Frankly Speaking

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Bays Blackhall, a tireless volunteer in Langley and one of the most knowledgeable people on Fort Langley's rich history. She died unexpectedly at Ridge Meadows Hospital on Tuesday, April 18 In particular, she was a tireless promoter of the unique place that Sir James Douglas holds in B.C. and Fort Langley history, as the first governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia. She also often volunteered at the Fort Langley CN station, one of my favourite buildings. It was saved from the wrecking ball by heritage advocates more than 30 years ago. Langley Times reporter Dan Ferguson has written a story on her passing, as has Matthew Claxton of The Langley Advance. Her family and many friends will gather to remember her on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Fort Langley Community Hall, another building that was very dear to her heart. She was a regular writer of letters to the editor over my 17 years as editor of The Times, and I always enj...

One night after the B.C. party leaders’ debate, the four candidates in the new Langley East riding gathered Thursday to give their positions on a large number of issues, at an all-candidates’ meeting sponsored by Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. The candidates are Rich Coleman of the BC Liberals, who has represented Fort Langley-Aldergrove in the B.C. legislature since 1996; Inder Johal of the NDP; Bill Masse of the Green Party and Alex Joehl of the Libertarians. The former Fort Langley-Aldergrove riding was renamed because it no longer includes Aldergrove – that portion of Langley is now in the Abbotsford South riding. Inder Johal is the daughter of Amrik Mahil, who ran for the NDP in the Surrey-Panorama riding in 2013, placing second to Marvin Hunt of the BC Liberals. He told me his daughter was determined to represent the NDP as a candidate in this election. Moderator Scott Johnston, president of the chamber, asked all the quest...

For voters in Surrey-Fleetwood, which will be one of the most hard-fought races in the South Fraser area, I would like to invite you to an all-candidates meeting next Wednesday, May 3, at the Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church, 9165 160 St. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and is co-sponsored by the Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church and Northwood United Church. These two organizations have sponsored many such meetings in both federal and provincial campaigns and they have always been lively. I have been asked to serve as moderator and I’m greatly looking forward to it. The three candidates in the riding, Peter Fassbender for the BC Liberals, Jagrup Brar of the NDP and Tim Binnema for the Green Party, have all said they will attend.

I wanted to share some thoughts about the B.C. provincial leaders’ debate tonight. First, moderator Jennifer Burke did a good job of explaining the format and rules beforehand, sticking to them and not letting any one of the leaders get out of hand. In general, the rules were good and gave viewers an opportunity to hear most of what each candidate was saying. Where the format fell down was when two leaders were interrupting each other after one asked a question, the other responded, and then a free-for-all ensued. On a number of those occasions, it was virtually impossible to hear what they were saying. It may make for good TV sound bites, but it turned off potential voters and added nothing of value for voters. Each leader had plenty of time to articulate their platform and the economic approach to their platform and promises. It was very helpful to hear each explain their approach to leadership, and to further explain some of their promises. The questions from viewers we...

The rapid rise in prices for housing of all types is the largest single pocketbook issue facing voters in the 2017 provincial election. The pocketbook issue which may prove to have the biggest influence on how people vote in the May 9 provincial election is housing. When looking back at the cost and availability of housing in 2013, when the last election was held, there is no comparison with the multiplicity of challenges on that front today. While the cost of detached houses had already risen substantially in some areas, sale prices were nowhere near what they are today. Townhouses and apartments were definitely affordable for most working people. Interest rates were low, as they are today, but the monthly payments were significantly less, simply because the initial cost was less. I took a close look at the Surrey, North Delta, White Rock and Langley markets in 2013 and 2017, based on Fraser Valley Real Estate Board sales statistics. In the markets other than Langley, p...

One of these three people will serve as B.C.'s next premier. We will likely know which one has won the voters' approval for the job sometime late in the evening on Tuesday, May 9. At top is BC Liberal leader Christy Clark, who has been premier since 2011. In the middle is NDP leader John Horgan. At the bottom is Green Party leader Andrew Weaver. I was privileged to be asked to moderate an all-candidates' meeting for candidates in the two main Langley ridings, sponsored by Langley Seniors Community Action Table. It was organized by Marilyn Fischer and other memers of the round table. They did a superb job. It took place today (April 19) at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Langley City. About 90 seniors, plus two members each of Langley City and Langley Township councils, were on hand. Eight of the nine candidates in the Langley and Langley East ridings were on hand. Inder Johal, the NDP candidate in Langley East, was sick and unable to attend. Unlike m...

Artist's drawing The Port Mann and Golden Ears bridge tolls are a major itrritant to people in many Lower Mainland communities. Both the NDP and BC Liberals are trying to curry favour with them by promising partial or complete removal of the tolls. Last Sunday ushered in the provincial election campaign for Surrey and many other South Fraser residents - two days ahead of the official start. Both major political parties promised good news for drivers south of the Fraser who regularly pay tolls. The BC Liberals kicked off the promising spree, saying Sunday that if the party is re-elected, bridge tolls will be capped at $500 per vehicle per year, for drivers with TReO stickers on their windshields. Significantly, this would apply to both the Port Mann Bridge (owned by the province) and the Golden Ears Bridge (owned by TransLink). The amount of tolls that would have been paid by drivers after they reach the $500 mark will be covered by the province. The BC Liberals’ p...