Frankly Speaking

Affordable housing and preservation of the existing rental stock have been important issues in the Langley City election. The City has some of the most affordable rental units in the Lower Mainland. It also has a much larger stock of social housing (per capita) than many other cities. The race for mayor in Langley City will likely be a close one – which should give voters in that community even more incentive than usual to get out to the polls on Saturday. Former mayor Peter Fassbender is seeking his old job back. Fassbender served as mayor from 2005 until he resigned in January, 2014 (in order to prevent a byelection). He had been elected as a BC Liberal MLA for Surrey-Fleetwood in May, 2013, and served in several cabinet positions during the 2013-17 term of the Christy Clark government. He lost his seat in the 2017 election. Ted Schaffer took over as acting mayor after Fassbender resigned, and ran and won election as mayor in 2014. He is not running again. Fassbe...

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has given no indication that controversial tax proposals will be withdrawn. Small business operators who spoke at a consultation meeting were almost universally opposed to the federal Liberals’ plan for tax fairness. The meeting took place Tuesday (Sept. 12) in Langley City, and was hosted by Cloverdale-Langley City MP John Aldag. The Liberal MP said his office has had more correspondence on this topic than any other since he was first elected two years ago. In response to a question from Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce director Jenny Hinch, he said responses to the letters he has received will start going out tomorrow. He had been waiting for a Liberal caucus meeting, which took place last week in Kelowna, before responding, as he knew the issue would be an important one of the agenda there. He also urges anyone wanting to speak about the proposals to send responses to fin.consultation.fin@canada.ca . He asked that people sending responses...

Frank Bucholtz photo Jason Cook, executive director of Langley Health Services and site manager of Langley Memorial Hospital, talked Tuesday to members of Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce about health challenges in Langley. He was joined by emergency room physician Dr. Robert Anthony. The fentanyl crisis involves many more people than the high-profile drug addicts on the streets of Whalley or Vancouver’s downtown eastside. It involves people who overdose in their homes or at parties. In many cases, they die because those around them don’t know what to do. Jason Cook, executive director of Langley Health Services and site manager of Langley Memorial Hospital, emphasized the importance of awareness in combating the scourge of fentanyl, when speaking about health issues to Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce Tuesday. There were 30 deaths from fentanyl in Langley in 2016, and the people most susceptible were men between 30 and 50. Dr. Bob Anthony, an emergency room p...

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...

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...