Happy Thursday, Langley!
It's a partly sunny 17°C out there today, so enjoy it while it lasts before the weekend rain rolls in.
Today's roundup is a heavy one.
B.C. is about to mark ten years since declaring a public health emergency over toxic drug deaths, and the province has less to show for that decade than it should, having retreated from decriminalization under conservative pressure while thousands of overdose survivors live with undiagnosed brain injuries.
Closer to home, Premier Eby is pushing to suspend key parts of DRIPA despite fierce opposition from First Nations leaders, the BC Wildlife Federation is rallying Langley residents over federal salmon policy changes, and Langley City marked International Day of Pink with a look back at 25 years of queer rights milestones.
On the lighter side, newcomer women celebrated culture and resilience at an annual gathering in Abbotsford, and Giants defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt is heading to Princeton after a career that started and ended with goals at the Langley Events Centre.
Ten Years, 18,000 Dead, and B.C. Is Back to Square One
Next week marks a full decade since B.C. declared a public health emergency over toxic drug deaths, and the grim anniversary arrives with the province having abandoned its most meaningful attempt to try something different.
More than 18,000 British Columbians have died since 2016, with fentanyl and an increasingly unpredictable cocktail of sedatives and tranquilizers making the unregulated supply deadlier than ever.
The crisis has also left thousands of survivors with undiagnosed brain injuries, creating what experts call a "shadow crisis" that the health-care system is not equipped to handle.
The NDP government, under relentless pressure from the BC Conservatives and hostile media coverage, scrapped its decriminalization pilot in January after gutting it in 2024 by recriminalizing public drug use. Drug policy experts said the decision was made to follow a political path, not one informed by the chief public health officer, coroner's offices, academics, researchers, or people who use drugs.
The BC Green Party's Jeremy Valeriote said the pilot failed "not because of the policy itself, but because the government failed to do the necessary public education."
The NDP never paired decriminalization with the supports it needed to succeed: adequate housing, accessible treatment, and a regulated drug supply. Then, when the predictable gaps showed, they used those failures as justification to retreat to the same criminalization framework that produced 18,000 deaths in the first place.
It is a familiar and cowardly pattern.
Rather than defending evidence-based policy and investing in the complementary infrastructure that makes decriminalization work, the NDP chose electoral survival over the lives of the people most affected by this crisis.
Criminalization has never reduced drug use. It has never made communities safer.
What it has done, consistently, is push people into alleys, away from services, and toward isolated deaths that nobody witnesses in time.
BC Wildlife Federation Brings Salmon Policy Fight to Langley
The BC Wildlife Federation is hosting a town hall in Langley on April 18 to rally opposition to a federal review of salmon fishing rules.
The group claims Fisheries and Oceans Canada could strip the "public resource" designation from Pacific salmon, though DFO has explicitly denied that on its website.
The review is the first major update to the Salmon Allocation Policy since 1999, which governs how First Nations, commercial, and recreational fishers share the catch.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to noon at SouthRidge Fellowship Church on 48 Ave.
Langley City Marks 25 Years of Queer Rights Milestones on International Day of Pink
Langley City's Timms Community Centre hosted an International Day of Pink event on Wednesday, marking 26 years since two landmark wins for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights in 2000.
That year, Canada extended equal benefits to same-sex couples and Vancouver's Little Sisters bookshop won its fight against Canada Customs censorship.
Langley Pride Society members said progress has been real but incomplete, noting queer and trans youth still face bullying at twice the rate of their peers.
The event was part of Langley City's Village Cafe series, with an Earth Day walking tour coming up next on April 22.
Aldergrove's Earth Ninjas Keep Streets Clean One Bag at a Time
An 84-year-old Aldergrove resident leads a small crew of volunteer litter pickers who call themselves the Earth Ninjas.
Doug Deschene has organized the group for the past five years, outfitting members with bright safety vests he bought out of his own pocket.
The eight-member team heads out in pairs or threes to clean up everything from roadside trash to discarded farm items, with Robertson Crescent earning a reputation as their most productive haunt.
