Hello, friends! It's a mild, partly sunny day with a high near 23°C, and while today isn't scorching, a new Advance Times column from Heather Colpitts is a timely reminder that summer heat can turn deadly fast as the season rolls on.
In city news, Langley City has picked Nicomekl and Douglas to pilot its new Resilient Neighbourhood Networks, a Citizens' Assembly recommendation focused on building safety through neighbour-to-neighbour connection.
Elsewhere, a former Langley Mountie is set to be sentenced for assaulting a prisoner in RCMP cells, and Metro Vancouver regional parks workers have walked off the job as contract talks stall.
On the political front, the leader of the fringe Freedom Party of B.C. is facing a mischief charge for spray-painting a Surrey Pride crosswalk. Speaking at a July 4 Calgary Stampede event in a cowboy hat, Poilievre leaned into the U.S.-style culture war politics that have become his signature, telling Conservative partisans that his government would fund "war fighting" and "reinstill a warrior culture, not a woke culture," as if "wokeness" were anywhere near the top of the list of concerns Canadians hold about the military or the country's defence posture. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Carney annouced a $100B defence procurement of German-made submarines to bolster national defence.
On the pitch and the court, Vancouver FC dismantled Toronto at Willoughby behind an Amissi hat trick, while Vancouver Bandits head coach Kyle Julius is off to the Chinese Basketball Association with lead assistant Ransford Brempong stepping in as interim head coach.
Nicomekl and Douglas chosen to pilot Langley City's Resilient Neighbourhood Networks
Langley City has picked Nicomekl and Douglas as the first two neighbourhoods for its new Resilient Neighbourhood Networks pilot.
The two areas were selected through a community vote, with Nicomekl drawing the strongest support and Douglas close behind.
The program came out of a Citizens' Assembly recommendation on community safety and well-being that council endorsed in February 2026. It takes a community-building approach to safety, one that focuses on helping neighbours meet each other, share skills, and support one another rather than leaning on enforcement alone.
Nicomekl will launch first in summer 2026, with Douglas following later in the year. Programming will include community meetings, shared meals, and sessions on local safety and emergency preparedness.
Residents in the pilot neighbourhoods can sign up to take part or volunteer through Let's Chat Langley City.
Heat is harder on the body than most of us admit
A new Langley Advance Times column from Heather Colpitts urges Canadians to take summer heat more seriously as temperatures climb across the country.
Colpitts points to the 2021 heat dome, which killed 619 people in B.C., as proof that extreme heat is far more than a small-talk topic.
She argues that modern homes and habits have lost much of the traditional knowledge for coping with heat, from opening the house early to shade doors and windows and running fans to move cool basement air upstairs. Cultures in hotter climates have relied on thick walls, cross-ventilation, and evaporative cooling for centuries, she notes, and modern buildings could learn from them.
Fraser Health recommends keeping indoor temperatures at or below 26°C and treats 31°C as dangerous.
The column also flags cooling centres, air-conditioned public spaces, and frozen items wrapped in a towel pressed to the groin as ways to bring the body's core temperature down quickly during a heat emergency.
Ex-Langley Mountie Damian Volk to be sentenced for assault on prisoner in RCMP cells
A former Langley RCMP officer is set to be sentenced after being convicted of assaulting a prisoner in police custody.
Damian Volk kicked a handcuffed detainee in the head inside Langley RCMP cells, an incident that only came to light through internal video review.
The case underscores ongoing concerns about accountability and use of force behind closed doors in detachments where those in custody have little ability to speak for themselves.
Sentencing arguments are expected to weigh the breach of public trust alongside the physical harm caused.
Surrey rainbow crosswalk vandalism leads to criminal charge against BC political party leader
The leader of the fringe Freedom Party of B.C. is facing a criminal charge after allegedly spray-painting a rainbow crosswalk in Surrey.
Amrit Birring, 58, was charged with mischief over $5,000 alongside 67-year-old Errol Povah after a May 30 incident in which Birring posted video of himself defacing the Pride crosswalk at Old Yale Road and University Drive.
