Langley is easing into Halloween weekend under a light drizzle, with a high near 9 degrees today. The showers clear out for Saturday, so trick-or-treaters should get a dry night, with a high near 13 and temperatures dropping fast after dark. Sunday starts close to 1 degree before turning sunny, and the dry stretch looks set to hold until rain creeps back midweek. One more thing: for the first time, the clocks stay put this weekend.
That missing time change leads today’s roundup. Fraser Health warns that sunrise could come as late as 9 a.m. by December, putting kids on dark walks to school. ICBC numbers show morning pedestrian crashes were already a problem, and the advice that matters most is aimed at drivers.
Closer to home, a federal file shows how Ottawa sold a Japanese Canadian family’s farm south of Aldergrove for $241 during internment. The Township’s fall burning window is open (for rural yard cleanup, not backyard bonfires), and a Yorkson block has gone all out for Halloween, Viking longship included.
Across the region, a Surrey trustee who won a provincial seat a week later could leave Surrey Schools with an $840,000 byelection bill. The BCGEU wants the new Conservative government to cut managers instead of frontline workers, experts warn oil supertankers are too risky for the Salish Sea, and OpenAI is in court trying to stop a B.C. privacy probe.
Nationally, a federal pharma task force was stacked with industry insiders and left patients off the list, critics warn Bill C-39 sidelines Indigenous rights, and the Bank of Canada raised its rate to 2.5 per cent. In sports, the Canucks let a 2-0 lead slip in San Jose before hosting Toronto on Halloween, and the Giants head home for eight straight.
Langley News
🚸 Fraser Health warns of darker walks to school this winter
B.C.'s clocks stay put this Sunday, and Fraser Health says that means darker, riskier walks to school.
Without the fall time change, sunrise could come as late as 9 a.m. by December. Dr. Maulik Baxi, Fraser Health's medical director of population and public health, flagged the safety risk for students across the region, including Langley.
ICBC data shows the danger was already there. In December 2025, the Lower Mainland saw 59 pedestrian crashes between 6 and 9 a.m., which was more than April and May combined.
Baxi suggests that walkers wear reflective clothing, choose well-lit routes and carry flashlights. He also says drivers should slow down and avoid distractions.
Bright jackets help, but kids shouldn't carry the load alone. Slower, more careful driving is the part of the advice that adults control.
With dark mornings weeks away, will Langley's two municipalities look at school-zone speeds and crossings before December? (via Langley Advance Times)
🌾 How Ottawa took a Japanese Canadian family's Langley farm
In 1920, Kisaburo and Tsume Chiba bought about 16 hectares near today's 248 Street and 8 Avenue, south of Aldergrove. Two years later, they helped sell the corner for $1 so South Otter School could be built. During the Second World War, the couple was sent to an internment camp near Hope. In 1943, the federal government sold their land without consent for $241, and in 1946 it put them on a ship to Japan.
Their story, pieced together from a federal file, is a Langley chapter of a national injustice that deserves to be remembered. (via Hey Langley)
🔥 Township of Langley's fall burning window is open
The Township of Langley's fall burning season runs Oct. 26 to Dec. 13, with $30 permits sold online only. Permits are limited to lots of at least 0.2 hectares where neighbouring lots are the same size or larger. Piles bigger than a campfire also need Metro Vancouver approval and a "good" ventilation index that day.
Backyard bonfires are never allowed. The rules cover yard cleanup on rural properties, not a fire pit on Saturday night. (via Hey Langley)
🎃 Langley's Yorkson block goes all out for Halloween
Nearly every house on a short stretch of 209A Street near 84 Avenue in Yorkson has gone all out for Halloween. There's even a full-size Viking longship on a front lawn. It's free and runs from dusk until about 8:30 p.m.
Parking is tight, so walk or roll in from a few streets over and stay off the driveways. (via Hey Langley)
Fraser Valley & Lower Mainland
🗳️ MLA's double win could cost Surrey schools $840,000
A possible school trustee byelection in Surrey could cost about $840,000, and Surrey Schools would pay the full bill.
Garry Thind was re-elected as a Surrey trustee on Oct. 17. A week later, he won Surrey-Guildford for the B.C. Conservatives.
