when Len Shepherd was the CCF (predecessor of the NDP) MLA for Delta, a huge riding which at that time included Richmond. Delta, Surrey and Langley. In 1945, Alex Hope, a Conservative coalitionist and former Township reeve (mayor), won the seat and represented Langley in the provincial house until 1952.

When the Social Credit party under W.A.C. Bennett first came to power in 1952, the Delta seat was one of just 19 seats it won. Tom Irwin was the new MLA. The Socreds basically replaced the coalition, which had fallen apart due to partisan bickering between the supposed partners, the Liberals and Conservatives.

Social Credit MLAs held the seat until 1960. At that time, it was a two-member riding, due to the huge and growing population. The CCF won the two Delta seats in the 1960 election. Jim Rhodes and Camille Mather represented the riding in Victoria until 1963, when they were defeated by Socred candidates Hunter Vogel and Ernie Lecours. Vogel was the first mayor of Langley City and was well-known in both Langley and Surrey for many years.

The Delta riding was split into four ridings in time for the 1966 election, and Langley for the first time was a separate seat. Vogel won that riding easily and remained as MLA until 1972.

The 1972 election was a watershed. The Socreds under Bennett were defeated after 20 years in power. While the NDP won many seats they had rarely or never held, Langley was not one of them. Newcomer Bob McClelland held the Langley seat for Social Credit. He was one of just 10 Socred MLAs elected.

By 1975, after a series of moves to try to unite the non-NDP voters in a new coalition, W.A.C. Bennett’s son Bill, new leader of the Social Credit party, defeated the NDP government of Dave Barrett.

The new Socreds were quite different from the version that Bill Bennett’s father had headed for so long. The caucus and cabinet was made up of a number of MLAs who had first been elected as Conservatives or Liberals. Several new candidates who had been part of those two parties were also elected.

It was a more obvious coalition government, and McClelland was named minister of health after the 1975 election.

He remained Langley MLA until 1986, when the riding became a two-member riding (again due to population growth). Under new party leader Bill Vander Zalm, the Socreds won their last victory and new Socred MLAs Carl Gran and Dan Peterson represented Langley for the party.

In 1991, another pivotal election, the NDP were again elected under the leadership of Mike Harcourt. Social Credit was badly defeated, winning just seven seats, and the BC Liberals became the official opposition, with 17 MLAs under leader Gordon Wilson.
The Langley riding had been split into two ridings. Lynn Stephens won the Langley seat, which she held until 2005. Gary Farrell-Collins won the Fort Langley-Aldergrove seat.

As happened in 1952 with Social Credit, supporters of other parties were recruited by the dominant BC Liberals, particularly after Gordon Campbell became leader.

The BC Liberals have now been in power since 2001 – 16 years. Only Social Credit under the elder Bennett held power longer. It will be up to voters in May to see if their hold on power will continue.