Birring, who has run unsuccessfully for provincial and federal office as well as Surrey mayor, told The Canadian Press he considered the act "activism" rather than vandalism.
Povah allegedly defaced the same crosswalk a second time the day after charges were approved, picking up a second mischief charge after his arrest in Vancouver on July 3.
Surrey Pride, Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenor Sturko, and Attorney General Nikki Sharma all condemned the vandalism.
Metro Vancouver parks workers walk off the job, strike could follow
Unionized workers who keep Metro Vancouver's regional parks running escalated their job action on Sunday, walking off the job as contract talks stall.
The union is warning that a full strike could be next if the regional district does not move on wages and working conditions.
Regional parks are a public good used by millions each year, and the workers who maintain them have watched their real wages erode while the cost of living in the region has soared.
Park users heading out this week may see reduced services as the dispute continues.
Poilievre parrots US War Secretary Hegseth on 'warrior culture' at Stampede
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre once again borrowed U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth's rhetoric this week, pledging to bring "warrior culture" to the Canadian military.
Speaking at a July 4 Calgary Stampede event in a cowboy hat, Poilievre told Conservative partisans that his government would fund "war fighting" and "reinstill a warrior culture, not a woke culture," while offering no specifics on what that would actually mean.
The phrase traces back to Hegseth's 2024 book, The War On Warriors, and to his directive that the U.S. military scrap diversity considerations, return to a "highest male standard only," and adopt what he calls "maximum lethality."
Under Hegseth's command, the U.S. joined Israel in a war on Iran that killed at least 1,460 civilians, including 110 schoolgirls on the first day of the attacks.
Poilievre backed the Iran war despite polling showing most Canadians opposed it.
The rhetoric lands as Canadian military spending has already climbed past 2 per cent of GDP under Prime Minister Mark Carney, with NATO now pushing members toward a 5 per cent target that would cost Canada roughly $150 billion a year.
Canada picks German subs in $100B defence procurement
Prime Minister Mark Carney has picked German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems as Canada's preferred supplier for a new fleet of up to 12 submarines.
Announced dockside in Halifax on Monday, the deal is expected to be the largest defence procurement in Canadian history, with the boats alone potentially costing $24 billion and lifetime maintenance pushing the total past $100 billion.
The German-Norwegian bid beat out South Korea's Hanwha Ocean, and negotiations toward a signed contract are expected to take several months.
The decision pulls Canada closer to Europe just as the United States pulls away from NATO, and some analysts argue it costs Canada a foothold in the Indo-Pacific.
If all 12 boats are delivered, submarines would make up as much as half of the Royal Canadian Navy's fleet, a fundamental reshaping of Canadian sea power.
The announcement comes as Carney heads to the NATO summit in Ankara, where allies are being pushed toward a 5 per cent GDP military spending target that would cost Canada roughly $150 billion a year.
Vancouver FC dismantles Toronto at Willoughby, Amissi nets hat trick
Vancouver FC delivered a statement performance at Willoughby Community Park, shutting out Toronto behind a hat trick from forward Amissi.
The Langley-based Canadian Premier League club has been quietly building momentum this season, and the home crowd got the payoff on Sunday.
Amissi's three-goal night puts him firmly in the conversation for league honours.
Next up, VFC will look to carry that form into a demanding stretch of fixtures.
Bandits coach Julius leaves for Chinese Basketball Association, Brempong steps in
Vancouver Bandits head coach Kyle Julius is leaving the bench to take a head coaching job in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Julius, a two-time CEBL Coach of the Year in 2024 and 2025, will stay on as the team's general manager for the rest of the 2026 season.
Under his lead, the Bandits reached the CEBL Finals in 2020 and 2024 and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons behind the bench. Last year's squad posted a .792 winning percentage, the best full-season mark in CEBL history.
The Bandits have named lead assistant Ransford Brempong as interim head coach for the rest of 2026. Brempong is a former Canadian Senior Men's National Team member who spent eight years with the national program and six seasons playing professionally in Europe.
Julius is expected to meet with fans in Vancouver in August after his CBA training camp wraps up.
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