Mostly cloudy and a mild 18°C in Langley today, with the chance of light rain hovering at about 20 per cent through midweek. A solid forecast for catching up on a busy news weekend.
Langley Township council unanimously passed its first tenant protection bylaw, a real step for renters, but one that arrives with the caveats The Langley Union flagged before the May hearing: a five-unit threshold and a self-exemption that keeps the Township and its Housing Trust Society outside the rules that bind private landlords.
Provincial politics keep churning. Langley-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor stays on as BC Conservative caucus chair under new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, even as the party works through expulsions, defections, and an internal memo questioning whether former leader John Rustad bought support at the party's annual meeting.
The Township is also moving to crack down on the repeated vandalism of the Fort Langley rainbow crosswalk, while one local letter writer responded by complaining about the cost of repainting rather than the hate that necessitates it. The Langley Union stands with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Langley and beyond.
Elsewhere: Langley United made BCPL history with a back-to-back championship, bears keep showing up in Walnut Grove yards as the city pushes into former habitat, Matthew Claxton's Painful Truth column asks why stadiums get blank cheques while libraries get bake sales, the province's disability funding overhaul leaves some autistic kids with less, and Canada secured its first ever World Cup knockout-stage win on a stoppage-time goal against South Africa.
Township OKs tenant protection bylaw, key gaps remain
Langley Township has unanimously adopted its first tenant protection bylaw.
The policy, passed June 15, requires owners of rental buildings with five or more units to provide displaced tenants with financial compensation, relocation help, and the right of first refusal on new units when redeveloping.
Compensation ranges from three months of rent for tenants of five years or less, up to 10 months for those who have lived in their unit for 16 years or more. Larger projects, those demolishing 50 or more units, must hire a third-party tenant relocation coordinator.
As The Langley Union reported ahead of the May 25 public hearing, the bylaw brings the Township in line with Langley City and other Metro Vancouver municipalities, but it carries notable gaps, including a five-unit threshold that leaves smaller rental buildings out and a self-exemption that excludes the Township and its Housing Trust Society from the rules that bind private landlords.
The bylaw is a real step for renters in a municipality that, until recently, had almost no purpose-built rental stock, and it is one that council can be pushed to strengthen.
Toor stays on as BC Conservative caucus chair amid turmoil
Langley-Willowbrook MLA Jody Toor will remain as BC Conservative caucus chair under new party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Toor, who operates Integrative Medical Wellness in Surrey, faced campaign-period scrutiny over qualifications listed from Quantum University in Hawaii, an unaccredited institution that does not issue the kind of medical credentials voters might reasonably associate with a practising doctor.
The caucus Toor continues to chair has been in open turmoil for months, with former MLA Dallas Brodie expelled and co-founding OneBC after mocking residential school survivors, and an internal memo surfacing in which Conservative MLAs questioned whether former leader John Rustad had paid "one hundred South Asian attendees" to back his preferred board at the party's annual meeting.
Findlay, who won the leadership in May, campaigned squarely against the 2SLGBTQ+ community, promising to dismantle BC's SOGI inclusive education guidelines and pairing those pledges with transphobic talking points about trans students in schools.
Findlay's shuffle also installs Chilliwack North MLA Heather Maahs as interim opposition leader, with shadow cabinet appointments expected in the coming days that will determine the roles of Langley's other Conservative MLAs, Harman Bhangu and Misty Van Popta.
Township to crack down on rainbow crosswalk vandals
Langley Township is moving to crack down on the repeated vandalism of the Fort Langley rainbow crosswalk.
A motion from Councillor Tim Baillie, passed unanimously this week, directs staff to report back on enforcement, bylaw changes, and cost recovery for damage to road markings and traffic infrastructure, with an amendment from Councillor Barb Martens adding prevention-through-design options.
The crosswalk has been a frequent target of burnouts and other deliberate damage since it was installed in 2017 with money raised by local artists and the Fort Langley Business Improvement Association.
Within days, a Langley letter writer responded not by condemning the vandalism, but by complaining about the cost of repainting and arguing the crosswalk should not exist at all.
That framing, concern about taxpayer dollars used to mask discomfort with a Pride symbol, draws from the same well of intolerance that motivates the vandals themselves.
The Langley Union supports the Township's enforcement push and stands with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Langley and beyond.
Bears keep showing up in Walnut Grove yards and pathways
Walnut Grove residents are reporting multiple bear sightings, with the animals spotted in back yards and along a pedestrian path in the neighbourhood.
As Langley continues to expand into what was, until recently, bear habitat, these encounters are less a surprise and more a predictable feature of life on the urban edge.
Residents are reminded to secure garbage, keep pet food indoors, and give wildlife plenty of space.
Conservation officers ask that sightings be reported to the provincial RAPP line.
Langley United makes BCPL history with back-to-back championship
Langley United has made BCPL history.
The team won its second straight British Columbia Premier League men's championship on Saturday, beating Nanaimo United 2-0 in Nanaimo.
No men's side had ever clinched back-to-back BCPL titles before, and the win came in just Langley's second year in the league.
Goals from Nikolas Papakyriakopoulos and Brody Thomas sealed the result, and the championship guarantees Langley another shot at the 2027 Telus Canadian Championship.
The team's final regular season match is at home against Burnaby on Sunday, July 5 at 3:30 p.m. at Willoughby Stadium.
Painful Truth: stadiums get blank cheques, libraries get bake sales
Matthew Claxton argues that arts and culture spending faces public anger while massive sports budgets escape the same scrutiny.
He points to the 2022 plan to upgrade the Royal BC Museum, which was scrapped after 69 per cent of British Columbians opposed the $789-million price tag.
Meanwhile, Vancouver is spending an estimated $685 to $729 million to host just seven FIFA World Cup games in 2026.
Claxton notes that provincial arts and culture funding last year totalled $192 million, less than what BC Place Stadium alone has cost in recent upgrades.
He supports sports funding, but asks why arts and library spending is treated as wasteful when stadium budgets sail through without the same outrage.
BC disability overhaul cuts support for some autistic kids
The province is overhauling how it funds supports for children and youth with disabilities, expanding access for many families while reducing funding for some autistic kids.
Starting in April, BC will replace its current programs with a new Children and Youth Disability Benefit, providing $6,500 to $17,000 per year based on individual need rather than diagnosis.
Parents and advocates broadly support expanding access beyond autism, since families of kids with other disabilities have long been left without direct provincial funding.
But families of children with Level 1 autism, who currently receive up to $22,000 a year, say the new model will exclude their kids despite research showing this group faces a notably elevated risk of suicide compared with the general population.
A planned disability supplement of up to $6,000, phased out at higher household incomes, will not close that gap, and a transition guidebook from the ministry shows a sample autistic child would lose roughly $36,000 in total support between ages six and 18.
The BC Disability Collaborative is pressing the province for publicly documented performance measures on wait times, family satisfaction, and the adequacy, not just the availability, of services under the new model.
Canada into World Cup round of 16 after stoppage-time winner against South Africa
Canada is through to the World Cup round of 16 after a 1-0 win over South Africa, with Stephen Eustáquio scoring the winner in stoppage time.
It is the men's team's first ever knockout victory at a FIFA World Cup, sparking eruptions at watch parties across the region.
Crowds packed Canada Soccer House at North Vancouver's Shipyards and the FIFA Fan Festival in Vancouver, with Langley pubs and living rooms joining in.
Next up: the round of 16, and a country still catching its breath.
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