Once he is sworn in as an MLA, he can no longer serve as a trustee. A judge could order a byelection or declare runner-up Gary Tymoschuk elected instead, if someone applies to the court by Nov. 20.
Thind entered the provincial race after signing up to run again as a trustee. His name stayed on the civic ballot even though he didn't want it there, and he still finished second with 43,893 votes.
On election night, Thind said party officials were looking for a legal way to avoid a byelection to spare taxpayers. That concern is fair, but the cost only exists because one candidate ran in two elections a week apart, and the risk now sits with a school district budget, not the party.
Should parties sort this out before their candidates land on two ballots at once? (via Langley Advance Times)
✊ BCGEU tells Conservatives to cut managers, not frontline
The B.C. General Employees' Union wants the new B.C. Conservative government to look for savings at the top. As the government sets out to manage spending, the union says high management salaries should be the target, not frontline workers.
Frontline workers keep public services running, so cuts to their ranks would be felt by everyone who relies on those services. (via The Tyee)
🛢️ Experts say oil supertankers too risky for the Salish Sea
Experts say oil supertankers pose too much risk for the Salish Sea. Washington state's spill prevention program manager says sharp turns and other hazards raise the odds of an accident.
The cost of any spill would land on coastal communities and the ecosystems they rely on. (via The Tyee)
🔍 OpenAI goes to court to stop B.C. privacy probe
OpenAI is asking a B.C. court to quash an investigation by the province's Information and Privacy Commissioner related to Tumbler Ridge.
A global tech giant going to court to halt a public watchdog's probe is worth watching closely. (via CTV News)
National News
💊 Ottawa's pharma task force was dominated by industry
A federal task force meant to shape Canada's drug supply was made up almost entirely of industry insiders, according to an analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Health Minister Marjorie Michel created the group in March 2026. One co-chair co-founded a firm that helps drug companies get products approved, and 23 of the other 26 members had direct ties to the industry, including the head of its lobby group, Innovative Medicines Canada.
No patients, independent researchers, academics or drug manufacturing workers had a seat. The final report, released in July, calls Canada's focus on keeping costs down a problem.
The report doesn't mention that Canada's brand-name drug prices are the fifth highest among 30 OECD countries. It also never considered public drug manufacturing, which Sweden already does on a limited scale.
Who sits at the table shapes what ends up on the menu. Patients paying some of the highest prices in the developed world were left off the guest list.
Will Ottawa hear from the people who actually take these drugs before acting on the report? (via Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
⚖️ Critics warn Bill C-39 sidelines Indigenous rights
Bill C-39 would create "regions of national interest" where projects skip the usual environmental assessments. It follows rule changes that already exempt oil sands facilities and gas power plants from impact assessments, and Indigenous groups are pushing back.
Indigenous Climate Action's Energy Sovereignty report points to a better path: putting Indigenous Nations in control of projects on their own land. (via Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
🏦 Bank of Canada raises rate to 2.5 per cent
The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate by a quarter point this week, to 2.5 per cent. It is trying to keep high energy prices from the Middle East war from spreading, while 50 per cent U.S. tariffs have hit many Canadian goods since Aug. 22.
New GDP numbers out today will show part of the tariff hit, and economists expect modest 0.2 per cent growth for August. (via Fraser Valley Today)
Sports
🏒 Canucks let 2-0 lead slip in 3-2 loss to Sharks
The Canucks led 2-0 midway through the third period in San Jose before the Sharks scored three times to win 3-2 on Thursday. Drew O'Connor and Liam Öhgren scored, and Elias Pettersson stretched his point streak to six games.
Vancouver hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Halloween at 4 p.m. (via Langley Advance Times)
🥅 Giants fall in Portland, head home for eight straight
The Langley-based Vancouver Giants fell 3-1 to the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday, their second straight loss after a six-game winning streak. Joe Iginla scored and Burke Hood made 38 saves.
An eight-game homestand at the Langley Events Centre starts tonight at 7 p.m. against Victoria, followed by Prince George on Sunday at 4 p.m. (via Langley Advance Times)
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