Frankly Speaking

Hugh Davis (centre) honoured me by coming to my retirement party from The Langley Times in June, 2015. Seated with him are (left to right) Terry Smith, Bev Sommer, Warren Sommer, his longtime friend Irene McKaig, Marj Friesen and Benno Friesen. Hugh's long and productive life will be remembered at a celebration of life Saturday at the Kings School, next door to the Milner farm where he was born 93 years ago. Hugh Davis, who passed away at age 93 on Oct. 2, was one of the last links with the early days of Langley Township. He was the third generation of the Davis family to operate an active and vibrant dairy farm on a portion of what was the Hudson’s Bay Company lands in Milner. The HBC farm was established in Milner in 1835 in an effort to broaden the economic activity conducted at nearby Fort Langley. It was the first farm in the Fraser Valley, predating the establishment of British Columbia by 24 years. The company finally decided to sell the land, with it going to au...

When the BC Liberal government under then-premier Gordon Campbell decided to replace the original Port Mann Bridge (pictured) and upgrade Highway 1 between Vancouver and Langley, it failed to see how unfair it was to only charge bridge users a toll to pay for the entire project. That inequity has been rectified by their successors, the new NDP government under Premier John Horgan. Stephen Rees photo On Friday, Premier John Horgan announced that tolls would be removed from the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge, effective Sept. 1. This fulfills a key election promise made by the NDP – one that likely made the difference between winning and losing the provincial election. They picked up four seats in North Surrey and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows (and a fifth one in North Delta). There is no doubt that the pledge to remove the tolls was a key factor in some voters switching their loyalty from the BC Liberals to the NDP in all those ridings. (The importance of this pr...

Travelling across the Port Mann Bridge may become free, if the NDP follow through with plans to eliminate tolling on bridges. An NDP minority government will likely be in place within the month. None of us have any idea of when the NDP will form a minority government in Victoria, but the agreement signed last week by NDP leader John Horgan and Green leader Andrew Weaver indicates it will happen. Now that the legislature has been called back (it will begin sitting on June 22), it's a fair guess that an NDP minority government will take power in late June or early July. That means some significant changes in the transportation realm, one of the hot button issues that attracted votes for both parties in Surrey and Delta. The NDP was the prime beneficiary, going from three seats in Surrey to seven NDP MLAs representing Surrey and Delta in the provincial legislature. This compares to four BC Liberals. Attention to transportation issues also helped the NDP win the two Mapl...

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...

The issue of bridge tolls should be an important one in the May provincial election, particularly in the 19 seats between Chilliwack and Delta where drivers are most directly impacted. Gary Hee is running as an independent candidate in Surrey South, specifically on a promise to remove the tolls. Photo copyright nobridgetollsinbc.com A review of bridge tolling policy won’t happen until after the next election. The decision by Transportation Minister Todd Stone is clearly in the interests of the current BC Liberal government, but it may not be in the interest of bridge users. The best time to apply pressure to any government is just before an election ­- not afterwards. Stone said last month there is no rush to do such a review. The province has decided it is going ahead with the Deas Island bridge which will replace the Massey Tunnel, and it will be tolled. “If they (the Mayors’ Council) move forward with a tolled bridge to replace the Pattullo, that would leave the...