Frankly Speaking

There's more than one way to freeze things in Surrey. In January, 74 Avenue in Clayton was covered with snow. A few months later, demolition contractors took down three homes on the street to prepare the site for the building of a new elementary school. Now it is November - and there is still no funding in place for the school to be built, even though funds for it were promised at about the time of this snowfall. A rally on Oct. 28 once again highlighted the need for more school space in Surrey. This issue has become even more critical this school year, as a settlement between the B.C. government and the B.C. Teachers Federation following a lengthy court battle means class sizes are significantly smaller. Many Surrey schools were already short of space, and now there is significantly less. The rally was held at Earl Marriott Secondary and was organized by the Surrey Schools Coalition, a group encompassing parents, city representatives and the business community. Karen ...

The lack of parking in East Clayton is due to the City of Surrey allowing coach houses to be built on small lots, on the same lots as adjacent homes which have plenty of room for a suite to be added. The city compounded its initial mistake in approving this type of development by sitting on its hands in regards to urban infrastructure. Clayton has no library, no recreation centre, very poor transit (with the exception of the 502 route on Fraser Highway), not enough schools and many other deficiencies which urbanized areas should not have to wait two or more decades for. Whether it was due to detailed reporting, a meeting with representatives of the housing industry, or simply a change of heart, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner has done the right thing in putting plans to evict tenants of 175 suites on hold. Hepner said Oct. 16 that the city would be looking at additional options , and holding off enforcement of a letter sent to property owners in August, giving them six months to g...

The selection of Jagmeet Singh as new leader of the federal NDP may make it harder for Liberal MPs in Surrey to win re-election in the 2019 federal election. Two years ago this month, the federal Liberals cruised to victory after a long and tiring election campaign – the longest in decades. They went from third place in the federal House of Commons to first, winning 184 seats after winning just 34 in 2011. One of the keys to the party winning a majority government was its very strong showing in B.C, a showing that surprised many observers. The Liberals won four of the five seats in Surrey, as well as the Delta seat. They won seats in Mission and Kelowna, Maple Ridge and Whistler – places where there had not been Liberal MPs since the 1950s. Party leader Justin Trudeau was a big reason. He contrasted very favourably with incumbent prime minister Stephen Harper and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. He brought a second round of Trudeaumania to the often-staid world of federal poli...

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...

Our campsite on Calistoga Road, just east of Santa Rosa, California, on Oct. 9, 2016 One year ago this week, we were camping at one of the most beautiful campsites I have ever experienced, in 60 years of enjoying sleeping outdoors. The campsite was on Calistoga Road, northeast of Santa Rosa, the county seat of Sonoma County in northern California. About 175,000 people live in the city, with many others living in the beautiful countryside surrounding it. Sonoma County is well-known across North America for its fabulous vineyards and wineries, and is also home to many other types of farms and a great deal of spectacular scenery. Santa Rosa has been in the news in the past few days for a much different reason. It has lost over 1,000 buildings to the fast-moving Tubbs wildfire, which entered the northern part of the city from the hills that we were camped on a year ago. I fear our campsite, located on a steep hill above a vineyard, and everything in that area has been wiped...