The Earth Ninjas will be out again on April 18 as part of the Township's Clean Up Langley day, and new volunteers are welcome.
Volunteer Search and Rescue Team Rooted in Langley's Regional Past Handled 38 Calls in 2025
The Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue Society, a volunteer group serving Langley City, the Township, and Abbotsford since 1978, responded to 38 incidents last year.
The society is a remnant of the now-defunct Central Fraser Valley Regional District, which once united those three communities under one regional government.
Its roughly 31 active volunteers operate on a budget of just under $135,000, with its largest 2025 response being the Sumas Prairie flooding in December.
The group handles more than backcountry rescues, also searching for people who go missing in urban settings like Langley City.
Newcomer Women Celebrate Culture and Resilience at 13th Annual Gathering in Abbotsford
Archway Community Services hosted its 13th annual International Women's Day celebration, bringing together newcomer women for an evening of music, dance, and personal storytelling at Central Heights Church.
The event opened with the "Salmon Song," performed by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Matsqui First Nation community members, honouring the five Pacific salmon species.
Speakers shared stories of navigating war, illness, and immigration, with Ukrainian newcomer Iryna Bondar telling the audience she chooses trust over hope because "when you move with trust, everything works for you."
The evening featured Iranian folk dance, Punjabi vocal performances, and a closing Giddha dance that celebrated women's lives and experiences through traditional storytelling.
Out-of-Control Wildfire Near Merritt Rapidly Expands to 150 Hectares
An out-of-control wildfire discovered on April 8th off Highway 5A east of Merritt has quickly grown to 150 hectares, raising concerns for residents and travelers in the area.
The blaze was first spotted earlier this week and has been expanding rapidly due to weather conditions and terrain challenges. Firefighting crews from BC Wildfire Service are actively working to contain the flames, but the fire's growth rate has been concerning.
Authorities are monitoring the situation closely and have implemented travel advisories for Highway 5A.
The early April timing of this wildfire is particularly alarming, as it suggests what could be a challenging fire season ahead for British Columbia.
Residents in nearby communities are being urged to stay alert for evacuation orders and to prepare emergency kits in case conditions deteriorate.
Eby Moves to Suspend Indigenous Rights Law He Helped Create
Premier David Eby says he has the votes to push through a three-year suspension of key parts of DRIPA, the landmark 2019 law that committed B.C. to aligning with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
First Nations leaders are firmly opposed, with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs' Grand Chief Stewart Phillip calling the move "asinine" and the First Nations Summit warning that reconciliation cannot be paused for political convenience.
Eby plans to make the vote a confidence measure, effectively daring his own caucus to bring down the government rather than stand with Indigenous nations.
The move is a stark and unfortunate reminder that in B.C., Indigenous rights remain conditional on whether they inconvenience the provincial (read: colonial) government's legal and economic interests.
Brain Injuries From Overdoses Are a Growing Crisis B.C. Isn't Ready For
Thousands of British Columbians who survive toxic drug overdoses are left with brain injuries that go undiagnosed and unsupported.
Experts estimate the number of survivors could be five to ten times higher than the province's 18,000 overdose deaths since 2016.
B.C.'s chief scientific adviser for psychiatry says harm-reduction policies like safe supply were "completely blind" to people with severe mental illness, for whom those approaches became "harm enhancement."
Community organizations say they're overwhelmed by demand while funding fails to keep pace.
Vancouver Giants Defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt Reflects on Remarkable WHL Journey
The Langley-based Vancouver Giants are celebrating the career of graduating player Ethan Mittelsteadt, whose final WHL game at the Langley Events Centre ended with a memorable goal.
The 6-foot defenceman's 263-game career took him through Seattle, Kelowna, and finally the Giants, with his first and last goals both scored at the LEC.
Coaches described him as fearless, mature, and a natural mentor to younger players despite never being the flashiest name on the scoresheet.
Mittelsteadt's next stop is Princeton University, where the former "worst skater" in Learn to Skate will pursue elite hockey and an Ivy League education.
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