Jack Froese has once again been elected mayor of the Township of Langley. The incumbent earned his third term with 59.3 per cent of the vote, handily defeating his closest challenger Anna Remenik, according to unofficial results posted by CivicInfo BC.
The township’s council will be a mix of old and new faces. David Davis, Kim Richter, Bob Long, Blair Whitmarsh, and Petrina Arnason each won another term, joining first-timers Eric Woodward and Margaret Kunst. The final seat will be filled by Steve Ferguson, who lost his seat in 2014.
Below is the full list of the candidates for mayor and council.
Candidates
Mayor
Jack Froese (incumbent)
Alex Joehl
Anna Remenik
Council
Petrina Arnason (incumbent)
Gail R Chaddock-Costello
Michelle Connerty
David Davis (incumbent)
Bev Dornan
Steve Ferguson
Gary Hee
Phyllis Heppner
Jonathan P Houweling
Sunny Hundal
Margaret Kunst
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Bob Long (incumbent)
Michael V Pratt
Angie Quaale (incumbent)
Kim Richter (incumbent)
Kerri Ross
Terry Sheldon
Michelle Sparrow (incumbent)
Craig Teichrieb
Stacey Wakelin
Blair Whitmarsh (incumbent)
Harold Whittell
Eric Woodward
Boundary
The Township of Langley is situated in the Fraser Valley, east of Surrey and west of Abbotsford. Its boundaries surround the City of Langley to the east.
Population (2016)
117,285
History
The Township of Langley shares a history with the City of Langley, which broke off to become its own municipality in 1955.
Before that happened, Langley was an area populated by the Kwantlen First Nation who fished, hunted and traded there.
Fort Langley was established as a trading post in 1827, before it was relocated in 1839. It burned down 10 months after the move and was rebuilt in 1840, where it stands today.
The Fraser River Gold Rush of 1858 brought more activity to the Langley area as prospectors chased after a fortune.
Fort Langley’s importance as an economic centre fell off after the British monarchy proclaimed the Crown Colony of British Columbia.
Its time as an Hudson’s Bay Company trading post ended by 1886.
Farming, however, remained as an economic driver in the region, producing beef, dairy, cranberries and much more. Langley would take on the moniker of the “Horse Capital of B.C.”
The City of Langley was created as development was focused on the downtown area.
Further growth would come with the Trans-Canada Highway in the 1960s.
Today, Langley plays host to two post-secondary institutions: Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Trinity Western University.
Median total income of couple economic families with children (2015)/B.C. median
$126,099/$111,736
Crime Severity Index (CSI) – 2016/B.C.
99.22 (+5.25)/93.63 (-0.71)
Violent Crime Severity Index (CSI) – 2016/B.C.
56.18 (-19.86)/74.86 (-9.81)
Political representation
Federal
John Aldag (Liberal) – Cloverdale-Langley City
Mark Warawa (Conservative) – Langley-Aldergrove
Provincial
Rich Coleman (BC Liberal) – Langley East
Michael de Jong (BC Liberal) – Abbotsford West
Darryl Plecas (Independent) – Abbotsford South
Mary Polak (BC Liberal) – Langley
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